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16 Sask. B. Rev. & Law Soc'y Gaz. 58 (1951)
Expulsion of Russia from the United Nations

handle is hein.journals/sasklr16 and id is 68 raw text is: SASKATCHEWAN BAR REVIEW EXPULSION OF RUSSIA FROM THE UNITED NATIONS' A recent statement accredited to a leading Canadian political figure that Russia be expelled from the United Nations seems to have generated considerable interest in this country. The purpose of this brief article is not to discuss the desirability of such a proposal, but merely to examine the problem as to whether its expulsion might be accomplished by legal means. A cursory examination of the constituent instrument of the United Nations, the Charter, might perhaps lead one to the conclusion that there may be no express provision dealing with such a situation. However, there is fairly general agreement that the Charter may be so interpreted as to deduce at least three legal arguments for the expulsion of, one of the Big Five. Article 6 of the Charter of the United Nations deals with the matter of expulsion and provides: A Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon the recom- mendation of the Security Council. It is to be noted that the General Assembly cannot expel a Member without first receiving a recommendation to that effect from the Security Council. Voting in the Security Council is provided for by Article 27 of the Charter: 1. Each member of the Security Council shall have one vote. 2. Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of seven members. 3. Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of seven members including the con- curring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VI (Pacific Settlement of Disputes), and under paragraph 3 of Article 52 (pacific settlement of local dis- putes through regional arrangements or regional agencies), a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting. The Security Council consists of five permanent members-France, China, the United Kingdom, the U.S.S.R., the United States, and six other members elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term. Expulsion is not a procedural matter, although it is interesting to note that the question as to whether a particular matter is or is not pro- cedural is not itself a question of procedure.2 Paragraph 3 of Article 27 contains the veto power. If the matter of the expulsion of the U.S.S.R. came before the Security Council for recommendation to the General Assembly, such a recommendation would be made by a vote under Article 27, paragraph 3 and would be subject to veto. In order for the U.S.S.R. to be legally expelled from the United Nations, it is evident that its veto power must be circumvented, since, obviously, that State could not be expected to vote affirmatively for its own expulsion. It has been suggested that this might be accomplished by one of the three following methods: First, it would seem probable that in such a situation a dispute is involved. If so, the exception at the end of paragraph 3 could be applied,

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