On 5 December 1988, the General Assembly adopted, without a vote, resolution 43/51 entitled “Declaration on the Prevention and Removal of Disputes and Situations Which May Threaten International Peace and Security and on the Role of the United Nations in this Field”.

The topic of the prevention and removal of disputes and situations which may threaten international peace and security and the role of the United Nations in this field was first raised during the debate of the Sixth Committee on the Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization, at the thirty-eight session of the General Assembly, in 1983. At the same session, the General Assembly, by resolution 38/141, instructed the Special Committee to work on the question with the aim of submitting its conclusions to the General Assembly for the adoption of such recommendations as the Assembly deemed appropriate. Following its consideration of the topic, the Special Committee submitted to the General Assembly, in 1988, a draft document entitled “Declaration on the prevention and removal of disputes and situations which may threaten international peace and security and on the role of the United Nations in this field”. At its forty-third session, in 1988, the draft declaration was considered by the Sixth Committee, which recommended that the General Assembly adopt a resolution containing the Declaration.

In the Declaration, the General Assembly declares, inter alia, that States should act as to prevent in their international relations the emergence or aggravation of disputes or situations, and in order to prevent such disputes or situations, States should develop their relations on the basis of the sovereign equality of States. States should also consider using bilateral or multilateral consultations and should consider approaching the United Nations for advice or recommendations on preventative means. Furthermore, when a particular dispute or situation is brought to the attention of the Security Council without a meeting being requested, the Council should consider holding consultations with a view to examining the facts of the dispute or situation and keeping it under review, with the assistance of the Secretary-General when needed and the States concerned should have the opportunity of making their views known. The Security Council should also consider sending fact-finding or good offices missions or establishing appropriate forms of United Nations presence, including observers and peace-keeping operations, as a means of preventing the further deterioration of the dispute or situation in the areas concerned and, when appropriate, make use of the provisions of the Charter concerning the possibility of requesting the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal question.

The general topic of the prevention and removal of disputes and situations which may threaten international peace and security and the role of the United Nations in this field was first raised during the thirty-eighth session of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly (A/38/674), during its examination of the 1983 session Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (A/38/33), in the context of the Special Committee’s mandate to examine ways of strengthening the role of the United Nations with regard to the maintenance and consolidation of international peace and security in accordance with General Assembly resolution 3499 (XXX) of 15 December 1975.

At the thirty-eighth session of the General Assembly, following the recommendation of its Sixth Committee, the Assembly adopted resolution 38/141 of 19 December 1983, by which it requested the Special Committee, at its 1984 session, to accord priority to the question of the maintenance of international peace and security in all its aspects in order to strengthen the role of the United Nations, in particular the Security Council, and enable the Council to fully discharge its responsibilities under the Charter in this field. The resolution noted that this request necessitated the examination, inter alia, of the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and of situations which may lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute, and accordingly instructed the Special Committee to work on this question with the aim of submitting its conclusions to the General Assembly for the adoption of such recommendations as the Assembly deemed appropriate. Finally, the resolution requested the Special Committee to report on its work on the matter to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session under an ongoing item of its agenda related to the annual report of the Special Committee.

At its 1984 session, the Special Committee held a series of meetings between 11 and 23 April during which it considered the matter entrusted to it under General Assembly resolution 38/141. At these meetings, the Special Committee had before it a working paper (A/AC.182/L.38) submitted by Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and later joined by New Zealand, entitled “Prevention and removal of threats to the peace and of situations which may lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute”, which served as the basis for a preliminary discussion in the Committee (Report of the Special Committee, A/39/33).

At its thirty-ninth session, following the recommendation of its Sixth Committee (A/39/781), the General Assembly adopted resolution 39/88 A of 13 December 1984 by which it took note of the report of the Special Committee and requested the Committee to continue to accord priority to the examination of the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and of situations which may lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute, and report on its work on the matter to the General Assembly, at its fortieth session, under the ongoing agenda item related to the annual report of the Special Committee.

