View source for Emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly

{{Short description|none}}
An '''emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly''' ({{abbr.}} ESS of UNGA) is an unscheduled meeting of the [[United Nations General Assembly]] to make urgent recommendations on a particular issue. Such recommendations can include collective measures and can include the use of armed force when necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression when the [[United Nations Security Council]] fails to exercise its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security due to lack of unanimity of its permanent ("[[veto]]") members.

Under [[Chapter V of the United Nations Charter|Chapter Five]] of the [[Charter of the United Nations]], the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] is normally entrusted with maintaining international peace and security. However, on 3 November 1950, the General Assembly passed [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 377|Resolution 377 (Uniting for Peace)]] which expanded its authority to consider topics that were previously reserved solely for the Security Council. Under the Resolution, if the Security Council cannot come to a decision on an issue because of a lack of unanimity, the General Assembly may hold an emergency special session within 24 hours to consider the same matter.<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Charter of the United Nations |wslink=Charter of the United Nations |date=26 June 1945 |publisher=United Nations |location=San Francisco |page=6}}</ref><ref name="Swiss Handbook">{{cite book |last1=Ruder |first1=Nicole |last2=Nakano |first2=Kenji |last3=Aeschlimann |first3=Johann |editor1-last=Aeschlimann |editor1-first=Johann |editor2-last=Regan |editor2-first=Mary |date=2017 |title=The GA Handbook: A practical guide to the United Nations General Assembly |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/dam/mission-new-york/en/documents/UN_GA__Final.pdf |edition=2nd |location=New York |publisher=Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations |pages=14–15 |isbn=978-0-615-49660-3}}</ref><ref>{{UN doc |docid=A/RES/377(V) |body=A |session=5 |type=R |resolution_number=377 |title=Uniting for Peace |date=3 November 1950 |access-date=24 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wesel |first=Reinhard |date=2010 |title=A Concise Encyclopedia of the United Nations |url=http://www.mu.edu.et/iphc/images/Tourism/ebooksclub.org__A_Concise_Encyclopedia_of_the_United_Nations__2nd_Edition.pdf |editor1-last=Volger |editor1-first=Helmut |edition=2nd |location=Leiden |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |pages=189–90 |isbn=9789004180048 |access-date=2020-02-25 |archive-date=2020-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225054742/http://www.mu.edu.et/iphc/images/Tourism/ebooksclub.org__A_Concise_Encyclopedia_of_the_United_Nations__2nd_Edition.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The mechanism of the emergency special session<ref name="UNGAESSs">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/ga/sessions/emergency.shtml |title=UNGA Emergency Special Sessions |work=UN.org |access-date=28 February 2022 |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228023148/https://www.un.org/en/ga/sessions/emergency.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> was created in 1950 by the General Assembly's adoption of its "[[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 377|Uniting for Peace]]" resolution, which made the necessary changes to the Assembly's Rules of Procedure.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=A/520/Rev.19 |title=Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly |work=UN.org |access-date=14 April 2022 |archive-date=15 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215120709/https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=A%2F520%2FRev.19 |url-status=live }}</ref> The resolution likewise declared that:

<blockquote>
... if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security. If not in session at the time, the General Assembly may meet in emergency special session within twenty-four hours of the request therefor. Such emergency special session shall be called if requested by the Security Council on the vote of any seven members, or by a majority of the Members of the United Nations...
</blockquote>

Emergency special sessions are rare, a fact reflected in that there have been only eleven such sessions in the history of the United Nations. Additionally, most emergency special sessions run for a single plenary meeting, with the exception of the 7th (closed),  10th and 11th (both temporarily adjourned), which have been reconvened four, seventeen, and twenty one times respectively.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/ga/sessions/emergency.shtml |title=Emergency special sessions |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=United Nations General Assembly |publisher=United Nations |access-date=24 February 2020}}</ref>

== Procedure ==
The procedure to call an emergency special session are laid out in the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly. The rules pertaining to emergency special sessions are as follows (as amended by [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1991|Res. 1991]] that increased majority needed from 7 to 9):<ref>{{UN doc |docid=A/520/Rev.18 |body=A |type=D |document_number=520/Rev.18 |title=Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly |date=September 2016 |access-date=13 January 2020}}</ref>

* Rule 8(b) – Summoning at the request of the Security Council or Members
** Emergency special sessions can be convened by a vote of nine members of the Security Council, or a majority of United Nations Member States. These sessions must be convened within 24 hours of any votes.
* Rule 9(b) – Request by Members
** Allows any Member State of the United Nations to request the [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|Secretary-General]] to convene an emergency special session.
* Rule 10 – Notification of session
** Requires the Secretary-General to notify Member States, at least 12 hours in advance, of the opening of an emergency special session convened pursuant to rule 8(b).
* Rule 16 – Agenda
** States that the provisional agenda of an emergency special session shall be communicated to Member States simultaneously with the communication convening the session.
* Rule 19 – Additional items
** During an emergency special session, additional agenda items may be added for consideration by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.
* Rule 20 – Explanatory memorandum
** Requires any item proposed for inclusion in the agenda to be accompanied by an explanatory memorandum.

