Enemy State Clauses in the UN Charter

The enemy state clauses are provisions inserted into the United Nations Charter at the end of the Second World War to address states that had fought against any Charter signatory. Article 53(2) defines an enemy state as a state that, during that war, was an enemy of any signatory of the Charter.

The three Charter provisions

• Under Article 53, enforcement action by regional arrangements normally requires Security Council authorization, but the original text created exceptions concerning measures against enemy states arising from the war settlement or directed against renewed aggression.
• Article 77 permits territories detached from enemy states as a result of the Second World War to be placed under the international trusteeship system through subsequent agreements.
• Article 107 states that the Charter neither invalidates nor precludes war-related action against an enemy state when such action was taken or authorized by governments responsible for it.

Purpose and present status

These provisions reflected the post-1945 settlement, particularly the continuing authority of the victorious powers and arrangements for former enemy territories. They are now widely treated as obsolete, but their references remain in the Charter's formal text.

• In 1995, the General Assembly recognized that the enemy state clauses had become obsolete and expressed its intention to begin the amendment process.
• The 2005 World Summit Outcome resolved to delete references to enemy states in Articles 53, 77 and 107.

Why formal deletion is difficult

Removing the clauses requires amendment under Article 108. An amendment must be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly and ratified by two-thirds of UN members, including all permanent members of the Security Council.