At its 1985 session, during a series of meetings held between 13 to 25 March, the Special Committee had before it a revised version of the working paper submitted at the previous session by the co-sponsors (A/AC.182/L.38/Rev.1), which reflected the discussion in the Committee at that session. The revised working paper was thoroughly discussed in the Special Committee, and it was agreed that further discussion would be necessary before final agreement could be reached (Report of the Special Committee, A/40/33).

At its fortieth session, following the recommendation of the Sixth Committee (A/40/1013), the General Assembly adopted resolution 40/78 of 11 December 1985 by which it took into account the work accomplished by the Special Committee on the working paper on this topic and requested the Committee at its 1986 session to continue to accord priority to the matter and report on its work to the Assembly at its forty-first session, with the aim of submitting its conclusions to the Assembly for the adoption of such recommendations as the Assembly would deem appropriate.

At its 1986 session, during a series of meetings held between 18 to 28 April, the Special Committee had before it a further revised version of the working paper (A/AC.182/L.38/Rev.2) submitted at the 1984 session by the co-sponsors, which reflected the discussion in the Committee at the 1985 session. While further progress was made in the discussions, the Special Committee was unable to submit its conclusions to the General Assembly at this stage (Report of the Special Committee, A/41/33) due to the submission of another working paper (A/AC.182/L.48), on 11 April 1986, by Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic and Poland. The Special Committee examined the revised working paper (A/AC.182/L.38/Rev.2), taking into account the relevant portions of the newly submitted document (A/AC.182/L.48), with a view to identifying points of agreement. The Special Committee then proceeded to examine the newly submitted working paper (A/AC.182/L.48).

At its forty-first session, following the recommendation of the Sixth Committee (A/41/894), the General Assembly adopted resolution 41/83 of 3 December 1986 by which it expressed concern that the Special Committee, since its establishment, had not yet submitted any conclusions to the Assembly on the question of the maintenance of international peace and security. The resolution, taking note of the work accomplished by the Special Committee on the basis of the working papers, therefore requested the Committee at its 1987 session to continue to accord priority to the matter, and in doing so, to concentrate its efforts on the question of the prevention and removal of threats to peace and of situations that may lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute. This task was to be accomplished on the basis of the revised working paper (A/AC.182/L.38/Rev.2), and on any other proposals specific to this question, with a view to completing its consideration thereof and elaborating appropriate conclusions thereon for submission to the Assembly as soon as possible. The Special Committee was additionally requested to continue its consideration of the working paper newly introduced at the Special Committee’s 1986 session (A/AC.182/L.48). Finally, the resolution requested the Special Committee to report on its work to the Assembly at its forty-second session.

At its 1987 session, during a series of meetings held from 13 to 20 February, the Special Committee had before it a third revised version of the original working paper (A/AC.182/L.38/Rev.3), as well as the working paper introduced in 1986 (A/AC.182/L.48). The revised working paper, which included a “Draft declaration on the prevention and removal by the United Nations of disputes, situations which may lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute and matters which may threaten the maintenance of peace and security” was, in part, provisionally adopted during the session. However, a few proposals were introduced to amend certain parts of the draft declaration (Report of the Special Committee, A/42/33).

At its forty-second session, following the recommendation of the Sixth Committee (A/42/817), the General Assembly adopted resolution 42/157 of 7 December 1987 by which it expressed appreciation for the progress achieved by the Special Committee during its 1987 session and requested the Committee at its next session in 1988 to continue to accord priority to the matter. In this context, the Assembly requested the Special Committee to complete an appropriate draft document on the matter, on the basis of the provisionally adopted parts of the draft declaration as well as other proposals introduced during the 1987 session of the Committee, and submit a complete draft document to the Assembly at its forty-third session.

At its 1988 session, during a series of meetings held from 22 February to 11 March, the Special Committee considered the draft declaration submitted by the co-sponsors at its previous session as well as other proposals introduced during that session. As a result of intensive discussions, the Special Committee completed its work and submitted to the General Assembly for consideration and adoption a draft document entitled “Declaration on the prevention and removal of disputes and situations which may threaten international peace and security and on the role of the United Nations in this field” (Report of the Special Committee, A/43/33).

