The UN Charter: Five Pillars for Humankind

by David J. Scheffer, Mark S. Ellis

Overview

This book reintroduces the U.N. Charter to the global audience by describing the Charter as the most important secular document in the world, for it is essentially the constitution of global governance to which all nations are bound, even if some honor it in the breach. The co-authors explain the core principles embedded in the Charter, which embodies codified customary international law for all nations. But the book also introduces pragmatic interpretations of key Charter provisions to modernize its application both today and in the future. Under the authority of the Charter, such U.N. bodies as the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Human Rights Council, and International Court of Justice address global affairs in a tough neighborhood of 193 sovereign nations. Yet relatively few people are conversant with the principles set forth in the Charter. With moral principles under siege and with the reality of divisive politics in contemporary life, the Charter remains a beacon of global unity that offers a renewed sense of human progress in a turbulent world. The book explicates five core tenets of the U.N. Charter: human rights and fundamental freedoms, international law, economic and social progress, international peace and security, and peacemaking.

The book will appeal to the academic audience and is written in a style that will engage the general reader as well.

This is an extraordinary book. An excellent combination of history and future. It should definitely be used widely in educating present and coming generations about the importance of the UN and international law. It should also be read by representatives of UN member states, in particular of the P5 of the UN Security Council. It is unacceptable that all of them do not consequently perform as required by the UN Charter.
(Hans Corell, Former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the United Nations)

This is an authoritative, comprehensive and timely work on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the UN Charter, by two leading experts in international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law. A must read.
(The Honourable Irwin Cotler, P.C., O.C., O.Q., Ad.E.; former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; Founder & International Chair, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031948657
Publisher:	Springer Nature Switzerland
Publication date:	08/29/2025
Pages:	156
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

David J. Scheffer is Professor of Practice in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. He was the Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (2006-2020) and is Director Emeritus of the Center for International Human Rights. He was the International Francqui Professor at KU Leuven in 2022. Scheffer was the first U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001) and negotiated the creation of five war crimes tribunals. He was the U.N. Secretary-General's Special Expert for U.N. Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (2012-2018) and was Senior Adviser and Counsel to Dr. Madeleine Albright during her tenure as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, when he also represented the U.S. Mission to the United Nations on the National Security Council's Deputies Committee (1993-1997). Scheffer was Vice President of the American Society of International Law (2020-2022).

Mark S. Ellis is the Executive Director of the International Bar Association (IBA). Previously, he directed the ABA’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI). Mark served as Legal Advisor to the Independent International Commission on Kosovo and was appointed by the OSCE to advise on creating Serbia’s War Crimes Tribunal. He was actively involved with the ICTY Tadic case and the Iraqi High Tribunal and acted as legal consultant to the defense team of Nuon Chea at the Cambodian War Crimes Tribunal (ECCC). Ellis previously served as Chair of the ICTY Advisory Panel and the UN-created Advisory Panel on Matters Relating to Defence Counsel of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals. Ellis is presently an adjunct Professor at Florida State University College of Law. Twice a Fulbright Scholar at the Economic Institute in Zagreb, Croatia, he earned his J.D. and B.S. (Economics) degrees from Florida State University and his PhD in Law from King’s College, London. He has published extensively on international humanitarian law, war crimes tribunals, and the development of the rule of law. Among his honors, Ellis is the recipient of the ABA’s World Order Under Law Award, Florida State University’s Distinguished Graduate Award and Torch Award, the University’s College of Social Sciences & Public Policy Distinguished Alumni Award, the College of Law’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the International Impact Award from King’s College London. In 2024, Ellis was made a Fellow of Kings College.

Table of Contents

Foreword (Mary Robinson).- 1. Introduction.- 2. Protect Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.- 3. Respect International Law.- 4. Maintain International Peace and Security.- 5. Promote Economic and Social Progress.- 6. Enable the Peacemakers.- 7. Conclusion: The Modern Charter.- Appendix.