In a recent gathering of the UN’s 193 Member States to address the ongoing Israel-Palestine crisis, the rarely convened General Assembly emergency special session took centre stage. But what exactly is an emergency special session, and why does it hold significance?
When the UN Security Council finds itself unable to fulfil its primary duty of maintaining international peace and security, as seen in the latest Israel-Palestine crisis since October 7th, the General Assembly steps in to consider the matter immediately through an emergency special session.
UN Member States can request the Assembly President to convene such a session, with the goal of proposing collective measures, including calling for ceasefires and, as a last resort in case of aggression, the use of armed force when necessary.
During the first plenary meeting of an emergency special session, or upon its resumption, as with the current tenth session, the Assembly typically hears from the concerned countries. Member States then engage in debates and vote on a draft resolution.
If the resolution garners a two-thirds majority, it provides guidance for nations, sometimes including requests for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice or a call for a UN-led force to intervene in securing and supervising the cessation of hostilities.
WHAT TRIGGERS EMERGENCY SPECIAL SESSIONS?
These sessions swiftly convene when the UN Security Council is deadlocked, a situation that arises when one of the five permanent Council members utilizes their veto power to block a related draft resolution.
While veto use can be examined at a regular General Assembly meeting, emergency special sessions offer the UN membership a platform to discuss urgent peace and security matters. This was the case with the Israel-Palestine crisis, as the Council’s inability to agree on multiple resolutions prompted a group of UN Member States to seek Assembly President intervention.
WHAT MAKES THESE SESSIONS ‘SPECIAL’?
Only 11 emergency special sessions have been called in the past 73 years. The eleventh, following a Security Council veto, occurred six days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, resulting in a broadly supported resolution on the crisis.
What makes these sessions unique is that, despite Council discord, the world’s nations can collectively address urgent global peace and security concerns. The Assembly President is obligated to convene an emergency special session within 24 hours at the request of Member States or the Council itself.
The establishment and guiding rules for these sessions originated after the Korean Peninsula conflict in 1950 when the Assembly adopted the landmark “Uniting for Peace” resolution. Unlike the Security Council, which can wield a veto, the 193-member General Assembly adopts proposed draft resolutions with a two-thirds majority, and its resolutions are non-binding.
HOT SPOT: MIDDLE EAST
Six of the 11 Assembly emergency special sessions relate to the Middle East. The first such session in 1956 addressed the 1949 Arab-Israeli armistice agreements that had been disregarded due to foreign military presence near the Suez Canal.
During that session, the Assembly adopted resolutions requesting the Secretary-General to submit a plan for establishing an emergency international United Nations Force. Other sessions on Middle East matters occurred in 1958 and 1967, focusing on the question of Palestine in 1980 and the situation in the occupied Arab territories in 1982.
OPEN 24/7
At the request of UN Member States, meetings of an emergency special session can be reconvened at any time, as witnessed last week when a deadlocked Security Council led a group of nations to submit a request for the Assembly President to reconvene the tenth emergency special session.
First convened in 1997, this session pertains to the issue of illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Though non-binding, the draft resolution overwhelmingly calls for peace.