At the forty-third session of the General Assembly, the draft declaration was discussed at several meetings in the Sixth Committee. On 4 November 1988, a joint draft resolution (A/C.6/43/L.6) was submitted which was based on the proposal of the Special Committee and adopted by the Sixth Committee on the same day. On 28 November 1988, in its report to the General Assembly (A/43/886), the Sixth Committee thus recommended that the General Assembly adopt a resolution to this effect. On 5 December 1988, the General Assembly accordingly adopted, without a vote, resolution 43/51, to which the Declaration is annexed.

General Assembly resolution 3499 (XXX) of 15 December 1975 (Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization)

Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization to the General Assembly (A/38/33, 24 June 1983)

Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, Summary records of meetings Nos. 55, and 57 to 65 of the thirty-eighth session, held from 28 November to 5 December 1983, respectively (A/C.6/38/SR.55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, and 65).

Report of the Sixth Committee to the General Assembly (A/38/674, 15 December 1983)

General Assembly resolution 38/141 of 19 December 1983 (Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization)

Working paper submitted jointly by Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and later joined by New Zealand to the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (A/AC.182/L.38, April 1984)

Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization to the General Assembly (A/39/33, 14 May 1984)

Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, Summary records of meetings Nos. 23 to 31, of the thirty-ninth session, held from 18 to 31 October 1984, respectively (A/C.6/39/SR.23-31)

Report of the Sixth Committee to the General Assembly (A/39/781, 11 December 1984)

General Assembly resolution 39/88 A of 13 December 1984 (Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization)

Revised working paper submitted jointly by Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and New Zealand to the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (A/AC.182/L.38/Rev.1, March 1985)

Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization to the General Assembly (A/40/33, 12 July 1985)

Report of the Sixth Committee to the General Assembly (A/40/1013, 9 December 1985)

Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, Summary records of meetings Nos. 37 to 43 and 48, 50 and 52 of the fortieth session, held from 13 to 20 November and 27 November, 2 and 4 December 1985, respectively (A/C.6/40/SR.37–43 and 48, 50, 52)

General Assembly resolution 40/78 of 11 December 1985 (Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization)

Revised working paper submitted jointly by Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and New Zealand to the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (A/AC.182/L.38/Rev.2, April 1986)

Working paper submitted jointly by Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic and Poland to the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (A/AC.182/L.48, April 1986)

Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization to the General Assembly (A/41/33, 30 May 1986)

Report of the Sixth Committee to the General Assembly (A/41/894, 1 December 1986)

Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, Summary records of meetings Nos. 15 to 21, 47 and 48 of the forty-first session, held from 13 to 21 October, 18 and 19 November 1986, respectively (A/C.6/41/SR.15, A/C.6/41/SR.16, A/C.6/41/SR.17, A/C.6/41/SR.18, A/C.6/41/SR.19, A/C.6/41/SR.20, A/C.6/41/SR.21, A/C.6/41/SR.47 and A/C.6/41/SR.48)

General Assembly resolution 41/83 of 3 December 1986 (Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization)

Revised working paper submitted jointly by Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and New Zealand to the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (A/AC.182/L.38/Rev.3, February 1987)

Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization to the General Assembly (A/42/33, 13 March 1987)

Report of the Sixth Committee to the General Assembly (A/42/817, 30 November 1987)

Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, Summary records of meetings Nos. 23 to 28 of the forty-second session, held from 15 to 21 October 1987, respectively (A/C.6/42/SR.23, A/C.6/42/SR.24, A/C.6/42/25, A/C.6/42/SR.26, A/C.6/42/SR.27, A/C.6/42/SR.28)

General Assembly resolution 42/157 of 7 December 1987 (Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization)

Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization to the General Assembly (A/43/33, 31 March 1988)

Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, Summary records of meetings Nos. 14 to 20 and 46, of the forty-third session, held from 14 October to 22 November 1988, respectively (A/C.6/43/SR.14, A/C.6/43/SR.15, A/C.6/43/SR.16, A/C.6/43/SR.17, A/C.6/43/SR.18, A/C.6/43/SR.19, A/C.6/43/SR.20, A/C.6/43/SR.46)

Joint draft resolution submitted by Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Ghana and Venezuela to the Sixth Committee (A/C.6/43/L.6, 2 November 1988)

Report of the Sixth Committee to the General Assembly (A/43/886, 28 November 1988)