Sixtieth session Agenda item 117 * Second reissue for technical reasons. Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters Brazil, Germany and India: draft resolution Security Council reform The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 48/26 of 3 December 1993 and 53/30 of 1 December 1998, Recognizing the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security under the Charter of the United Nations, Recognizing also the functions and powers of the General Assembly on matters pertaining to the maintenance of international peace and security as contained in the Charter, Recalling Article 15 (1) of the Charter, and recognizing the need for closer cooperation between the Security Council and the General Assembly, Noting that the effectiveness, credibility and legitimacy of the work of the Security Council will be enhanced by its improved representative character and its better ability to discharge its primary responsibility and to carry out its duties on behalf of all members, Reasserting the purposes and principles of the Charter, and recalling that, under Article 2 (5) of the Charter, every Member State has pledged to “give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter”, Stressing that the permanent members of the Security Council bear a special responsibility both to uphold the principles of the Charter and to give their full support to the Organization’s actions to maintain international peace and security, Recalling, in this regard, its resolutions 55/235 and 55/236 of 23 December 2000, as updated by resolution 58/256 of 23 December 2003, on the scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations peacekeeping operations, Acknowledging that there are many ways for Member States to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security, and underlining that members of the Security Council should be elected with due regard to their record of various contributions to this end, and also to equitable geographical distribution, as noted in Article 23 (1) of the Charter, as well as for their demonstrated commitment to and observance of international norms, Acknowledging also that security and development are intertwined and mutually reinforcing and that development is an indispensable foundation of collective security, Aiming at the expansion of the membership of the Security Council to better reflect contemporary world realities, thereby shaping a balance of forces capable of enhancing the Council’s responsiveness to the views and needs of all Member States, in particular developing countries, and ensuring the adoption of improved working methods, Recognizing the ongoing efforts of the Security Council to improve its working methods, Noting with appreciation the efforts of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters Related to the Security Council, which began its work in January 1994, Seeking in particular to enhance the transparency of the Security Council and the participation of non-members of the Council in its work, Bearing in mind the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 8 September 2000, adopted by Heads of State and Government, in which they resolved, in respect of reform of the Security Council, to intensify their efforts to achieve a comprehensive reform of the Security Council in all its aspects, Size and composition 1. Decides: (a) That the membership of the Security Council shall be increased from fifteen to twenty-five by adding six permanent and four non-permanent members; (b) That the six new permanent members of the Security Council shall be elected according to the following pattern: (i) Two from African States; (ii) Two from Asian States; (iii) One from Latin American and Caribbean States; (iv) One from Western European and Other States; (c) That the four new non-permanent members of the Security Council shall be elected according to the following pattern: (i) One from African States; (ii) One from Asian States; (iii) One from Eastern European States; (iv) One from Latin American and Caribbean States; Election procedure for new permanent members 2. Invites interested States to inform the members of the General Assembly that they are prepared to assume the functions and responsibilities of permanent members of the Security Council and to submit their candidatures in writing to the President of the General Assembly within one week of the adoption of the present resolution; 3. Decides: (a) To proceed, as soon as possible but in any case no later than twelve weeks after the adoption of the present resolution, by a vote of two thirds of the members of the General Assembly through a secret ballot, to the designation of the States that will be elected to exercise the functions and responsibilities of permanent members of the Security Council, according to the pattern described in paragraph 1 (b) above, it being understood that if the number of States having obtained the required majority falls short of the number of seats allocated for permanent membership, new rounds of balloting will be conducted for the remaining seats until six States obtain the required majority to occupy the six seats; (b) That only candidates registered in accordance with paragraph 2 above shall be eligible; (c) That the date for the election of the new permanent members according to subparagraph 3 (a) above shall be determined by the President of the General Assembly; 4. Decides, without prejudice to paragraph 3 above, to apply the rules of procedure of the General Assembly to the election of the new permanent members of the Security Council; Veto 5. Decides: (a) That the new permanent members should have the same responsibilities and obligations as the current permanent members; (b) That the new permanent members shall not exercise the right of veto until the question of the extension of the right of veto to new permanent members has been decided upon in the framework of the review mandated under paragraph 7 below; Amendment of the Charter of the United Nations and review 6. Decides: (a) That, no later than two weeks after the designation of States elected to serve as new permanent members of the Security Council, a resolution containing amendments to the Charter of the United Nations arising from the decisions taken in paragraphs 1 and 3 above will be submitted in order to be adopted at the earliest possible time, in accordance with Article 108 of the Charter; (b) That the resolution will include amendments to Articles 27 (2) and (3), 108, and 109 (1) and (2) of the Charter to require the affirmative vote of 14 of 25 members of the Security Council for a decision, and to reflect, consistent with paragraph 5 (b) above, the fact that the extension of the right of veto to the new permanent members has not been decided; 7. Decides also to review the situation created by the amendments referred to in paragraph 6 above fifteen years after their entry into force; Working methods 8. Urges the Security Council to undertake the following measures to enhance the transparency, inclusiveness and legitimacy of its work to strengthen the support and understanding of its decisions by the membership of the Organization, thereby increasing the Council’s effectiveness, namely, to: (a) As a general rule, meet in a public forum open to all Member States of the United Nations. Exceptionally, the Security Council may decide to meet in private; (b) Implement Articles 31 and 32 of the Charter by consulting with non-Security Council members on a regular basis, especially members with a special interest in the substantive matter under consideration by the Council; (c) Grant non-members access to subsidiary organs of the Council, including the right to participate, as appropriate; (d) Make available to non-members of the Council draft resolutions and presidential statements, as well as other draft documents that are tabled at informal consultations of the whole of the Council for action on its agenda items, as soon as such documents are tabled, or earlier, if so authorized by the author of the draft; (e) Hold frequent, timely and qualitative briefings for non-members on the matters discussed in the Security Council and its subsidiary organs, including briefings on its ad hoc missions, their terms of reference, and the findings of such missions; (f) Hold regular and timely consultations with troop-contributing countries and countries that contribute financial resources, as well as other countries that are directly concerned or affected by a peacekeeping operation, as appropriate, before and during the decision-making process for the establishment, conduct, review and termination of peacekeeping operations, including the extension and change of mandates, as well as for specific operational issues; (g) Hold regular consultations with the Presidents of the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council; (h) Submit an annual report to the General Assembly providing a detailed substantive and comprehensive evaluation of the work of the Council pursuant to Articles 15 (1) and 24 (3) of the Charter; (i) Submit, when necessary, special reports to the General Assembly, in accordance with Article 24 (3) of the Charter, for the consideration of the Assembly in accordance with Article 15 (1) of the Charter. See resolution 55/2. __________________ __________________  \* MERGEFORMAT 4 \* MERGEFORMAT 3 United Nations A/60/L.46** General Assembly Distr.: Limited 5 January 2006 Original: English 06-20213** (E) 120106 *0620213* A/60/L.46 A/60/L.46