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10 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 284 (1948-1949)
Conflicts between Obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and Obligations under Other International Agreements - An Analysis of Article 103 of the Charter

handle is hein.journals/upitt10 and id is 286 raw text is: CONFLICTS BETWEEN OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND OBLIGATIONS UNDER OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AN ANALYSIS OF ARTICLE 103 OF THE CHARTER Hans Kelsen* I. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHARTER AND THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS Like the Covenant of the League, the Charter of the United Nations contains a provision concerning conflicts between the obligations of the Members under the legal order of the Organization and other obligations of these states. But the provisions of the Charter concerning such conflicts differ from those of the Covenant. Article 20 of the Covenant stipulates: 1. The Members of the League severally agree that this Covenant is accepted as abrogating all obligations or understandings inter se which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly undertake that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms thereof. 2. In case any Member of the League shall, before becoming a Member of the League, have undertaken any obligations inconsistent with the terms of this Covenant, it shall be the duty of such Member to take immediate steps to procure its release from such obligations. Article 103 of the Charter runs as follows: In the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under any other international agreement, their obligations under the present Charter shall prevail. The first difference between Article 20 of the Covenant and Article 103 of the Charter is that the latter refers only to conflicts between treaty obli- gations, whereas the wording of the former could be interpreted to refer to conflicts -between obligations under the Covenant and obligations assumed under treaties or other legal instruments.' In this respect the text of Article 103 of the Charter is clearer than that of Article 20 of the Covenant. It is not superfluous to note that Article 103 correctly uses the term international * Professor of Political Science, University of California. Formerly Oliver Wen- dell Holmes Lecturer, Harvard Law School; Professor at the Graduate Institute of Inter- national Studies, Geneva, Switzerland; Professor of Law and Dean of the Law School, University of Cologne, Germany; Member and Legal Advisor of the Constitutional Court of Austria; Professor of Law and Dean of the Law School, University of Vienna, Austria. Author of General Theory of Law and State (1944), and numerous other books and articles on jurisprudence and international law. 1 The French text of Article 20 refers only to conflicts between treaty obligations. Cf. my Legal Technique in International Law, 10 GENEVA STuDIEs, 148 ff. (1939)

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