Revision summary
The Security Council has five permanent members with a veto and ten elected members for two years. Nine votes including the P5 are needed on substance. Chapter VI covers disputes; Chapter VII covers threats, sanctions, and force. Peacekeeping is a Council practice that the 1945 text did not fully name. The veto makes the Council a concert of major powers as well as a legal organ.
Model answer
Introduction
The Security Council is the UN organ charged with primary responsibility for international peace and security. Its structure of five permanent members and ten elected members, and the veto, shape every function it performs.
Body
Structure
- Article 23 of the Charter provides five permanent members: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- Ten non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms, with regard to contribution to peace and to equitable geography.
- Each member has one vote. Article 27 requires nine affirmative votes, including the concurring votes of the permanent members, on non-procedural matters. That is the veto.
- The Council is so organised as to be able to function continuously. A member must be able to send a representative at all times.
Functions
- It investigates disputes and recommends adjustment under Chapter VI.
- Under Chapter VII it may determine a threat to the peace, a breach of the peace, or an act of aggression, and decide on measures not involving force (Article 41) or force (Article 42).
- It authorises sanctions, arms embargoes, and most United Nations peacekeeping operations, which sit in practice between Chapters VI and VII.
- It recommends admission of new UN members and nominates the Secretary-General together with the Assembly’s appointment.
- It may refer situations to the International Criminal Court where the Rome Statute allows, as a political-legal function added after 1945.
Working facts
- Subsidiary bodies include sanctions committees and the Military Staff Committee, which has never operated as the Charter’s armed-force design intended.
- Reform debates, including India’s claim treated in Paper II Section B, target the 1945 map of power, not the idea of a security council as such.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD C[UN Charter] --> P[P5 veto] C --> N[Ten elected members] P --> F[Chapter VI and VII] N --> F F --> K[Sanctions PKO force]
Conclusion
The Security Council’s structure is P5 plus ten elected members, with a veto on substance. Its functions run from pacific settlement to sanctions, force authorisation, and peacekeeping. Effectiveness follows great-power agreement, not the text alone.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Discuss the relevance of the normative ethos of the Non-Aligned Movement in magnifying India's soft power in pursuit of her national interest
Next question in the 2023 paper (Q2). View answer →
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Can the General Assembly replace the Council in a crisis?
The Uniting for Peace practice allows Assembly recommendations when the Council is blocked. It cannot create Chapter VII obligations in the same way.
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Does abstention by a P5 member kill a resolution?
Practice treats a P5 abstention as not a veto if nine votes are present. A negative vote by a P5 member is a veto.
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