Security Council Legislation, Article 2(7) of the UN Charter and the Principle of Subsidiarity

Working Paper 2011:05

Author: Nicholas Tsagourias (Professor of International Law and Security, School of Law, University of Glasgow)

This article considers the relationship between the United Nations and its Member States in view of the recent assertion of legislative powers by the Security Council. It claims that the exponential growth in UN powers at the expense of the powers of its Member States cannot be arrested by legal means, because of the nature of the UN system and the absence of legally enforceable criteria or compulsory dispute settlement mechanisms. For this reason, it proposes a different approach to law-making in the area of international peace and security; one which is built around the principle of subsidiarity, as reflected in Article 2(7) of the UN Charter. The role of the principle of subsidiarity in this respect is to determine which authority is best suited to exercise legislative power in peace and security, and how such power should be exercised, in order to attain peace and security more efficiently. It is thus contended that the principle of subsidiarity promotes cooperative relations between the UN and its Member States by protecting the latter’s jurisdictional authority from unnecessary interference.