The legal regime regulating the United Nations specialised agency's membership : a Maltese perspective

Abstract

This thesis concerns the different legal and constitutional aspects of the specialised agencies of the United Nations. It also provides a general overview of the Maltese perspective within these institutions. Initially, in my introduction the historical evolution of institutions in general is discussed. This includes what constitutes an international organisation, the first major international treaties, the first great conferences, the setting up of public and private unions, the establishment and failure of the League of Nations and eventually the introduction of the United Nations. Subsequently, in Chapter I, a brief analysis of the main structures of the United Nations framework is given. The United Nations structure has six principal organs, namely, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. Such a brief analysis of the United Nations structures is important for the subsequent u..11derstanding of the specialised agencies. Indeed within the parameters of the Economic and Social Council lie the aims and objectives of all the fifteen specialised agencies. These objectives, together with their constitutional set-up, are discussed in depth in Chapter II. The date when each particular specialised agency started functioning, the purposes for its establishment and the constitutional provisions which guide each agency together with the powers of the plenary organs, the organs of limited composition and also their secretariats are examined. Chapter III strictly concerns Malta's membership within the specialised agencies of the United Nations. The material collected focuses mainly on when Malta became a member of each specialised agency; how many Conventions prepared under the auspicies of these agencies, if any, did Malta adhere to in this agency; the membership fees paid by Malta; what benefits, if any, is Malta gaining by its membership in these agencies as, for instance, financial, political or otherwise; what disadvantages, if any, does Malta have to shoulder as, for example, whether membership fees are highly onerous; whether Malta ever initiated any proposals in these specialised agencies; whether Malta is actively participating in overseas conferences; the type of obligations Malta must abide by, and any other information relevant to this subject. Finally, by way of conclusion, Malta's membership within the United Nations is debated. This includes the date when Malta became member of the United Nations, the proposals and initiatives Malta initiated , and also which United Nations offices have been set up in Malta.