The UN Charter

This book reintroduces the U.N. Charter to the global audience by describing the Charter as the most important secular document in the world, for it is essentially the constitution of global governance to which all nations are bound, even if some honor it in the breach. The co-authors explain the core principles embedded in the Charter, which embodies codified customary international law for all nations. But the book also introduces pragmatic interpretations of key Charter provisions to modernize its application both today and in the future. Under the authority of the Charter, such U.N. bodies as the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Human Rights Council, and International Court of Justice address global affairs in a tough neighborhood of 193 sovereign nations. Yet relatively few people are conversant with the principles set forth in the Charter.  With moral principles under siege and with the reality of divisive politics in contemporary life, the Charter remains a beacon of global unity that offers a renewed sense of human progress in a turbulent world. The book explicates five core tenets of the U.N. Charter: human rights and fundamental freedoms, international law, economic and social progress, international peace and security, and peacemaking.

The book will appeal to the academic audience and is written in a style that will engage the general reader as well.

This is an extraordinary book. An excellent combination of history and future. It should definitely be used widely in educating present and coming generations about the importance of the UN and international law. It should also be read by representatives of UN member states, in particular of the P5 of the UN Security Council. It is unacceptable that all of them do not consequently perform as required by the UN Charter. 

(Hans Corell, Former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the United Nations)

This is an authoritative, comprehensive and timely work on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the UN Charter, by two leading experts in international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law. A must read.

(The Honourable Irwin Cotler, P.C., O.C., O.Q., Ad.E.; former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; Founder & International Chair, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights)

Our world is now fraught with peril from natural and human-made disasters. In this context, Scheffer and Ellis make a timely and compelling call for universal respect for, and commitment to, the cornerstone of international law - the Charter of the United Nations. The authors demonstrate that in this 80th anniversary year of the Charter coming into force, its core provisions remain as relevant and vital as they did in 1945.

(Richard Goldstone, Former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals of the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda)