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36 Colum. J. Transnat'l L. 529 (1998)
The United Nations Charter As Constitution of the International Community

handle is hein.journals/cjtl36 and id is 535 raw text is: The United Nations Charter As Constitution of The International Community BARDO FASSBENDER* The Charter of the United Nations (the Charter) was brought into existence in the form of an international treaty. In the course of the last fifty years, however, the constitutional predisposition of the Charter has been confirmed and strengthened in such a way that today the instrument must be referred to as the constitution of the international commu- nity. In this Article, the Author suggests that the Charter is the constitution of the international community in its entirety, i.e., in all subjects of international law, and that such an understanding of the Charter has significant repercussions for its legal status, interpretation, amendment, and possible future reform. The Article first discusses how the concept of a constitution has been used with regard to the modern state. The Author next presents writers who have made consistent use of constitutional models in international law. The Article then explains why the concept of a constitution can be applied to bodies other than states and discusses the rela- tionship between the international community and an international constitution. Next, the Article distinguishes the constitutional law of the international community from general international law, jus cogens, and obligations erga omnes. Finally, the Author outlines a number of consequences of the constitutional approach with particular emphasis placed on the admission and expulsion of members. I. INTRODUCTION ................................... 531 I. CONSTITUTION AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH THE MODERN STATE .......................................... 532 * Lecturer in Law, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. Many ideas set out in this article are elaborated on in the author's forthcoming book U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM AND THE RIGHT OF VETO: A CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE, to be published by Kluwer Law International, The Hague. If not otherwise indicated, translations are provided by the author.

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