1. At its forty-eighth session, the General Assembly decided, in its resolution 48/26 of 3 December 1993, to establish an Open-ended Working Group to consider all aspects of the question of increase of the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council. The full text of the resolution is reproduced in annex I to the present report.

2. The Open-ended Working Group began its deliberations in January 1994. The mandate of the Working Group was extended by the General Assembly at its forty-eighth through fifty-first sessions.¹ Reports on the progress of its work were submitted by the Working Group to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth, forty-ninth, fiftieth and fifty-first sessions.²

3. On 15 September 1997, in its decision 51/476, the General Assembly decided that the Open-ended Working Group should continue its work and submit a report to the Assembly before the end of the fifty-second session, including any agreed recommendations. The present report is prepared and submitted pursuant to that decision.

4. During the fifty-second session of the General Assembly, the Open-ended Working Group held 56 meetings, from 26 November 1997 to 24 August 1998. The President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), served as Chairman of the Working Group.

5. At its first meeting, on 26 November 1997, Ambassador Wilhelm Breitenstein (Finland) and Ambassador Asda Jayanama (Thailand) were reappointed as Vice-Chairmen of the Working Group.

6. During the fifty-second session of the General Assembly, the Working Group held six substantive sessions. During these sessions, delegations made several written as well as oral proposals related to the issues discussed. Reference was also made to proposals and/or position papers submitted during previous sessions and annexed to previous reports of the Working Group. All proposals remain on the table. The Working Group affirmed that the work of the General Assembly on Security Council reform should be conducted in conformity with the relevant Assembly resolutions, fully respecting the need for transparency and open-endedness.

7. The first substantive session was held from 3 to 13 February 1998. At that session, the Open-ended Working Group adopted its programme of work (A/AC.247/1998/CRP.5; see annex II). It had before it the following conference room papers:

8. In addition, the Working Group had before it a conference room paper prepared by the Bureau of the Open-ended Working Group, A/AC.247/1998/CRP.4,^* on the first item on its programme of work, "Working methods of the Security Council and transparency of its work" (see annex III). The conference room paper was prepared on the basis of discussions during the fifty-first session of the General Assembly, as well as views expressed by Member States during the general debate of the fifty-second session of the General Assembly and on agenda items 59 and 11.

9. The Open-ended Working Group held its second substantive session from 23 February to 13 March 1998, and continued its discussion on working methods of the Security Council and transparency of its work on the basis of a revised conference room paper prepared by the Bureau (A/AC.247/1998/CRP.4/Rev.1;^* see annex IV). The following conference room papers regarding the relationship between the Security Council, the General Assembly and the general membership of the United Nations were also submitted:

10. During its third substantive session, held from 21 April to 8 May 1998, the Open-ended Working Group began consideration of the second item on its programme of work, "Decision-making in the Security Council, including the veto". That discussion was based on section X of annex IX to the report of the Working Group to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session.³ Following that discussion, the Bureau prepared a revised version contained in document A/AC.247/1998/CRP.10^* (see annex X), which, after its consideration, was revised as A/AC.247/1998/CRP.10/Rev.1^* (see annex XI). The following conference room papers on the topic were also submitted:

11. The Working Group then began consideration of item three of its programme of work, "Expansion of the Security Council", based on a conference room paper prepared by the Bureau, A/AC.247/1998/CRP.12,^* entitled "Sets of outstanding issues related to the expansion of the Security Council" (see annex XVIII).

12. During its fourth substantive session, held from 26 to 29 May 1998, the Open-ended Working Group continued its consideration of the third item on its programme of work, "Expansion of the Security Council". Egypt, in its capacity as coordinator of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, informed the Working Group about the Ministerial Meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, held from 19 to 20 May 1998 at Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, as regards the expansion of the Security Council. The relevant parts of the Cartagena communiqué were subsequently distributed during the sixth substantive session as conference room paper, A/AC.247/1998/CRP.21, entitled "Letter transmitted by Egypt in its capacity as coordinator of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries: paragraphs related to the reform of the Security Council which appeared in the final communiqué of the Ministerial Meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries [original paragraphs 53 through 65] held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, on 19 and 20 May 1998" (see annex XXXI).