== Sessions ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! align="center" | Emergency special session !! Topic !! Convened by !! Date !! Resolution 
|-
|align="center"| [[First emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|First]]
|[[Suez Crisis]]
|rowspan=4|[[File:Emblem of the United Nations.svg|20px]] [[United Nations Security Council]]
|1–10 November 1956
|[https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/228961?ln=en A/3354]
|-
|align="center"| [[Second emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Second]]
|[[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Soviet invasion of Hungary]]
|4–10 November 1956
|[https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/228962?ln=en A/3355]
|-
|align="center"| [[Third emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Third]]
|[[1958 Lebanon crisis|Lebanon crisis]]
|8–21 August 1958
|[https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/228959?ln=en A/3905]
|-
|align="center"| [[Fourth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Fourth]]
|[[Congo Crisis]]
|17–19 September 1960
|[https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/228965?ln=en A/4510]
|-
|align="center"| [[Fifth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Fifth]]
|[[Six-Day War]]
|{{Flag|Soviet Union}}
|17 June – 18 September 1967
|[https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/229364?ln=en A/6798]
|-
|align="center"| [[Sixth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Sixth]]
|[[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]]
|[[File:Emblem of the United Nations.svg|20px]] [[United Nations Security Council]]
|10–14 January 1980
|[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-6/1&Lang=E ES-6/1], [https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-6/2&Lang=E 2]
|-
|align="center"| [[Seventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Seventh]]
|[[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]
|{{Flag| Senegal}}
|
22–29 July 1980
<br />20–28 April 1982
<br />25–26 June 1982
<br />16–19 August 1982
<br />24 September 1982
|
[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-7/1&Lang=E ES-7/1], [https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-7/2&Lang=E 2], [https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-7/3&Lang=E 3]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-7/4&Lang=E ES-7/4]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-7/5&Lang=E ES-7/5]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-7/6&Lang=E ES-7/6]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-7/9&Lang=E ES-7/9]
|-
|align="center"| [[Eighth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Eighth]]
|[[South Africa]]n occupation of [[Namibia]] ([[South West Africa]])
|{{Flag|Zimbabwe}}
|3–14 September 1981
|[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-8/1&Lang=E ES-8/1], [https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-8/2&Lang=E 2]
|-
|align="center"| [[Ninth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Ninth]]
|[[Israel]]i occupation of the [[Golan Heights]] ([[Golan Heights Law]])
|[[File:Emblem of the United Nations.svg|20px]] [[United Nations Security Council]]
|29 January – 5 February 1982
|[https://digitallibrary.un.org/js/pdfjs-2.9.359/web/pdf_viewer.html?file=https%3A%2F%2Fdigitallibrary.un.org%2Frecord%2F195706%2Ffiles%2FA_ES-9_7-EN.pdf%3Fregister_download%3D0&chunksize=65536#page=2 ES-9/1]
|-
|align="center"| [[Tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Tenth]]
|Israeli-Palestinian conflict ([[East Jerusalem]] and [[Israeli-occupied territories]])
|''Various''
|
24–25 April 1997
<br />15 July 1997
<br />13 November 1997
<br />17 March 1998
<br />5, 8 and 9 February 1999
<br />18 and 20 October 2000
<br />20 December 2001
<br />7 May 2002
<br />5 August 2002
<br />19 September 2003
<br />20–21 October 2003
<br />3 December 2003
<br />20 July 2004
<br />24 January 2007
<br />4 April 2007
<br />23 January 2009
<br />21 December 2017
<br />13 June 2018
<br />26-27 October 2023
|
[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/1&Lang=E ES-10/1], [https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/2&Lang=E 2]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/3&Lang=E ES-10/3]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/4&Lang=E ES-10/4]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/5&Lang=E ES-10/5]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/6&Lang=E ES-10/6]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/7&Lang=E ES-10/7]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/8&Lang=E ES-10/8], [https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/9&Lang=E 9]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/10&Lang=E ES-10/10]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/11&Lang=E ES-10/11]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/12&Lang=E ES-10/12]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/13&Lang=E ES-10/13]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/14&Lang=E ES-10/14]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/15&Lang=E ES-10/15]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/16&Lang=E ES-10/16]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/17&Lang=E ES-10/17]
<br />[https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ES-10/18&Lang=E ES-10/18]
<br />[https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/LTD/N17/452/13/PDF/N1745213.pdf?OpenElement ES-10/L.22] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318203511/https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/LTD/N17/452/13/PDF/N1745213.pdf?OpenElement |date=2022-03-18 }} (draft)
<br />[https://undocs.org/A/ES-10/L.23 ES-10/L.23]

[https://undocs.org/A/ES-10/L.25 ES-10/L.25]
|-
|align="center"|[[Eleventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly|Eleventh]]
|[[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine]]
|[[File:Emblem of the United Nations.svg|20px]] [[United Nations Security Council]]
|
28 February–2 March  2022
<br />23–24 March 2022
<br />7 April 2022
<br />10-12 October 2022
<br />23 February 2023
<br />24 February 2025
|
[https://undocs.org/A/RES/ES-11/1 ES-11/1]
<br />[https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3966630?ln=en ES-11/2]
<br />[https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3967950?ln=en ES-11/3]
<br />[https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3990400?ln=en ES-11/4]
<br />
[[United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/5|ES-11/5]]
<br /> 
[[United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/6|ES-11/6]]
<br /> 
[[United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/7|ES-11/7]]
<br /> 
[[United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/8|ES-11/8]]
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.un.org/en/ga/sessions/emergency.shtml UNGA Emergency Special Sessions]

[[Category:Emergency special sessions of the United Nations General Assembly|*]]