Emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly

Last updated December 14, 2023

An Emergency Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly is an unscheduled meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to make urgent recommendations on a particular issue. Such recommendations can include collective measures and can include the use of armed force when necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression when the United Nations Security Council fails to exercise its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security due to lack of unanimity of its permanent ("veto") members.

Under Chapter Five of the Charter of the United Nations, the Security Council is normally entrusted with maintaining international peace and security. However, on 3 November 1950, the General Assembly passed Resolution 377 (Uniting for Peace) which expanded its authority to consider topics that were previously reserved solely for the Security Council. Under the Resolution, if the Security Council cannot come to a decision on an issue because of a lack of unanimity, the General Assembly may hold an emergency special session within 24 hours to consider the same matter.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The mechanism of the emergency special session^[5] was created in 1950 by the General Assembly's adoption of its "Uniting for Peace" resolution, which made the necessary changes to the Assembly's Rules of Procedure.^[6] The resolution likewise declared that:

... if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security. If not in session at the time, the General Assembly may meet in emergency special session within twenty-four hours of the request therefor. Such emergency special session shall be called if requested by the Security Council on the vote of any seven members, or by a majority of the Members of the United Nations...

Emergency special sessions are rare, a fact reflected in that there have been only eleven such sessions in the history of the United Nations. Additionally, most emergency special sessions run for a single session, with the exception of the 7th, 10th and 11th, which have been reconvened four, seventeen, and nineteen times respectively.^[7]

Procedure

The procedure to call an emergency special session are laid out in the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly. The rules pertaining to emergency special sessions are as follows (as amended by Res. 1991 that increased majority needed from 7 to 9):^[8]

Rule 8(b) – Summoning at the request of the Security Council or Members
- Emergency special sessions can be convened by a vote of nine members of the Security Council, or a majority of United Nations Member States. These sessions must be convened within 24 hours of any votes.
Rule 9(b) – Request by Members
- Allows any Member State of the United Nations to request the Secretary-General to convene an emergency special session.
Rule 10 – Notification of session
- Requires the Secretary-General to notify Member States, at least 12 hours in advance, of the opening of an emergency special session convened pursuant to rule 8(b).
Rule 16 – Agenda
- States that the provisional agenda of an emergency special session shall be communicated to Member States simultaneously with the communication convening the session.
Rule 19 – Additional items
- During an emergency special session, additional agenda items may be added for consideration by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.
Rule 20 – Explanatory memorandum
- Requires any item proposed for inclusion in the agenda to be accompanied by an explanatory memorandum.

Sessions

Emergency special session	Topic	Convened by	Date	Resolution
First	Suez Crisis	United Nations Security Council	1–10 November 1956	A/3354
Second	Soviet invasion of Hungary		4–10 November 1956	A/3355
Third	Lebanon crisis		8–21 August 1958	A/3905
Fourth	Congo Crisis		17–19 September 1960	A/4510
Fifth	Six-Day War	Soviet Union	17 June – 18 September 1967	A/6798
Sixth	Soviet invasion of Afghanistan	United Nations Security Council	10–14 January 1980	ES-6/1, 2
Seventh	Israeli–Palestinian conflict	Senegal	22–29 July 1980 20–28 April 1982 25–26 June 1982 16–19 August 1982 24 September 1982	ES-7/1, 2, 3 ES-7/4 ES-7/5 ES-7/6 ES-7/9
Eighth	South African occupation of Namibia (South West Africa)	Zimbabwe	3–14 September 1981	ES-8/1, 2
Ninth	Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights (Golan Heights Law)	United Nations Security Council	29 January – 5 February 1982	ES-9/1
Tenth	Israeli-Palestinian conflict (East Jerusalem and Israeli-occupied territories)	Various	24–25 April 1997 15 July 1997 13 November 1997 17 March 1998 5, 8 and 9 February 1999 18 and 20 October 2000 20 December 2001 7 May 2002 5 August 2002 19 September 2003 20–21 October 2003 3 December 2003 20 July 2004 24 January 2007 4 April 2007 23 January 2009 21 December 2017 13 June 2018 26-27 October 2023	ES-10/1, 2 ES-10/3 ES-10/4 ES-10/5 ES-10/6 ES-10/7 ES-10/8, 9 ES-10/10 ES-10/11 ES-10/12 ES-10/13 ES-10/14 ES-10/15 ES-10/16 ES-10/17 ES-10/18 ES-10/L.22 (draft) ES-10/L.23 ES-10/L.25
Eleventh	Russian invasion of Ukraine	United Nations Security Council	28 February–2 March 2022 23–24 March 2022 7 April 2022 10-12 October 2022 23 February 2023	ES-11/1 ES-11/2 ES-11/3 ES-11/4