13. The Working Group also began consideration of the fourth item on its programme of work, "Periodic review of the enlarged Security Council", on which the Bureau had prepared conference room paper A/AC.247/1998/CRP.13,^* entitled "Summary of proposals made on the periodic review of the enlarged Security Council" (see annex XXV).

14. The Working Group further began consideration of the fifth item on its programme of work, "Majority required for taking decisions on Security Council reform", on which the Bureau had prepared conference room paper A/AC.247/1998/CRP.14^* with the same title (see annex XXVIII). Hungary, in its capacity as Chairman of the Group of Eastern European States for the month of May 1998, also submitted the following conference room paper:

15. At its fifth substantive session, held from 15 to 26 June 1998, in relation to the third item of the programme of work, "Expansion of the Security Council", Senegal, on behalf of the Group of African States, informed the Open-ended Working Group about the decision taken by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its thirty-fourth session, held from 8 to 10 June 1998, in Ouagadougou. That decision was subsequently circulated as conference room paper A/AC.247/1998/CRP.16 and Corr.1 entitled, "Decision of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity on the procedure for rotation of the two permanent seats claimed by Africa, transmitted by Senegal" (see annex XXIV).

16. During this session the Working Group reverted to the first item on its programme of work, "Working methods of the Security Council and transparency of its work", and discussed document A/AC.247/1998/CRP.4/Rev.2,^* prepared by the Bureau (see annex V).

17. It also continued consideration of the fifth item on its programme of work, "Majority required for taking decisions on Security Council reform".

18. The Working Group then reverted to item two of its programme of work, "Decision-making in the Security Council, including the veto". In this connection, the following conference room papers were submitted:

19. With regard to item three of its programme of work discussed at the fourth substantive session, the following conference room paper was submitted:

20. During the sixth substantive session, held from 9 July to 7 August 1998, the Open-ended Working Group revisited items three, four and five of its programme of work, namely, "Expansion of the Security Council"; "Periodic review of the enlarged Security Council"; and "Majority required for taking decisions on Security Council reform". In this connection, it considered the following conference room papers submitted by the Bureau to reflect proposals presented during previous sessions:

21. With regard to the first item on its programme of work, discussed at the fifth substantive session, the following conference room paper was also submitted:

24. At its 56th meeting, on 24 August 1998, the Open-ended Working Group concluded its work for the current session of the General Assembly and decided to recommend that consideration of this item be continued at the fifty-third session of the Assembly, building upon the work done during previous sessions. To that end, the Working Group recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the following draft decision:

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 47/62 of 11 December 1992,

Noting with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General which reflected the views of a number of Member States on the agenda item entitled "Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council",

Recalling also the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, especially Article 23,

Recalling further that the Members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf,

Recognizing the need to review the membership of the Security Council and related matters in view of the substantial increase in the membership of the United Nations, especially of developing countries, as well as the changes in international relations,

Bearing in mind the need to continue to enhance the efficiency of the Security Council,

Reaffirming the principle of the sovereign equality of all Members of the United Nations,

Acting in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter,

Mindful of the importance of reaching general agreement,

1. Decides to establish an Open-ended Working Group to consider all aspects of the question of increase in the membership of the Security Council, and other matters related to the Security Council;

2. Requests the Open-ended Working Group to submit a report on the progress of its work to the General Assembly before the end of its forty-eighth session;

3. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-ninth session an item entitled "Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters".

1. Working methods of the Security Council and transparency of its work.

2. Decision-making in the Security Council, including the veto.

3. Expansion of the Security Council.

4. Periodic review of the enlarged Security Council.

5. Majority required for taking decisions on Security Council reform.

6. Other matters.

7. Report of the Open-ended Working Group to the General Assembly.

1. The Open-ended Working Group achieved substantial progress during the fifty-first session of the General Assembly in its discussions on the working methods and transparency of the Security Council. The results of the debates are reflected in the negotiating paper of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries on cluster II issues,¹ which was first submitted to the Working Group in March 1997, and in conference room papers 3 and 8 of the Bureau,² prepared on the basis of the debates of the Working Group on the negotiating paper submitted by the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. During its deliberations in July 1997, the Working Group also discussed in detail the working methods and transparency of the Council based on part B of conference room paper 8, but no new conference room paper was prepared as a result of the discussions at that time. The present document attempts to incorporate the views expressed in those discussions.³

2. Suggested improvements to the present practice:⁴

(a) The Security Council should, as a rule, conduct its business in public;

(b) The Security Council should hold open and substantive orientation debates at the beginning of the consideration by the Council of any substantive matter;

(c) Open public meetings should also be held, as appropriate, when special envoys of the Secretary-General or representatives of United Nations agencies are reporting to the Council;

(d) In certain cases, when it so decides, the Security Council may meet in private and/or conduct its business in informal consultations.

3. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Amend rule 48 of the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council accordingly.

4. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

(a) In addition to the tentative forecast of the monthly programme of work of the Security Council already distributed to the membership, the provisional schedule of work of the Security Council for the month and its updated versions should also be circulated as soon as they are available;

(b) The provisional agenda, including expected action (e.g., decisions on draft resolutions, reports, exchange of views, etc.) to be taken at Security Council meetings and an annotated agenda for informal consultations of the whole should be included in the Journal of the United Nations.

5. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Include this arrangement in the provisional rules of procedure.

6. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

(a) The practice followed by the President of briefing non-members of the Security Council should be continued on a regular basis. These briefings should be arranged immediately after informal consultations. They should provide substantive and detailed information to non-members of the Council. Interpretation should be provided for these briefings. The President of the Security Council should decide whether written records of the briefings should also be distributed to non-members of the Council. If written records of the briefings are to be provided, they should also be transmitted to the Permanent Missions to the United Nations through electronic mail;

(b) The President of the Security Council should make draft resolutions and draft presidential statements available as soon as they become the basis for informal consultations of the Council, or earlier if authorized by the author of the draft. If they are not distributed, the President should provide information on the existence of the draft resolutions to the Council;

(c) Information about consultations with troop-contributing countries, as well as briefings given to those countries, should be included in the briefings of the President of the Security Council immediately after such consultations have taken place;

(d) Briefings should be announced in the Journal of the United Nations.

7. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Add an appropriate rule to the provisional rules of procedure and/or adopt a presidential statement on the matter and annex it to the provisional rules of procedure.

8. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

(a) Consultations between the members of the Security Council and troop-contributing countries, both current and potential, should be held promptly and on a regular basis before and during the decision-making process on the establishment, conduct and termination of peacekeeping operations, including the renewal and change of their mandates. The Secretariat should be represented at and participate in such consultations;

(b) Consideration should be given to inviting contributors of civilian components and other countries affected by and/or involved in multifaceted operations;

(c) Consultations between the members of the Security Council and the troop-contributing countries should be convened by the President of the Security Council upon request from a troop-contributing country;

(d) The Security Council should make full use of the proposals and/or information received in the consultations with the troop-contributing countries.

9. Proposed form of institutionalization:

The Security Council should adopt a presidential statement on these new measures, which should be annexed to the provisional rules of procedure.

10. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

(a) Each President of the Security Council should give an analytical assessment of the work of the Council during the month under his/her Presidency to be attached to the report of the Council to the General Assembly. The analytical assessments should also be distributed to the non-members of the Council immediately after they are issued by the President of the Council;

(b) The annual report of the Security Council to the General Assembly should give a substantive and analytical account of the Council’s work, and it should be made available to the General Assembly before the beginning of its annual general debate;

(c) The Security Council should, through an appropriate procedure or mechanism, update the General Assembly on a regular basis on the steps it has taken or is contemplating with respect to improving its reporting to the Assembly, including improvements in its working methods and transparency;

(d) The Security Council should include in its report information on requests received under Article 50 of the Charter of the United Nations and actions taken by the Council thereon;

(e) The Security Council should submit special reports to the General Assembly for its consideration as stipulated in Article 24, paragraph 3, of the Charter;

(f) The Security Council should, in preparing its annual report to the General Assembly, fully take into account resolution 51/193 of 17 December 1996.

11. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Add a new rule or annex these provisions to the provisional rules of procedure.

12. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

(a) Meetings of the Security Council and informal consultations of the whole:

(b) Informal meetings of the members of the Security Council:

The members of the Security Council should have more frequent and broader recourse to the "Arria formula", whereby members of the Security Council, on the initiative of a Council member, can hear views of other Member States.

