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On 15 May Senator Vandenberg brought back the redraft of paragraph I, Section B, Chapter V, as approved by the sponsoring Powers and France.* This was now divided into two parts, the first dealing with " general principles" and the second with " questions." He said, he hoped that this proposed clarification of the relations between the Assembly and the Security Council would expedite the business of the Committee, and suggested that it would justify a negative answer to question No. 1, which embodied the New Zealand amendment. After further debate, during which several delegates indicated their attitude to the New Zealand amendment in the light of the new considerations introduced by Senator Vandenberg's statement, question No. 1 was put, with the result that 16 votes were given in the affirmative and 26 against. Discussion thereafter was centred on the ninth question, put forward by the sub-committee, based on the Australian amendment, which had been restated as follows: — " Subject to any exceptions specifically provided, should the Assembly have general power to discuss and make recommendations in respect of any matters affecting international relations?" It was apparent from the discussions that the majority held the view that there should be no limitation whatsoever upon the right of the General Assembly to discuss any matter in the sphere of international relations; that the only limitation on the Assembly's power to make recommendations should be in respect of matters relating to the maintenance of peace and security during the period when the Security Council was dealing with such matters, and that the interpretation of the expression " international relations " should be the widest possible. It was also recorded that the Assembly should be free to make recommendations on any question once the Security Council had finished dealing with it. Question No. 9 was affirmed unanimously by 42 votes on 18 May, but a protracted conflict immediately arose in the drafting sub-committee on the point of whether or not the adoption of this proposition actually called for modification of the revised text approved by the sponsoring Powers. After a number of inconclusive meetings the matter was brought back to the Committee for decision with the submission of a proposed new first paragraph to Section B, viz:— " The General Assembly should have the right to discuss any matter within the sphere of international relations, and, subject, to the exception embodied in paragraph below, to make recommendations to the members of the Organization or to the Security Council, or both, on any such matters." A number of objections were raised, the chief of which was the view that without the qualification of the phrase " within the sphere of international relations " by the words " which affects the maintenance of international peace and security " the new paragraph would give the Assembly too broad a scope, since the main purpose of the Organization was to maintain peace and security, and that therefore the proposed new paragraph either should be rejected or, if adopted, should be clarified by inserting the qualifying words as proposed. * 1. The General Assembly should have the right to consider the general principles of co-operation in the maintenance of international peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments and to make recommendations to the Governments or to the Security Council on such principles. 2. The General Assembly should have the right to discuss any questions relating to the maintenance of international peace and security brought before it by any member or members of the Organization or by the Security Council, and to make recommendations to the Governments or to the Security Council with regard to any such questions. Any such questions on which action is necessary should be referred to the Security Council by the General Assembly either before or after discussion. The General Assembly should have the right to call the attention of the Security Council to situations which are likely to endanger international peace or security. While the Security Council is exercising in respect of any dispute or situation the functions assigned to it under this Charter, the General Assembly should not make any recommendation with regard to that dispute or situation unless the Security Council so requests. The Secretary-General shall be required to notify the General Assembly at each session of any matters relative to the maintenance of international peace or security which are being dealt with by the Security Council and also to notify the General Assembly immediately the Security Council ceases to deal ivith such matters.
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