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3 IJOCLLEP 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/inljlocv3 and id is 1 raw text is: OKEKE: An Appraisal of the Role of Veto Power in Admission of States to the United Nations AN APPRAISAL OF THE ROLE OF VETO POWER IN ADMISSION OF STATES TO THE UNITED NATIONS* Abstract The United Nations is not only the largest multilateral organization in the world, but also the most influential and powerful intergovernmental organization in the world. It is for this reason that every sovereign and independent state yearns for membership of the United Nations. However, admission to the United Nations is not granted to sovereign and independent states as a matter of course upon fulfillment of the formal requirements, which are laid down in Article 4, paragraph 1 of the United Nations Charter, rather it is always subject to the whims and caprices of the existing members of the United Nations, especially the permanent members of the Security Council, who frequently use their veto power to decide which state becomes a member of the United Nations. This paper examined the nature of veto power of the permanent members of the Security Council and the role of veto power in the admission of new states to the United Nations. The research methodology adopted by the researcher is purely doctrinal, whereas analytical, descriptive and prescriptive approaches were employed. The paper found that arbitrary use of veto power by the permanent members of the Security Council is the major reason why some sovereign states have not been admitted to the United Nations. It was, therefore, recommended that article 27 of the United Nations Charter should be urgently amended in such a manner that veto power should not apply in cases relating to admission of states to the membership of the United Nations. This will not only ensure that veto power is no longer used by the permanent members of the Security Council to block admission of qualified states to the United Nations, but will also promote the universal character of the United Nations. Also, this paper recommended that the permanent members of the Security Council should refrain from using their veto power except where their vital national interest is at stake. Keywords: Admission, General Assembly, Security Council, United Nations, Veto Power. 1. Introduction The United Nations (UN) was established at the end of the World War II via the UN Charter which came into force on October 1, 1945.1 It was established as an intergovernmental and international organization saddled with the responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and achieving international co-operation in solving international problems.2 The UN was also established to be the centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of the above objectives. In carrying out the above responsibilities the UN is obligated to observe the principles of sovereign equality of all member states, nonintervention and prohibition of war or use of force among others. The UN is unarguably the most powerful intergovernmental and international organization in the world today, and this makes membership of the UN an aspiration of every independent state irrespective of its size and status. The UN Charter makes provision for two categories of membership, namely, original members and admitted members. According to Article 3 of the Charter, 'the original Members of the UN shall be the states which, having participated in the UN Conference on International Organization at San Francisco, or having previously signed the Declaration by United Nations of I January 1942, sign the present Charter and ratify it in accordance with Article 110.' From the above provision, the original members are those states that participated in the UN Conference on International Organization at San Francisco and the states that previously signed the Declaration by UN of 1t January 1942. But participation in the San Francisco Conference or signing of the Declaration by UN of 1942 was not sufficient to qualify any states as original members of the UN as those states must as well sign and ratify the UN Charter. The states which ratified the UN Charter before the Charter came into force became original members the day the Charter came into force, while those that ratified the Charter after *By C.E. OKEKE, LLB, BL, LLM, PhD student, Faculty of Law, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria, Tel:. +2348033126074, E - mail: ce.okeke@stu.unizik.edu.ng 'United Nations Charter 1945. 2 Ibid, Art. 1. Page 1 1

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