Legal Character of UNGA Resolutions in International Law

The assignment delves into the nature of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions under international law, particularly examining whether they are legally binding or merely recommendatory. While Article 38(1) of the Statute of International Court of Justice does not consider UNGA resolutions as legally binding, certain recommendations may carry binding effects in specific contexts like budget approvals and elections. The legal character of such resolutions remains controversial due to their significant influence on international law despite lacking explicit definitions or decisions regarding their binding nature. Additionally, Resolution 49/75K is analyzed for its potential role in developing international customary norms, specifically regarding the legality and prohibition of nuclear weapons as advised to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Running head: BUSINESS LAW AND ETHICS
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1BUSINESS LAW AND ETHICS
Answer to question no. 6
(a)
Legal character of United Nations General Assembly resolution:
Among the six elements of the United Nations, the general assembly section is one. In
this organ, all the principle of equality in diversity is to be followed and it is the main policy
making organ under the United Nation (Ferdinand 2014). The budget system of the United
Nation, appointment of the non-permanent members and recommendations for the General
Assembly Resolutions are the main objective of UNGA.
The resolutions are an important thing regarding the international relationship.
However, under Article 38(1) of Statute of International Court of Justice, there is no
provision regarding the resolution (Obama 2015). The resolutions are mere recommendation
and not legally binding in nature. In certain situations, the recommendations are become
binding and the grounds are matters related to budget, election and suspension of the
member.
The legal character of the resolutions is based on uncertainty as the term has not been
decided or defined in proper sense. It is no doubt to state that the resolutions are creating
important impact on the international law, but legal status of the resolutions is controversial
in nature. According to Article 10, 11 and 13 of the charter of United States, it has been
proved that the resolutions have no binding power and they are merely recommendatory. As
per the recommendations made by the general assembly in the year 1945, if maximum
members of UN have supported the policy made by the UNGA, the character of the
resolutions will be binding upon others (Weiss et al. 2016).

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(b)
Does resolution 49/75K can be regarded as an evidence for the development of
international customary norms?
It is clear from the Articles of the International Court of Justice that the
recommendations made by the United Nations General Assembly are not legally binding but
they are effective regarding the international policies. There are more than 6000 resolutions
are being taken by UNGA with different purpose and the present resolution is adopted to
advise the international Court of Justice regarding legality of Nuclear weapons (Pedraza and
Rezapour 2016). The detrimental effect of the nuclear weapons had been mentioned in a
letter to the general assembly and it is also recommended that the use of nuclear weapon
should be prohibited to reduce the threat of nuclear war. Nuclear war has certain impacts on
the international law and under Article 96 of the UN charter; UNGA has the right to request
ICJ regarding any legal question.

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Reference:
Ferdinand, P., 2014. Rising powers at the UN: an analysis of the voting behaviour of BRICS
in the General Assembly. Third World Quarterly, 35(3), pp.376-391.
Obama, B., 2015. Remarks by President Obama to the United Nations General
Assembly. White House, Office of the Press Secretary, September, 28.
Pedraza, J.M. and Rezapour, S., 2016. A POSSIBLE NEW MECHANISM TO ACHIEVE
NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: THE LEGAL CASE OF THE
REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS AGAINST THE NUCLEAR POWERS IN
THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE. International Journal of Terrorism &
Political Hot Spots, 11.
Weiss, T.G., Forsythe, D.P., Coate, R.A. and Pease, K.K., 2016. The United Nations and
changing world politics. Westview Press.