Charter of the United Nations

The Charter of the United Nations is the founding treaty of the United Nations, establishing the organization's purposes, principles, institutional structure, and legal framework. Signed on 26 June 1945 at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, California, the Charter entered into force on 24 October 1945 after being ratified by the required number of signatory states, including the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The Charter succeeded the Covenant of the League of Nations as the principal constitutional instrument of the post-World War II international order and serves as the foundation of contemporary international relations and international institutional law.

The Charter sets forth the purposes of the United Nations, including maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation in solving economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems, promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and serving as a center for harmonizing the actions of states. It establishes the fundamental principles governing relations among member states, including the sovereign equality of states, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the prohibition on the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of states, the fulfillment of international obligations in good faith, and non-intervention in matters essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of states, subject to the Charter's provisions.

The Charter establishes the six principal organs of the United Nations: the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Secretariat, and the United Nations Trusteeship Council. It also provides the legal basis for peacekeeping operations, collective security measures, sanctions, international dispute resolution, international cooperation, and the establishment of specialized agencies and subsidiary bodies. Amendments to the Charter require adoption by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly and ratification by two-thirds of the Member States, including all permanent members of the Security Council.

The Charter of the United Nations serves as the constitutional foundation for the United Nations system and informs the work of numerous international organizations and legal institutions, including the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank. Through its principles governing international peace, security, cooperation, human rights, and the rule of law, the Charter remains one of the most influential treaties in modern international law and global governance.