13. Proposed form of institutionalization:

As far as meetings of the Security Council and informal consultations of the whole are concerned, amend rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure to allow participation of non-members in informal consultations, as well as to allow fuller participation of non-members in open meetings; other meetings of the members of the Security Council will be left to the discretion of the members because they are not governed by the Council’s provisional rules of procedure.

14. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

The rules of procedure of the Security Council should include a reference to the fact that the Security Council should meet promptly to consider any request by a Member State for the convening of an urgent meeting of the Security Council to investigate any dispute, or any situation which might lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute, in order to determine whether the continuance of the dispute or situation is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security. The President of the Council should circulate such requests promptly as a document of the Council. The rules of procedure should require that the President convene a meeting of the Council to hear the Member in question. The Council should immediately decide whether to pursue the matter.

15. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Amend rule 3 of the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council.

16. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

(a) The rules of procedure of the Security Council should include a provision or a decision by the Council operationalizing the right, contained in Article 50 of the Charter, of Member States to consult the Council with regard to a solution to problems arising from their implementation of preventive or enforcement measures imposed by the Council, taking into consideration also Article 49 of the Charter;

(b) The Security Council should establish a mechanism to provide relief to affected States under Article 50 of the Charter on the basis of automaticity of application.

17. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Add an appropriate rule to the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council.

18. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

The Secretariat should establish a voice recording or another appropriate mechanism for alerting non-members of the Security Council of unscheduled or emergency meetings of the Council during nights, weekends or holidays.

19. Proposed form of institutionalization:

To be implemented by the Secretariat as soon as possible.

20. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

The Presidents of the Security Council and the General Assembly should have regular exchanges of views and consultations at least every month and, in the event of international crises or urgent developments, more frequently. Other interested parties, such as the members of the Bureau of the General Assembly, could be invited by both Presidents.

21. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Include in the provisional rules of procedure.

22. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

(a) Sanctions committees:

(b) Other subsidiary organs:

Subsidiary organs of the Council established in pursuance of Article 29 of the Charter should be more transparent in their proceedings (i.e., announcements of the meetings in the Journal, briefings to non-members, etc.).

23. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Insert an appropriate rule in chapter IX of the provisional rules of procedure entitled "Publicity of meetings, records".

24. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

The Security Council, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter, should take more frequent recourse to the International Court of Justice, in particular by seeking its advisory opinions.

25. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

(a) In its relations with regional arrangements, organizations and agencies, the Security Council should fully take into account/implement the provisions of General Assembly resolution 49/57 of 9 December 1994 and the results of the Agenda for Peace sub-group on coordination (see annex I, entitled "Coordination", to resolution 51/242) related to this matter;

(b) Regional organizations, agencies and arrangements should be consulted, at appropriate levels, on matters affecting the maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter and the relevant mandates of regional organizations concerned.

26. Suggested improvements to the present practice:

(a) The Charter should be amended so that:

(c) The Security Council should:

27. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Amend the Charter and/or include in the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council.

28. If the present action threshold is maintained at approximately the present level (60 per cent), the number of affirmative votes required for a decision would be: in a Council of 24: 14, in a Council of 25: 15 and in a Council of 26: 16. Proposals for changing the present action threshold have been made.

29. Proposed form of institutionalization:

Amend the Charter accordingly.

30. The Security Council should finalize its provisional rules of procedure. Towards this end, the following steps should be taken by the Council:

(a) The arrangements regarding various measures that the Security Council has already adopted to enhance its working methods and transparency,⁵ as well as the new measures discussed above, should be institutionalized as proposed by the Working Group in sections II to VI above;

(b) After institutionalization of the measures described in paragraph (a) above, there should be an overall review of the provisional rules of procedure, after which the word "provisional" should be deleted.

¹ Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-first Session, Supplement No. 47 (A/51/47), annex V.

² Ibid., annexes IV and IX.

³ Ibid., annex IX.

⁴ On the established practice and improvements taken by the Security Council so far, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-first Session, Supplement No. 47 (A/51/47), annex IX, on this item and other measures discussed in the present document.

⁵ See the following presidential statements and notes by the President of the Security Council (listed here in chronological order):