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Charter that the Secretariat should not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization. Such a provision would be of assistance to the Secretariat and the General Assembly and would strengthen the position of the Secretariat. The Subcommittee accordingly unanimously recommended the following text of paragraph 4, Chapter X:

In the performance of their duties the Secretary-General and the staff shall be responsible only to the Organization. They shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials. Each member undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the SecretaryGeneral and the staff and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their responsibilities.

29. The question was raised by a member of the Subcommittee as to whether paragraph 4 covered the risk which might be faced by a member of the Secretariat as the result of taking an oath of allegiance to the Organization. In answer to this question it was pointed out that the experience of the League of Nations demonstrated that there was no practical difficulty in this matter except in the case of the Fascist states. It was agreed by the Subcommittee, however, to refer this matter to Committee IV/2 for such action as it might deem

necessary.

30. The question also was raised whether this paragraph covered the risk which might be faced by a member of the Secretariat who participated in the preparation of military plans for possible use against his own state. It was pointed out that if a member of the Secretariat were to become aware of such military plans, he might be liable to heavy penalty under the laws of his own state for failure to reveal them to his own government. Members of the Subcommittee agreed that this highly important matter could not properly be dealt with in Chapter X of the Charter, but that it likewise should be considered by Committee IV/2 for such action as it might deem necessary. It was felt by members of the Subcommittee that the question of the liability of members of the Secretariat for military service to their own states would be settled by administrative arrangements when the problem arose.

The text of paragraph 4 recommended by the Subcommittee was adopted unanimously by Committee I/2.

PARAGRAPH 5. CHARACTER OF THE SECRETARIAT

31. The Subcommittee recommended to the full Committee an additional paragraph of Chapter X which constituted a revision of the last paragraph of the Canadian amendment, as follows:

The staff shall be appointed by the Secretary-General under regulations established by the General Assembly. The paramount consideration in the employment of the staff and in the determination of the conditions of service shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. Due regard shall be paid to the importance of recruiting staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

32. During the discussion of this recommendation by Committee 1/2 several delegates expressed the opinion that this paragraph was concerned with minor technical details and should not accordingly appear in the Charter. It was also contended that in addition to the Secretariat, the other organs of the Organization would require staff,

and that it would not be logical to limit the provisions proposed in paragraph 5 to the Secretariat alone.

33. A number of delegates agreed that the Charter should not contain excessive detail, but contended that the paragraph in question was concerned with matters of principle and not of detail; that in fact the paragraph contained no more than general principles to guide the General Assembly when it established detailed regulations governing the staff of the Secretariat. It was contended by several delegates that the provisions of paragraph 5 would apply to the staffs of the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and other organs since the Secretariat itself would serve all these organs. Attention was called to the fact that the unanimous recommendation of the Subcommittee arose from the fact that the language for this paragraph was based upon various international incidents establishing international organizations already accepted by many of the participants in this Conference. Similar provisions appear in the constitutions of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the Bretton Woods documents, and other international agreements.

34. The Committee unanimously agreed, upon the motion of the Delegate of Brazil, that positions in the Secretariat, as one of the principal organs of the Organization, would be open to men and women on an equal basis. It was emphasized that provision for such participation on an equal basis had been provided in paragraph 3, Chapter IV, adopted by this same Committee.

35. The Committee agreed that the question of the juridical status of members of the Secretariat should not be covered by a provision of Chapter X, since it was under consideration by Committee IV/2.

ANNEX

TO REPORT OF RAPPORTEUR OF COMMITTEE 1/2

Chapter X. The Secretariat

1. There shall be a Secretariat comprising a Secretary-General and such staff as may be required. The Secretary-General shall be the chief administrative officer of the Organization. The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly, on recommendation of the Security Council.

2. The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity in all meetings of the General Assembly, of the Security Council, of the Economic and Social Council and of the Trusteeship Council, and shall perform such other functions as are or may be entrusted to him by the Organization. The Secretary-General shall make an annual report to the General Assembly on the work of the Organization. 3. The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion might threaten international peace and security. 4. In the performance of their duties the Secretary-General and the staff shall be responsible only to the Organization. They shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials. Each member undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the SecretaryGeneral and the staff and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their responsibilities.

5. The staff shall be appointed by the Secretary-General under regulations established by the General Assembly. The paramount consideration in the

employment of the staff and in the determination of conditions of service shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. Due regard shall be paid to the importance of recruiting staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

Report of Rapporteur (General) of Committee I/2 to Commission I on Chapter XI

Doc. 1154, June 22

I. Preliminary Considerations

1. Committee I/2 was charged with the responsibility of preparing and recommending to Commission I draft provisions for the Charter of the United Nations relating to matters dealt with in Chapter XI of the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals on amendments. It should be emphasized that this involved one of the most important provisions of the Charter. The Committee gave it comprehensive and serious consideration.

2. The text of Chapter XI in Dumbarton Oaks reads as follows: Amendments should come into force for all members of the Organization, when they have been adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the General Assembly and ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional processes by the members of the Organization having permanent membership on the Security Council and by a majority of the other members of the Organization.

3. Two additional paragraphs were suggested by the sponsoring governments providing for the coming into force of the Charter and providing for a general conference for the purpose of reviewing the Charter. The text of these paragraphs reads as follows:

1. The present Charter comes into force after its ratification in accordance with their respective constitutional processes by the members of the Organization having permanent seats on the Security Council and by a majority of the other members of the Organization.

(The existing text of Chapter XI would thus become paragraph 2.)

