ABSTRACT
The Security Council is not an independent actor. It is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (Article 7). As Article 24(2) spells out, it is to “act in accordance with the Purposes and Principles” of that body. According to Article 1(1), the first purpose of the UN is:
To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.
