
- •Diplomatic handbook Seventh Edition
- •Longman London and New York
- •Contents
- •Chapter I
- •Introduction
- •International organisations: accreditation
- •In the absence of a full diplomatic
- •Orders of precedence
- •Precedence between heads of diplomatic
- •Individual precedence within a mission
- •Individual precedence inter se of
- •Precedence of heads of mission within the
- •Immunities
- •Inviolability and immunity of premises
- •Inviolability of records, documents,
- •Immunity from criminal jurisdiction
- •Immunity from civil and administrative
- •Inviolability of correspondence
- •Inviolability of property
- •Relating to the consular post
- •Facilities, personal privileges and immunities
- •The united nations purposes and principles
- •Purposes
- •Principles
- •The general assembly
- •The security council
- •The economic and social council
- •The trusteeship council
- •The international court of justice
- •The secretary-general and the secretariat
- •Intergovernmental agencies related
- •Food and agriculture organisation
- •International atomic energy agency
- •International civil aviation organisation
- •International fund for agricultural development
- •International labour organisation
- •International maritime organisation
- •International telecommunications union
- •The international monetary fund
- •The world bank
- •United nations development programme
- •Universal postal union
- •World health organisation
- •World intellectual property organisation
- •World meteorological organisation
- •Subsidiary organisations
- •International law commission
- •International research and training
- •Institute for the advancement of women
- •Other consultative bodies
- •United nations children’s emergency fund
- •United nations environment programme
- •United nations fund for population activities
- •United nations high commission for refugees
- •International
- •Arab league/the league of arab states
- •Asia-pacific economic cooperation
- •Bank for international settlements
- •Black sea economic cooperation
- •Caribbean regional organisations the association of caribbean states
- •Central american common market
- •Central european initiative
- •Common market for eastern and southern africa
- •The commonwealth
- •Council of europe
- •Economic cooperation organisation
- •European free trade association/ european economic area
- •Indian ocean association for regional cooperation
- •Islamic conference organisation
- •Maghreb arab union
- •North american free trade agreement
- •North atlantic treaty organisation
- •Organisation of african unity
- •Organisation of american states
- •South pacific regional organisations
- •Visegrád group
- •Western european union
- •World trade organisation
- •Chapter 9
- •International law and
- •Definition and general principles
- •Treaties and treaty-making general principles
- •Types of treaties
- •The process of treaty-making
- •The form and content of treaties
- •The validity of treaties
- •The termination of treaties
- •Diplomatic asylum
- •Voting quorums and majority requirements
- •All male/female seating plan: host/hostess and seven guests
- •Invitations
- •Introducing people
- •Visiting cards
- •International
- •Islamic festivals
- •1. The ozone layer
- •2. Global warming and the
- •3. Biodiversity
- •4. The preservation of forests
The secretary-general and the secretariat
In terms of the United Nations Charter the Secretary-General is the chief administrative officer of the Organisation. He acts as such at all meetings of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Trusteeship Council, and carries out whatever functions these bodies assign to him. He submits an annual report to the General Assembly on the work of the Organisation, and may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security. He is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a period of five years, and he is responsible for the appointment of the staff of the Organisation in accordance with the regulations drawn up by the General Assembly. Selection of staff is primarily on the basis of merit, but representation on a balanced geographical basis is also a relevant factor. The Secretary-General and his staff are bound to act as international civil servants and may not seek or receive instructions from any government, or from any authority outside the Organisation; and member states similarly undertake not to try to influence them in any way.
UN PEACE-KEEPING OPERATIONS
The UN Charter is based on the principle of the sovereignty of the state, and makes provision for the maintenance of peace and security between states: it does not, however, make specific provision for peacekeeping operations within states. Nevertheless such operations are to an increasing extent authorised by the Secretary-General and the Security Council with a specific mandate. The state concerned must give its consent, and provisions relating especially to impartiality and the use of force on the part of the peace-keeping forces are specified. The basic conditions are that peace-keeping forces will in no way seek to influence the outcome of a dispute or be perceived as doing so; and that they will use force only if directly attacked or, to a lesser extent, if their property is under direct threat. The UN Secretary-General defines peacekeeping in 'An Agenda for Peace' as 'a technique that expands the possibilities for both the prevention of conflict and the making of peace'. He then defines four additional forms of related activities:
Preventative diplomacy is action to prevent disputes from arising between parties, to prevent disputes from escalating into conflicts and to limit the spread of the latter when they occur.
2. Peace-making is action to bring hostile parties to agreement by peaceful means. Means for peace-making would be negotiation, inquiries, methods of reconciliation, arbitrations or methods of judgement, and the help of the territorial organisations and agreements. Parties concerned normally involve the United National military and/or police personnel and frequently civilians as well.
Peace-building is action to identify and support structures which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into conflict.
4. Peace enforcement is action to enable the United Nations to deploy troops quickly to enforce a cease-fire by taking coercive action against either party or both, if they violate it. This kind of operation would be authorised by the Security Council.
Since 1948 the UN has authorised 31 military observer or peacekeeping operations, including - as examples of their diversity - the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, the UN Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT), UN Assistance Mission to Rwanda (UNAMIR) and the UN Peace-keeping force in Cyprus.
The Department of Peace-keeping operations come under the direction of the Secretary-General.