Chapter IV of The United Nations Charter - Articles 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16

Articles 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16

Article 10 gives the General Assembly (UNGA) power to "discuss any questions or any matters within the scope of the present Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any organs provided for in the present Charter" and to make recommendations on those subjects. This, along with the Article 15 provision requiring the Security Council (UNSC) and other organs to issue reports of their activities to the General Assembly, essentially puts the General Assembly in the role of overseer over the other UN bodies (there is no reciprocal provision by which the Security Council or other bodies make recommendations as to the powers and functions of the General Assembly). Article 11 tasks the UNGA with considering "principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments" and making recommendations on the same to the UNSC, which under Chapter V has the responsibility of making more detailed plans in reference to disarmament. The UNGA is prohibited by Article 12 from making recommendations on matters currently being dealt with by the UNSC, unless requested to do so by the Council. However, this has not always prevented the General Assembly from attempting to deal with threats to international peace and security, in cases where the UNSC was deadlocked, by using the framework of the Uniting for Peace resolution (A/RES/377 A).

Article 13 tasks the General Assembly with initiating studies and making recommendations for "promoting international co-operation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification." This provides a clue as to the founders' hopes that the UN as formulated by the original Charter would be a first step toward a much more comprehensive framework of international law, whose development would be coordinated by the General Assembly. Article 16 grants the UNGA limited power over the trusteeship system.