COUNCIL AND COURT OF THE UNITED NATIONS
| Author | F. B. Schick |
| Published date | 01 July 1946 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1946.tb01002.x |
| Date | 01 July 1946 |
THE
MODERN
LAW
REVIEW
Volume
9
July
1946
No.
2
COUNCIL AND COURT
OF
THE
UNITED NATIONS
THE end of actual fighting, the highly destructive effects of the
war coupled with the future possibilities of the newly invented
atomic bomb, and the wide publicity given to the recently
established United Nations Organisation, have focused public
interest on society’s main problem-namely
,
the preservation
of
peace.
It
is in line with man’s longing for
an
enduring
peace that his ardent hopes are directed toward the United
Nations.
Obviously, neither
a
State constituted by its own national
legal order,
nor
the international community established
in
accordance ,with the norms of the international legal order,
can give an
absolute
guarantee of peace. The fact that the
doctrine
pacta
sunt
seroanda
is universally accepted
as
the
basis of all conventional law cannot be interpreted
as
rn
unlimited assurance that this axiom will never be violated.
Within the restrictions set by human desires and propensities
it
is quite possible, however, to examine the meaning and
significance of the United Nations Charter in connection with
the avowed purpose of the United Nations, namely,
‘
to save
succeeding generations from the scourge
of
war
’.I
It
would be
a
mistake to underestimate the role which the
General Assembly can play in the pacific settlement of disputes.
In spite of the fact that this
organ
of the United Nations
will lack the power of enforcement,
it
can offer all nations
an
international forum in which to voice their agreements
as
well
as
their differences. This much-belittled
‘
glorified debating
society
’
may well become the most effective instrument in the
strengthening of peace.
It
will be necessary, however, to turn
to
the Security Council and the International Court of
Justice once the
‘
discussions
’,
‘
considerations
’,
or
‘
recom-
mendations
’
of the General Assembly should not have produced
the desired effects.
While the promotion of international understanding
will
1
Charter
of
the United Nations together with the Ststute of the Int~3~StiOnSl
Court
of
Justice, Preamble, in Depsrtment of State, E’ub~icstion
2368.
Can-
ference Series
74,
p.
1.
97
VOL.
9
7
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