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32 Brit. Y.B. Int'l L. 97 (1955-1956)
The Effect of Resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations

handle is hein.journals/byrint32 and id is 105 raw text is: THE EFFECT OF RESOLUTIONS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS By D. H. N. JOHNSON, M.A., LL.B. Reader in Public International Law in the University of London THE object of this article is to inquire into the political, legal, and moral effect of Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations. So long as the United Nations exists, it must be regarded as a matter of some importance to try to assess the effects of the Resolutions carried by its principal organ. The immediate context and starting-point of this inquiry is, however, the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 7 June 1955 on Voting Procedure on Questions relating to Reports and Petitions concerning the Territory of South-West Africa.' It will be submitted that the reference of this matter to the Court led to certain views being expressed which make it particularly opportune to consider now a problem which is in any case of continuing and substantial significance in the history of the United Nations. i. The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in the 'Voting Procedure' case The Opinion of the Court It is not necessary to consider here in any detail the background of the Voting Procedure case. In an earlier Opinion, dated ii July 1950, the Court had advised that 'the Union of South Africa continues to have the international obligations stated in Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations and in the Mandate for South-West Africa as well as the obligation to transmit petitions from the inhabitants of that Territory, the supervisory functions to be exercised by the United Nations, to which the annual reports and the petitions are to be submitted, and the reference to the Permanent Court of International Justice to be replaced by a reference to the International Court of Justice, in accordance with Article 7 of the Mandate and Article 37 of the Statute of the Court'.2 The above statement was contained in the final, or operative, part of the Advisory Opinion of i i July i95o. It was preceded by a statement in which, as part of its reasoning, the Court had said: 'The degree of supervision to be exercised by the General Assembly should not therefore exceed that which applied under the Mandates system, and should conform as far as possible to the procedure followed in this respect by the Council of the I I.C.J. Reports, 1955, p. 67. 2 Ibid., 1950, P. 128, at p. 143- B 5782 H

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