Preliminary Objections: Related to the Jurisdiction of the United Nations Political Organs

235 Pages·1976·18.355 MB·English

by  Dan Ciobanu (auth.)

PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS RELATED TO THE
JURISDICTION OF
THE UNITED NATIONS POLITICAL ORGANS
PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
RELATED TO THE JURISDICTION OF
THE UNITED NATIONS POLITICAL ORGANS
by
DAN CIOBANU
•
MARTINUS NIJHOFF I THE HAGUE I 1975
© I975 by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
Soficoverreprinloflhehardcover/slEdiJion /975
Allrights reserved, includingthe right to translate orto
reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form
ISBN-13:978-90-247-1774-3 e-ISBN-I3:978-94-010-1364-2
001: 10.1007/978-94-010-1364-2
CONTENTS
PART I
JURISDICTION
CHAPTER I: POLITICAL JURISDICTION
SECTION I: JURISDICTION OF THE PRINCIPAL ORGANS OF
THE UNITED NATIONS
I. The United Nations as summa of its organs I
2. The eminently political character of the United Nations 3
3. Composition of the United Nations organs 4
4. Interests pursued by States 8
5. Expediency characterizing the jurisdiction of the United
Nations political organs II
6. Legality and expediency in the activities of the United Na-
tions political organs 16
7. The public policy character of the jurisdiction possessed by
the United Nations political organs 19
SECTION 2: JURISDICTION OF THE SUBSIDIARY ORGANS OF
THE UNITED NATIONS
8. Concept of "subsidiary organ" 24
9. Relationship between the principal organ and itssubsidiary 27
CHAPTER 2: DISTRIBUTION AND CONCURRENCE OF
JURISDICTIONSININTERNATIONALLAW
SECTION I: DISTRIBUTION OF JURISDICTIONS
10. Fundamental function of contemporary internationallaw 32
II. Definition of jurisdiction of the United Nations qua inter-
national person 32
VI CONTENTS
12. Delimitation of jurisdiction of the United Nations from the
"reserved domain" of member States 37
13. Separation of jurisdiction among the organs of the United
Nations 45
SECTION 2: CONCURRENT JURISDICTION
14. Negative and positive conflicts of jurisdiction 49
15. Concurrent jurisdiction between the United Nations taken
as a whole and States 50
16. Concurrent jurisdiction between the United Nations and
other international bodies 52
17. ConcurrentjurisdictionbetweentheUnitedNationspolitical
organs and the International Court of Justice 54
18. Concurrent jurisdiction between the political organs of the
United Nations 56
PART II
PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
CHAPTER 3: CATEGORIES OF PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS AND
THEIR LEGAL FOUNDATION
SECTION I: CONCEPT, FUNCTION AND CATEGORIES OF
PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
19. Preliminaryobjectionsto jurisdiction andargumentsonthe
merits 6I
20. Preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of organs and to
the admissibility of the complaint 63
SECTION2: LEGAL FOUNDATION OF PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
21. Legaldoctrinesasa sourceof thelawof the United Nations 65
22. Characterof thelegaldoctrines related to the jurisdictionof
the United Nations political organs 66
CHAPTER4: OBJECTION ULTRA VIRES
SECTION I: DOCTRINE OF ULTRA VIRES
23. Source of jurisdiction 67
24. Principle of speciality 69
CONTENTS VII
25. Definition of powers 7°
SECTION 2: OBJECTION ULTRA VIRES
26. Concept and legal basis of the objection 72
27. Difficulties in raising the objection 73
28. Legal nature and effects of the objection 74
CHAPTER 5: OBJECTION CONDITIO SINE QUA NON
SECTION I: DOCTRINE OF CONDITIO SINE QUA NON
29. Conditio sine qua non in general international law 78
30. Conditio sine qua non in the law of the United Nations 79
31. Nature of the "priority clause" contained in Article 33, pa-
ragraph I, of the Charter 81
SECTION 2: OBJECTION CONDITIO SINE QUA NON
32. Character and effects of the objection
CHAPTER6: OBJECTION ELECTA UNA VIA
SECTION I: DOCTRINE OF ELECTA UNA VIA
33. Electa una via in general international law 92
34. Doctrine of electa una via in the law of the United Nations 94
SECTION 2: OBJECTION ELECTA UNA VIA
35. Function of the objection 96
36. Objection electaunavia basedonArticle 52, paragraph2, of
the Charter 97
CHAPTER7: OBJECTION LIS PENDENS
SECTION I: DOCTRINE OF LIS PENDENS
37. Generalconsiderations 102
