The United Nations and the Principle of Peaceful Settlement of Disputes Between States: Some Reflection on The Mechanism of Arbitration as a Means

Abstract

The quest for peace by man is as old as the Human Society itself. Mankind is aware and very conscious of theimportance of peace. After World War 1, the League of Nations was established to provide a forum for resolvingInternational Disputes. The idea of establishing the organisation came as a result of the unprecedented destructionof lives and property during the First World War. The league’s goals were disarmament, preventing war throughcollective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation, diplomacy and improving globalwelfare. After the Second World War, the United Nations organization was established, precisely in 1945. Theultimate aim of establishing the organization is the maintenance of International Peace and Security, developingfriendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. Worldpeace is usually breached by the activities of states. Inter-state disputes usually arise and sometimes even leadingto war. International law regulates the settlement of disputes between states in the International arena. UnderInternational law, states are under an obligation to settle their disputes by peaceful means in such a manner thatInternational peace and security is not endangered. This paper seeks to explore and examine the various meansand methods provided by International law for the settlement of disputes between states. This paper specificallyundertakes a comparison between the various means and methods for the settlement of International Disputesbetween states as recognized by the United Nations in Article 33 (1) of the UN charter and contends that arbitrationseems to be the best suitable means for the settlement of International Disputes between states considering itsadvantages and states should be encouraged to use it the more in the settlement of their disputes when they arose.The researchers made use of the doctrinal approach. This paper is divided into five sections. Section one is theintroductory part, Section two examines the United Nations principles of Peaceful settlement of Disputes, Sectionthree deals with the Forms of Dispute Settlement as recommended in Article 33 (1) of the United Nations charter,section four takes a look at the uniqueness of Arbitration as a means of Disputes settlement recommended in theUN charter. The paper concludes in Section five with recommendation.