Decisions of the UN Security Council of Indefinite Duration:

Abstract

In this chapter, the author begins with a few words on the legal nature of UN Security Council decisions, a term which is usually employed in respect of those resolutions which are considered to be legally binding on UN Member States, especially those adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The question arises, in this context, how far the similarity between Security Council resolutions and treaties can be stretched in order to apply to them the rules, or some of the rules, of the international law of treaties as they are now codified in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The author likes to emphasize, in this context, that, although this discussion is about binding Security Council decisions, similar arguments should apply, in my opinion, to non-binding recommendations both by the Security Council and by the General Assembly. Keywords:international law; treaties; UN Security Council; Vienna Convention