The Powers of Investigation of the United Nations Security Council

Abstract

When the Security Council of the United Nations investigates an event or situation at the scene, it establishes a credible factual basis for its consideration of the situation, and the situation itself may be stabilized by the presence of the investigators. These important benefits may involve concomitant difficulties for the state in whose territory the investigation occurs, since the presence of international investigators may be conceived of as a limitation of its sovereignty. Objections may also arise from states seeking to obscure the realities of the situation being investigated, or from states which resist as a matter of principle any functions of international organizations which appear to derogate from state sovereignty.