The author of this blog is Ritika Sharma. She is the Founder of the blog, HUMAN.DROITS, and is also an LL.M. Graduate from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She can be reached at ritika4523@gmail.com.
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| Veto! |
Introduction
The veto power with Russia could have restricted the United Nations Security Council's bold step in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. The UN Security Council has the role 'to maintain international peace and security', and the atrocities in this armed conflict are a living example of something that should have been acted against by the Council. However, is it justifiable to call the Security Council a weak and powerless body, or do the real lacunae need to be accentuated, debated upon, and addressed?
In this blog, in addition to highlighting the role and structure of the UNSC in building peace and promoting the security of the UN members, I am going to advocate the need to reform the 'Permanent-5' structure of the Council.
What is 'Permanent-5' structure of UNSC?
The Security Council is made up of 15 members, of which 5 are permanent members. The 5 permanent members were given this status owing to their importance after World War II and their key role in the establishment of the United Nations. This includes China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
Then there are 10 non-permanent member states which are elected for a term of 2 years by the General Assembly. These consist of the following:
- 5 members from African and Asian States;
- 1 from Eastern European States;
- 2 from Latin America and Caribbean States;
- 2 from Western Europe and other States.
Currently (December 2022), the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council are Albania (2023), Brazil (2023), Gabon (2023), Ghana (2023), India (2022), Ireland (2022), Kenya (2022), Mexico (2022), Norway (2022), United Arab Emirates (2023). All 15 member states hold the presidency status for a period of one month. For December 2022, India holds this position.
Whenever any substantive decision is to be taken votes of at least 9 out of 15 members are essential and these 9 affirmative votes should include the votes of 5 permanent members. This is referred to as the 'Rule of Unanimity', thereby giving unbridled power to China, France, Russia, the UK, and the USA to vote against the adoption of resolutions and exercise their veto power.
Why is there a need for reforms in UNSC structure?
The primary function of the UN Security Council is to maintain security and international peace and to take military action against the aggressor. Therefore, in the cases where the permanent members themselves are aggressors or when they highly favour the aggressors or tension builders, they cast a negative vote and stop the adoption of resolutions in the Council. They also have another option to abstain from voting in order to show their neutral position, for example, China's abstention to vote in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This renders the purpose of the UN Security Council meaningless as the power to act is in the hands of just five countries. All 5 permanent members have exercised their veto power in one or the other agendas. Following are some instances of the negative vote of a permanent member:
- Agenda of maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine- Russia exercised veto power against this agenda twice for obvious reasons.
- Agenda of threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist attacks- Negative vote of USA on 31 August 2020.
- Agenda related to the situation in the Middle East- This is with regard to extending humanitarian assistance in the Middle East and Russia and China have exercised their veto power several times in this matter.
Roadblocks and restrictions in reformation process
For the reform in UN Security Council, the UN Charter has to be amended with the following steps of procedure:
- Adoption by a vote of at least 2/3 of the members of the General Assembly.
- Ratification by at least 2/3 of the members including all Security Council permanent members.
It is apparent that in order to extend the permanent membership of the Council to other nations, affirmative or abstained votes of the current permanent members are required.
Attempts have been made to raise the voice for the expansion of the Council and to make India, Japan, and Germany permanent members. India also receives the support of 4 permanent members except for China. In the recent special meeting of the Council, China's representative averted the mention of India regarding the candidature of a permanent seat in the Council and instead "urged for the special arrangements to accommodate Africa’s concerns and enhance its representation". According to Sunil Sharan, all five powers are reluctant to extend the 'Permanent-5' structure. He states in his article in the Times of India that, "the US, the UK, France and Russia all know that China will veto India and Japan’s (China’s eternal enemy) candidacy. So they are safe in supporting India and Japan, fully realizing that the latter’s candidacy is going nowhere". Thus, he calls it a 'game of ringa-ringa roses'.
However, even if we extend the structure and confer the status of 'permanent member' to a few more countries, then it cannot stop them to exercise the veto power to support their acts of aggression in the world. Therefore, the amendment and reformation must include some reasonable restrictions on the effect of the exercise of negative votes on the Security Council agendas.
Final Remarks
Ironically, to limit the exercise of the arbitrary power of the 'Permanent-5' structure, the agreement of all these members is vital. As a result, the issue is back to square one!
On the other hand, this discussion illuminates that UN Security Council or the United Nations Organisation can not be criticised for no commitment to accomplish what has been written in the UN Charter, rather it can be called a stagnant pillar of the United Nations whose structure is in dire need of amendments and reforms.
References
https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/current-members
https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/presidency
https://research.un.org/en/docs/sc/quick
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