ABSTRACT
A distinction is drawn between original members of the United Nations and states that are admitted to membership under the terms of Art 4 of the Charter. Under the terms of Art 3, an original Member is one that participated in the San Francisco Conference and signed and ratified the Charter, or one that signed the United Nations Declaration of 1 January 1942 and then signed and ratified the Charter. Fifty one states qualified as original members of the United Nations including the five permanent members of the Security Council. The draftsmen of the Charter envisaged that other states would wish to join and so Art 4 stipulates that membership is open ‘to all other peace loving States which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organisation, are able and willing to carry out these obligations’. It is further provided that admission is contingent on a decision of the General Assembly upon a recommendation of the Security Council.
