The Voting Procedure in the United Nations Security Council
Examining a Normative Contradiction in the UN Charter and its Consequences on International Relations
Paper presented at theFirst International Conference On A More Democratic United Nations (CAMDUN-1), New York, 13-15 November 1995

Contents

I. The voting procedure in the UN Security Council and traditional power politics

II. The (indirect) embodiment of the veto in the UN Charter

III. The veto privilege as the major impediment to the achievement of collective security

IV. The origin of the controversy over the voting privilege in the United Nations

V. The specific abbuse of the veto for reasons of power politics: (a) The "double veto"; (b) Circumventing the abstention clause

VI. The veto and the sovereign equality of States (Analysis of a normative contradiction)

VII. The abolition of the veto as the only alternative to traditional power politics