Article 6

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapter

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This chapter focuses on Art 6 of the UN Charter, which recognizes the possibility of expelling member States from the UN and regulates the conditions under which such expulsion can take place. The Organization is competent to resort to the severest form of what has been termed a ‘sanction of non-participation’. This sanction is available under narrowly defined circumstances only, namely if two of the UN’s main organs agree that a member State ‘has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter’. To date, Art 6 has never been applied; and its usefulness continues to be questioned. It has to be read in the context of other provisions that envisage interferences with UN membership. Indeed, it is closely linked to Art 5 which regulates the suspension of membership rights, and the special provision of Art 19 which deals with voting rights in the General Assembly. While these suspension provisions merely affect rights flowing from a member State’s position within the UN, expulsion terminates a State’s membership.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Charter of the United Nations : A Commentary
EditorsBruno Simma, Daniel-Erasmus Khan, Georg Nolte, Andreas Paulus
Number of pages14
PublisherCambridge University Press
Publication date30.05.2024
Edition4. Edition
Pages541-554
ISBN (print)9780192864536
ISBN (electronic)9780191955020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30.05.2024

    Research areas

  • Law - Expulsion, Membership of international organizations, UN Charter