Primacy of The General Assembly
The chapter on the UN General Assembly appears in the Charter before the chapters on the other five principal organs (UN Security Council, UN Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice, and UN Secretariat). This reflects the UN's founders' view of the General Assembly as the "first" branch of the UN, in much the same way that the placement of the provisions related to the US Congress in Article I of the United States Constitution before those dealing with the US President and US Supreme Court reflects the Philadelphia Convention's view of Congress as the "first branch" of the US government. Both the US Congress and the UN General Assembly hold the "power of the purse" in regard to their respective organizations. No doubt, the General Assembly also appears first because most decisions (except those dealing with security matters) mentioned later in the Charter require General Assembly assent, and the General Assembly appoints:
- 10 of the 15 members of the Security Council;
- All of the members of ECOSOC;
- As many as half the members of the Trusteeship Council;
- All of the judges of the International Court of Justice (with Security Council assent); and
- The Secretary-General (upon the Security Council's nomination).
Article 9 guarantees each member country a seat in the General Assembly, making it the only UN body with universal membership.
Read more about this topic: Chapter IV Of The United Nations Charter
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“The primacy of the word, basis of the human psyche, that has in our age been used for mind-bending persuasion and brain-washing pulp, disgraced by Goebbels and debased by advertising copy, remains a force for freedom that flies out between all bars.”
—Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923)
“The primacy of the word, basis of the human psyche, that has in our age been used for mind-bending persuasion and brain-washing pulp, disgraced by Goebbels and debased by advertising copy, remains a force for freedom that flies out between all bars.”
—Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923)
“The trouble with lying and deceiving is that their efficiency depends entirely upon a clear notion of the truth that the liar and deceiver wishes to hide. In this sense, truth, even if it does not prevail in public, possesses an ineradicable primacy over all falsehoods.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
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—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
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—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)