3. A general conference of the members of the United Nations may be held at a date and place to be fixed by a three-fourths vote of the General Assembly with the concurrence of the Security Council voting in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VI, Section C, paragraph 2, for the purpose of reviewing the Charter. Each member shall have one vote in the Conference. Any alterations of the Charter recommended by a two-thirds vote of the Conference shall take effect when ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional processes by the members of the Organization having permanent membership on the Security Council and by a majority of the other members of the Organization.

4. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Norway, and Venezuela had also submitted amendments on the amending procedure, provision for revision, and ratification of amendments.

5. The Committee held eight meetings, on May 28, May 29, June 15, and June 16, to discuss that part of its work relating to amendments. 6. At its second meeting on this subject, Committee I/2 agreed to appoint a Subcommittee to consider amendments to Chapter XI of the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, the Subcommittee to include representa

"Revision of Doc. 1069, June 18, incorporating changes submitted by delegations for approval of Commission I.

tives of those delegations which had submitted proposals for amendment of Chapter XI.

7. The Subcommittee was composed of the President of Commission I (Belgium), Chairman of Committee I/2 (Costa Rica), Rapporteur (Saudi Arabia), and Delegates of Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Mexico, Norway, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela.

8. The Subcommittee held nine meetings, on May 30, May 31, June 8, June 12, June 13, and June 14, and reported the result of its considerations to Committee I/2 on June 14. The Committee then took up the discussion of the recommendations of the Subcommittee on the following points: regular amendments to the Charter, special conference to revise the Charter, and withdrawal from the Organization.

II. Regular Amendments to the Charter

9. Paragraph 2, Chapter XI, providing for the regular amending process of the Charter, was the subject of very little discussion or disagreement in the meetings of the Subcommittee and Committee. The Subcommittee had accepted by a vote of 6 to 5 the motion of the Delegate of Belgium to modify this paragraph to provide that amendments come into force when ratified by two thirds of all members of the Organization, including all members of the Security Council, rather than by the permanent members and a majority of the members.

10. The Belgian Delegate suggested that this modification tended to equalize to a certain extent the difference between the permanent members of the Council and the other members of the Organization and that it reduced the risk of each of those other members of being placed in the dilemma of having to accept as valid an amendment not ratified by it or to withdraw from the Organization. Several delegates opposed paragraph 2, on the grounds that the modification rendered ratification more difficult than the requirement of the simple majority. The answer was that the amendment would not have such a consequence, experience of the League having indicated that the delay in coming into force of amendments was not due to the relatively small number of ratifications but to the difficulty of obtaining some of those which the Covenant had declared indispensable.

11. Although the representatives of the sponsoring governments had first opposed this modification in the Subcommittee, they announced to the full Committee that they would give it their support. 12. The Committee adopted by a vote of 32 to 1, with 12 abstentions, the following text of paragraph 2:

Amendments shall come into force for all members of the Organization when they have been adopted by a vote of two thirds of the members of the General Assembly and ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional processes by two thirds of the members of the Organization, including all members having permanent membership on the Security Council.

III. Special Conference To Review the Charter

13. The Dumbarton Oaks proposal had not provided for the calling of a special conference to review the Charter but the sponsoring governments had presented an amendment providing for such a conference and a number of other members had also suggested such a provision. The Committee voted 44 to 1 in favor of a provision in the Charter for a special conference to revise the Charter.

IV. Voting Procedure for Calling the Conference

14. The Subcommittee reported that the Delegate of the United States reported that the sponsoring governments had agreed to amend their proposal for paragraph 3 of Chapter XI by providing for a twothirds vote instead of a three-fourths vote by the General Assembly for calling the special conference. The Subcommittee had voted unanimously to recommend the modified proposal to Committee I/2. The Committee also voted unanimously in favor of this provision.

V. Time-Limit for Calling the Conference

15. The Committee debated the question of whether or not a specific time should be set for the calling of the constitutional conference. The amendment proposed by the sponsoring governments had not provided for a specific date but left the decision to be made by the Organization. Amendments providing for a definite time were proposed by a number of other countries.

16. The Subcommittee had voted by 9 to 6 in favor of a joint motion by Canada and Brazil to recommend that the special conference be called not sooner than the fifth nor later than the tenth year after the coming into force of the Charter. This motion represented a compromise between separate Brazilian and Canadian amendments, which provided respectively for a special revisionary conference in the fifth and tenth years.

17. The members of the Committee favoring a specific time-limit for the calling of the conference felt that if the Organization were to endure, it should be scrutinized after a number of years and modified, if necessary, in the light of its experience and the situation then prevailing. It was emphasized that provision for a special conference did not mean that the Organization established now would be temporary but, on the contrary, that in order to be an effective and lasting mechanism it should be inspected and revised in those parts which had not proved efficient.

18. It was pointed out that provision for a specific time for reviewing the Charter might assist in reducing the pressure for revision at an earlier date and before the Organization had been given a fair trial. It would also have a tremendous psychological effect on public support for the Charter, since it would mean that certain provisions which may not have the whole-hearted support of members could be reexamined. 19. The provision of a specific date or period would not preclude the modification of the Charter before that time, since it would not prejudice the ordinary method of amendment.

20. The opponents of the proposal thought there was no need for setting a time-limit for such a conference, since the General Assembly and the Security Council could call for such a conference at any time. A revisional conference might be needed within a short time but, on the other hand, it might not be needed for 15 or 20 years. They did not oppose the holding of the conference, but they felt that if the decision were left to the judgment of the Assembly and the Council, a conference would be called whenever the need arose. If a specific revision were written into the Charter, it might result in the calling of a conference at a time when the Organization thought it unwise or unnecessary. This would constitute a contradiction in the Charter and would be contrary to the judgment of the governments.

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