THE SECURITY COUNCIL’S ENCROACHMENT ON THE JURISDICTION OF OTHER UN BODIESTHE FUTURE OR THE BREAKDOWN OF THE UNITED NATIONS?

GORDANIĆ Jelica (Jelica Gordanić, PhD, Research Fellow, Institute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade), jelica@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs

In recent decades, the encroachment of the Security Council on the competence and jurisdiction of the General Assembly and other UN bodies is noticeable. The encroachment indicates the tendency of the Security Council to broaden, arbitrarily, the definition of what constitutes a threat to international peace and security, particularly with respect to thematic debates on social, humanitarian, economic, and development issues. Thematic debates on AIDS, climate change and human rights had caused the anger of the Member States and raised a question about the jurisdiction of the Security Council comparing to the other UN bodies like the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. The encroachment of the Security Council might have positive aspects in the development and popularization of the human security concept within the United Nations. The author concludes that the encroachment of the Security Council causes more damage than good effects for the United Nations. It shows a lack of coordination between main bodies, stagnation, and the marginalization of other main bodies in the UN system and arbitrarily boarding of “a threat to peace” and “the maintenance of international peace and security”.

Keywords: the Security Council, encroachment, the General Assembly, threat to peace, AIDS, climate change, human security