Related Research Articles

The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 78th session, its powers, composition, functions, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter. The UNGA is responsible for the UN budget, appointing the non-permanent members to the Security Council, appointing the UN secretary-general, receiving reports from other parts of the UN system, and making recommendations through resolutions. It also establishes numerous subsidiary organs to advance or assist in its broad mandate. The UNGA is the only UN organ where all member states have equal representation.

A United Nations General Assembly resolution is a decision or declaration voted on by all member states of the United Nations in the General Assembly.

The tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly centers on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The session was first convened in 1997 under the president of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail of Malaysia. This occurred when the Security Council failed to make a decision on the issue at two different meetings. The session is currently ongoing as of October 26, 2023.

A United Nations resolution is a formal text adopted by a United Nations (UN) body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 377 A, the "Uniting for Peace" resolution, states that in any cases where the Security Council, because of a lack of unanimity among its five permanent members (P5), fails to act as required to maintain international security and peace, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately and may issue appropriate recommendations to UN members for collective measures, including the use of armed force when necessary, in order to maintain or restore international security and peace. It was adopted 3 November 1950, after fourteen days of Assembly discussions, by a vote of 52 to 5, with 2 abstentions. The resolution was designed to provide the UN with an alternative avenue for action when at least one P5 member uses its veto to obstruct the Security Council from carrying out its functions mandated by the UN Charter.

Resolution 82 was adopted by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on 25 June 1950. It condemned the "armed attack on the Republic of Korea by forces from North Korea", while calling for "the immediate cessation of hostilities" and for "the authorities in North Korea to withdraw forthwith their armed forces to the 38th parallel". The measure was adopted with 9 voting for, none opposed, and one abstention by the Soviet Union, who was boycotting the UN at the time for its recognition of the Republic of China as China's representative to the organization.

The first emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly was convened on 1 November and ended on 10 November 1956 resolving the Suez Crisis by creating the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) to provide an international presence between the belligerents in the canal zone. The emergency special session was convened due to the failure of the Security Council to resolve the instability at the Suez Canal, invoking "Uniting for Peace" resolution which transferred the issue from the Security Council to the General Assembly. On the fourth day of the session the Canadian representative, Lester B. Pearson, introduced the concept of a UN police force. The creation of the United Nations Emergency Force was approved by the General Assembly with 57 supports and zero opposes. The vote had 19 countries abstaining, including the United Kingdom, France, Egypt, the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries.

The sixth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly was held between 10 and 14 January 1980 to consider the situation in Afghanistan. As the Soviet–Afghan War began members of the United Nations General Assembly requested the Security Council consider the situation. The USSR veto of a resolution led the other members to invoke the 'Uniting for Peace' resolution to defer the issue to the General Assembly in an emergency special session. It was the sixth emergency special session since the 'Uniting for Peace' resolution was adopted in 1950. The session was dominated by questions of its legitimacy since the Afghanistan government had invited the Soviet intervention in their civil war. Led by the non-aligned members, the session ended with a resolution from the General Assembly calling for the immediate, unconditional and total withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and the cessation of all outside intervention, subversion, coercion or constraint, of any kind whatsoever, so that its people could freely choose its own economic, political and social systems.

The Holy See is not a member of the United Nations but was granted permanent observer state status on 6 April 1964. In that capacity, it has the right to attend all sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council, and the United Nations Economic and Social Council to observe their work. Accordingly, the Holy See has established permanent observer missions in New York and in Geneva and has been able to influence the decisions and recommendations of the United Nations.

