United Nations Sanctions
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization with 193 member states. It is undoubtedly one the major players in several international matters. The UN has various objectives, but most important one is the maintenance of international peace and security. The duty to maintain international peace and security is primarily entrusted to one of the most essential organs of the UN, the Security Council (UNSC).
The UNSC, pursuant to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, has the authority to take actions to maintain or restore international peace and security. The Security Council's authority to impose sanctions comes from this chapter. In particular, Article 41 of the UN Charter states:
In order to use its power under the Article mentioned above, the UNSC, per Article 39 of the Chapter, is required first to determine that there is a "threat to the peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression". Yet in practice, usually when using its power to impose "interruption of economic relations" per Article 41 of the Charter, the UNSC does not separately determine that there is a "threat to the peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression" and it is implied in the resolution creating a sanction regime itself.
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The main objectives of the UN sanctions could be listed as follows:
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Counter terrorism;
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Non-Proliferation;
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Conflict Resolution;
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Protection of Civilians; and
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Democratization.
Since 1966, the Security Council has established 32 sanctions regimes, 15 of which are still in place today. The UNSC has adopted various types of measures, ranging from comprehensive economic and trade sanctions (e.g., Resolution 661 (1990) concerning the situation between Iraq and Kuwait) to more targeted measures such as arms embargoes (e.g., Resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia), travel bans (e.g., Resolution 2048 (2012) concerning Guinea-Bissau), and financial or commodity restrictions.
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Per Article 25 of the UN Charter, “the Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter”. Therefore, based on an international treaty, it is obligatory for the Member States to comply with the UNSC resolutions. The mandatory nature of the UNSC resolutions was also confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970).
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​It should be noted that sanctions imposed by the UNSC must be implemented by each member separately before they can take effect in each member state. Some member states have passed laws that automatically implement UN sanctions into their domestic law; however, in many countries, additional actions are required to implement UN sanctions. Whether Member States respect those UNSC resolutions establishing sanction regimes is a separate topic. Recently, with reports published by some sanction committees and oversight from other international organizations, we see that Member States are committed to the implementation of UNSC sanctions within their respective countries.
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In general, when the UNSC passes a resolution creating a sanction regime it also establishes a committee tasked with the following responsibilities: assisting Member States with implementation, examining the reports of the Monitoring Team, overseeing the implementation, dealing with exemptions and designations, reporting to the UNSC, processing delisting requests, reviewing lists, and conducting outreach activities.
For each of the 14 active programs of the UN, there is a committee. You can click on each program to know more about it.
