The Procedure of the UN Security Council

by Loraine Sievers, Sam Daws

Overview

The Procedure of the UN Security Council is the definitive book of its kind and has been widely used by UN practitioners and scholars for nearly 40 years. This comprehensively revised edition contains over 450 pages of new material documenting the extensive and rapid innovations in the Council's procedures of the past two decades.

A one-stop handbook and guide, with meticulous referencing, this book has served diplomats, UN staff and scholars alike in providing unique insight into the inside workings of the world's preeminent body for the maintenance of international peace and security. Thoroughly grounded in the history and politics of the Council, it brings to life the ways the Council has responded through its working methods to a changing world.

The book explains the Council's role in its wider UN Charter context and examines its relations with other UN organs and with its own subsidiary bodies. This includes the remarkable expansion in UN peacekeeping, peacebuilding and political missions, sanctions and counter-terrorism bodies, and international legal tribunals. It contains detailed analysis of voting and decision-taking by the Council, as well as the place, format, and conduct of meetings. It also seeks to illuminate the personalities behind the Council's work - ranging from the diplomats who sit on the Council itself to the UN Secretary-General, and those outside the Council affected by its decisions. It concludes with reflections on the improvements that have made to the Council's procedures over many decades, and the scope for further reform.

Update Website of The Procedure of the UN Security Council: www.scprocedure.org

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199685295
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/11/2014
Edition description:	4th Revised ed.
Pages:	744
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 2.40(d)

About the Author

Loraine Sievers is Career international civil servant and former Chief of the UN Security Council Secretariat Branch.

Sam Daws is Director of the Project on UN Governance and Reform at the Centre for International Studies at Oxford University.

Loraine Sievers served the United Nations for over thirty years, concluding her career as Chief of the Security Council Secretariat Branch. Amongst her primary responsibilities was providing guidance to Council members, particularly each month's rotating Presidency, concerning the Council's procedures and practices. Loraine also participated as the Secretariat expert in the Security Council Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions from 2006-11. Previously, she served as Secretary to the Afghanistan and Sierra Leone Sanctions Committees, Programme Officer in the Iraq Oil-for-Food Programme, political analyst in the Regional Affairs Division, and speechwriter. Loraine contributed to the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council and several of the UN 'Blue Books' on conflict situations addressed by the Organization.

Sam Daws has served in a variety of UN related roles over the last 25 years, and currently directs a project on UN governance and reform at the Centre for International Studies, Oxford University. Sam has recently served as Senior Principal Research Analyst in the Multilateral Policy Directorate of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and then as Deputy Director (United Nations, Prime Minister's Post-2015 team) in the Cabinet Office. He spent six years as Executive Director of the UN Association of the UK, and then became Senior Advisor and UK Representative to the UN Foundation. From 2000 to 2003 he served as First Officer in the Executive Office of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Co-author or editor of six books on the UN, Sam has degrees in social anthropology and international conflict analysis, and undertook doctoral studies in international relations at Oxford University. He has been a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University (in international law) and Yale University (in UN studies).

Table of Contents

I: The Constitutional Framework1. Role of procedure2. The Charter3. Role and function of the Security Council4. Provisional Rules of Procedure5. Further documentation of proceduresII: Place and Format of Council Proceedings1. Formats of meetings2. Formal public (open) meetings3. Formal private (closed) meetings4. 'Periodic meetings', summits, and high-level meetings5. Thematic debates6. 'Orientation debates'7. Wrap-up meetings8. Meetings away from Headquarters9. Place of meeting at Headquarters10. Informal consultations of the whole11. 'Arria-formula' meetings and 'Somavia-formula' meetings12. Informal interactive dialogues or discussions13. Other informal formats14. Interpretation and translationIII: The People1. The President2. Permanent members3. Non-permanent members4. Regional and other groups5. 'Groups of friends'6. Political coordinators and experts7. Credentials8. Representation of China and of the Russian Federation9. Permanent Missions and representation10. Secretary-General and the Secretariat11. Individual actions can make a differenceIV: The Council Convenes1. Convening a meeting2. Rejection of items3. Agenda and Summary statement of matters of which the Council is seized4. No requirement of a quorum5. Notice of meetings6. Timing of meetingsV: Conduct of Meetings and Participation1. States invited to participate in Council proceedings2. Individuals invited to participate in Council proceedings3. Participation of Palestinian officials4. Order of speakers5. 'Right of reply' or 'further statements'6. Motions, proposals, and suggestions7. 'Blue' draft resolutions and order of submission8. Non-member submission and co-sponsorship of resolutions9. Amendments10. Points of order11. 'Precedence motions'12. Rulings by the President13. 'Stopping the clock'VI: Voting1. Substantive decisions and the veto2. Insufficient affirmative votes3. Procedural matters and the 'double veto'4. Voting on the establishment of subsidiary organs5. Voting on amendments6. Separate voting on paragraphs7. Interruption of voting8. Unanimity, consensus, and adoption by acclamation9. Abstentions10. Non-participation in the vote11. Absences12. Finality of the voting process13. Statements before or after the vote14. Draft resolutions withdrawn or not brought to a vote15. Reconsideration of texts not adoptedVII: Decisions and Documents1. Formats of decisions2. Decisions in the context of the Charter3. Resolutions4. Statements by the President5. Decisions to recommend appointment of Secretaries-General6. Decisions relating to UN membership7. Letters by the Council President8. Notes by the President9. Statements by the President to the press10. Monthly forecast and calendar11. Reports of the Secretary-General12. Communications13. Communications from private individuals and NGOs14. Compendium documents15. Categories of individual documentsVIII: Subsidiary Bodies1. Military Staff Committee2. Peacebuilding Commission3. Subsidiary bodies concerned with Council procedure4. Subsidiary bodies concerned with United Nations membership5. Subsidiary bodies concerned with the maintenance of international peace and security6. Thematic subsidiary bodies7. Appointment of bureaux of subsidiary bodies8. Reporting by subsidiary bodiesIX: Relations with other Organs and Entities1. General Assembly2. Economic and Social Council3. Trusteeship Council4. International Court of Justice5. United Nations agencies, funds, and programmes6. International Atomic Energy Agency7. International Criminal Court8. Special courts, tribunals, and investigative panels9. Regional and subregional organizationsX: Concluding Reflections

Editorial Reviews

"The fourth edition of this comprehensive text, first published in 1975, continues in the tradition of its previous versions by combining an exhaustive account of the practice of the Security Council with examples and anecdotes to illustrate how the Council works, and how it doesn't. For a 744-page book that deals with procedure, it is a highly readable tome written in a non-scholarly fashion that combines the rigor of an academic text with the prose of a journalist." -UN TRIBUNE

"Sievers and Daws shed light on the intricacies of council procedures. Like its preceding editions, the book successfully makes the council's work plain to interested readers, be it scholar, student, diplomat or journalist. It's a surprisingly uncomplicated, highly readable book, compared with the usual scholarly works on the UN, written in academic jargon. It is highly recommended to all interested in the UN, as appreciating the important changes can play a key role in building support for the council's work in maintaining international peace." -PassBlue

"The new fourth edition of this comprehensive tome is engaging in its narrative and practical in its approach. Recommended Books and Reports for 2015." -IPI Global Observatory

"...an impressive 450 pages of new material. The accompanying website www.scprocedure.org is a real gold mine. It is used to keep the book continuously updated. The book...provides a history, a written record of the institutional memory of the Council. The anecdotal style of the earlier versions is preserved in this new edition. This makes the study a great pleasure to read." -Academic Council of the United Nations System

From the Publisher