AN APPRAISAL OF THE ROLE OF VETO POWER IN ADMISSION OF STATES TO THE UNITED NATIONS

Abstract

The United Nations is not only the largest multilateral organization in the world, but also the most influential and powerful intergovernmental organization in the world. It is for this reason that every sovereign and independent state yearns for membership of the United Nations. However, admission to the United Nations is not granted to sovereign and independent states as a matter of course upon fulfillment of the formal requirements, which are laid down in Article 4, paragraph 1 of the United Nations Charter, rather it is always subject to the whims and caprices of the existing members of the United Nations, especially the permanent members of the Security Council, who frequently use their veto power to decide which state becomes a member of the United Nations. This paper examined the nature of veto power of the permanent members of the Security Council and the role of veto power in the admission of new states to the United Nations. The research methodology adopted by the researcher is purely doctrinal, whereas analytical, descriptive and prescriptive approaches were employed. The paper found that arbitrary use of veto power by the permanent members of the Security Council is the major reason why some sovereign states have not been admitted to the United Nations. It was, therefore, recommended that article 27 of the United Nations Charter should be urgently amended in such a manner that veto power should not apply in cases relating to admission of states to the membership of the United Nations. This will not only ensure that veto power is no longer used by the permanent members of the Security Council to block admission of qualified states to the United Nations, but will also promote the universal character of the United Nations. Also, this paper recommended that the permanent members of the Security Council should refrain from using their veto power except where their vital national interest is at stake.