38. Characteristicsofthe doctrineoflitispendenceininter-State
relations 105
SECTION 2: DOCTRINE OF LITISPENDENCE IN THE LAW OF
THE UNITED NATIONS
39. Introductoryremark IIO
40. "Political" litispendence provided for in Article 12, para-
graph I, of the Charter III
VIn CONTENTS
41. "Special"litispendenceprovidedforinArticle36,paragraph
2, of the Charter 121
SECTION 3: OBJECTION LIS PENDENS
42. Concept, legal nature, and effects of the objection 131
43. Comparison of the objection lis pendens with the objections
electa una via and res judicata 133
CHAPTER 8: OBJECTION RES JUDICATA
SECTION I: DOCTRINE OF RES JUDICATA
44. Concept and conditions of res judicata 135
45. Characteristics of the doctrine in the law of the United
Nations 138
SECTION 2: OBJECTION RES JUDICATA
46. Objection res judicata in the law of the United Nations 143
47. Categories of res judicata 145
48. Rule non ultra petita 146
PART III
FINAL DETERMINATION
CHAPTER 9: DETERMINATION OF THE VALIDITY OF
PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
SECTION I: JUDICIAL DETERMINATION
49. Final determination of the validity of the objections 153
50. Judicial determination at the request of member States 156
51. Advisory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice 159
SECTION 2: POLITICAL DETERMINATION
52. Recourse to adhoccommitteesof juristsor jointconferences 162
53. Determination made by the politicalorgan in which the ob
jections have been raised (the theory of <CIa competence de
la competence") 163
54. Determination made by States (the right of last resort) 173
CONTENTS IX
CHAPTER 10: PROCEDURAL QUESTIONS RELATED TO
PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
SECTION I: RAISING THE OBJECTIONS
55. Subjects entitled to raise the objections 180
56. Legalmeans and proceduresbywhich the objections can be
raised 182
57. Time for raising the objections 183
58. Burden of proof 186
SECTION 2: DECISIONS ON OBJECTIONS
59. Questions of priority of decisions on preliminary objections
and reservation of jurisdiction 189
60. Judicial redress 193
Table of cases 202
Index of subjects 205
Index of countries and other territories 216
Index of names 218
Articles 222
Resolutions 224
Commissions and committees 226
Reports 229
PART I
JURISDICTION
CHAPTER I
POLITICAL JURISDICTION
Section I
JURISDICTION OF THE PRINCIPAL ORGANS
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. The UnitedNations as summaofits organs. - The United Nations is
composed of and acts through a variety of principal! and subsidiary2
organs. One canciteArticle 7 ofthe Charterwhich provides:
There are established as the principalorgansof the United Nations: a General
Assembly, a Security Council, an Economic and Social Council, a Trusteeship
Council, an International Court of Justice, and a Secretariat. Such subsidiary
organs as may be found necessary may be established in accordance with the
presentCharter.S
As a rule, the legal nature of these organs is not indicated expressis
verbisintheconstituentactoftheOrganization. OnlytheInternational
Court of Justice is clearly characterized (in Article 92) as its principal
judicialorgan. Onecould alsoinfer, as ProfessorTunkindid,4 thelegal
nature of the Secretariat from Article 97, which states that the Secre-
1 The main characteristic of the principal organs which distinguishes them from their
subsidiary organs was mentioned by Judge Hackworth in the case of Effect of Awa,ds of
Compensation by the United Nations Administ,ative T,ibunal. This characteristic would
consist of the plenary power possessed under the Charter by the principal organs, IC],
Repo,tsI954, p. 79.
2 The subsidiary organs referred to in Article 7 which complete the machinery of the
United Nations raise supplementary questions, and they will be considered in section 2 of
thischapter.
3 Inthisbookthereferenceto"politicalorgansofthe UnitedNations"includesboth the
principaland thesubsidiaryorgans. Also,as thecontextmayrequire,theterm"organ"will
be used either in thesingular or pluralform. Should the term be used in the singular and
withoutanyspecialindication,itcouldbeunderstood,asProf.Spiropoulossuggested,atthe
87thmeetingofthe InternationalLawCommission,not toprecludeplurality,I Yea,book of
theInte,national LawCommission(1951),p. 48.
• Tunkin,TheLegalNatureoftheUnitedNations,II9Recueildescou's(1966),p.42.