INTERNATIONAL LAW, Sixth edition

1216 international law
In many disputes, the functions assigned to the Secretary-General by
the other organs of the United Nations have enabled him to increase the
influence of the organisation. 56 One remarkable example of this occurred
in the Congo crisis of 1960 and the subsequent Council resolution authorising
the Secretary-General in very wide-ranging terms to take action. 57
Another instance of the capacity of the Secretary-General to take action
was the decision of 1967 to withdraw the UN peacekeeping force in the
Middle East, thus removing an important psychological barrier to war,
and provoking a certain amount of criticism.
The sixth principal organ of the UN is the International Court of Justice,
established in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International
Justice. 58
The peaceful settlement of disputes 59
The League of Nations 60
TheprovisionssetoutintheUNCharteraretoalargedegreebased
upon the terms of the Covenant of the League of Nations as amended
in the light of experience. Article 12 of the Covenant declared that any
dispute likely to lead to a conflict between members was to be dealt with in
one of three ways: by arbitration, by judicial settlement or by inquiry by
the Council of the League. Article 15 noted that the Council was to try to
effect a settlement of the dispute in question, but if that failed, it was to
publish a report containing the facts of the case and ‘the recommendations
which are deemed just and proper in regard thereto’. This report was not,
however, binding upon the parties, but if it was a unanimous one the
League members were not to go to war ‘with any party to the dispute
56 Article 98. See also J. Pérez de Cuéllar, ‘The Role of the UN Secretary-General’ in Roberts
and Kingsbury, United Nations, Divided World, p. 125.
57 See below, p. 1226. 58 See above, chapter 19.
59 See e.g. M. Raman, Dispute Settlement through the United Nations, Oxford, 1977; J. G.
Merrills, International Dispute Settlement, 4th edn, Cambridge, 2005, chapter 10; United
Nations, Handbook on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes Between States, New York, 1992;
N. Bar-Yaacov, The Handling of International Disputes by Means of Inquiry, London, 1974,
chapter 8; B. S. Murty, ‘Settlement of Disputes’ in Manual of Public International Law (ed.
M. Sørensen), London, 1968, p. 673; E. Luard, A History of the United Nations, London,
1982, vol. I; Falk and Mendlovitz, Strategy of World Order, vol.III;The United Nations
(eds. R. A. Falk and S. Mendlovitz), New York, 1966; Cot et al., Charte, pp. 1047 ff.; N. D.
White, Keeping the Peace, 2nd edn, Manchester, 1998.
60 See generally, e.g. G. Scott, The Rise and Fall of the League of Nations, London, 1973, and
Falk and Mendlovitz, Strategy of World Order, chapter1.