United Nations Security Council resolution 462, adopted on 9 January 1980, after considering an item on the agenda of the council and given the lack of unanimity amongst its permanent members, the council decided to call an emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

United Nations Security Council resolution 500, adopted on 28 January 1982, after considering an item on the agenda of the council and given the lack of unanimity amongst its permanent members, the council decided to call an emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights.

The Sixty-Ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 16 September 2014. The President of the United Nations General Assembly was chosen from the African Group with Uganda's Sam Kutesa being the unanimous African Union's Executive Council's candidate, thus bypassing the need for an election.

The 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 15 September 2015. The President of the United Nations General Assembly was from the Western European and Others Group.

A Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, or UNGASS, occurs when the United Nations General Assembly meets in order to discuss an important wide-ranging topic.

The Seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly was the session of the United Nations General Assembly which ran from 14 September 2021 to 13 September 2022. The President of the UN General Assembly is from Asia-Pacific Group.

The eleventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 28 February 2022 at the United Nations headquarters. It addresses the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Maldivian politician Abdulla Shahid served as President of the body during this time.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2623 called for the eleventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the subject of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Albania and the United States introduced the resolution before the United Nations Security Council, which adopted it on 27 February 2022. Russia voted against while China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstained. As this was a procedural resolution, no permanent member could exercise their veto power.

United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES‑11/1 is a resolution of the eleventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly, adopted on 2 March 2022. It deplored Russia's invasion of Ukraine and demanded a full withdrawal of Russian forces and a reversal of its decision to recognise the self-declared People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES‑11/2 is the second resolution of the eleventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly, adopted on 24 March 2022, following Resolution ES-11/1 which was adopted on 2 March 2022. Resolution ES‑11/2 reaffirmed the UN's former commitments and obligations under its Charter, and reiterated its demand that Russia withdraw from Ukraine's recognized sovereign territory; it also deplored, expressed grave concern over and condemned attacks on civilian populations and infrastructure. Fourteen principles were agreed.

The Seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly was the session of the United Nations General Assembly which opened on 13 September 2022, and closed on 5 September 2023. The President of the UN General Assembly was from Eastern European Group.

References

↑ Charter of the United Nations . San Francisco: United Nations. 26 June 1945. p. 6 – via Wikisource.
↑ Ruder, Nicole; Nakano, Kenji; Aeschlimann, Johann (2017). Aeschlimann, Johann; Regan, Mary (eds.). The GA Handbook: A practical guide to the United Nations General Assembly (PDF) (2nd ed.). New York: Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-0-615-49660-3.
↑ United Nations General Assembly Session 5 Resolution377. Uniting for PeaceA/RES/377(V) 3 November 1950.
↑ Wesel, Reinhard (2010). Volger, Helmut (ed.). A Concise Encyclopedia of the United Nations (PDF) (2nd ed.). Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. pp. 189–90. ISBN 9789004180048. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
↑ "UNGA Emergency Special Sessions". UN.org. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
↑ "Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly". UN.org. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
↑ "Emergency special sessions". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
↑ United Nations General Assembly Document520/Rev.18. Rules of Procedure of the General AssemblyA/520/Rev.18 September 2016.

External links

UNGA Emergency Special Sessions

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Charter of the United Nations . San Francisco: United Nations. 26 June 1945. p. 6 – via Wikisource.

[Swiss_Handbook-2] Ruder, Nicole; Nakano, Kenji; Aeschlimann, Johann (2017). Aeschlimann, Johann; Regan, Mary (eds.). The GA Handbook: A practical guide to the United Nations General Assembly (PDF) (2nd ed.). New York: Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-0-615-49660-3.

[3] United Nations General Assembly Session 5 Resolution377. Uniting for PeaceA/RES/377(V) 3 November 1950.

[4] Wesel, Reinhard (2010). Volger, Helmut (ed.). A Concise Encyclopedia of the United Nations (PDF) (2nd ed.). Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. pp. 189–90. ISBN 9789004180048. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-02-25.

[UNGAESSs-5] "UNGA Emergency Special Sessions". UN.org. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.

[6] "Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly". UN.org. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2022.

[7] "Emergency special sessions". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 24 February 2020.

[8] United Nations General Assembly Document520/Rev.18. Rules of Procedure of the General AssemblyA/520/Rev.18 September 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]