ICJ Advisory Opinion on Conditions for Admission to UN

On 17 Nov 1947, the UN General Assembly requested an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice regarding the conditions of admission of a state to membership in the United Nations. The Court issued its ruling on 28 May 1948, by a 9 to 6 vote.The Court analyzed Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Charter, identifying five conditions which a candidate for membership must meet: that it (1) be a State; (2) be peace-loving; (3) must accept the obligations of the Charter; (4) must be able to carry out these obligations; and (5) must be willing to do so. The Court ruled that these conditions are exhaustive and not merely stated by way of information or example; that they are not merely the necessary conditions but also the conditions that suffice. The Court further opined that the exhaustive nature of the Charter provision does not preclude consideration of such circumstances of fact as would enable the existence of the requisite conditions to be verified.