Dag Hammarskjöld Library at Uppsala University
Veto
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Under the UN Charter all decisions of the Security Council on substantive issues, i.e. non-procedural, require nine affirmative votes including those of the permanent members. Consequently, if one of the permanent members votes against a resolution, it cannot be passed. This is the rule often referred to as the veto.
Documentation
UN document A/58/47 contains an official list of the vetoes.
The Security Council meetings records is another official source. A complete collection in print of the Security Council meeting records is held by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala and the UN Libraries in New York and Geneva.
The voting information is included in the Security Council press releases, which is the first unofficial summary of the meetings.
There are a few publications on the veto:
The UN veto in World Affairs, 1964-1990 : a Complete Record and Case Histories of the Security Council's Veto contains the text of vetoed draft resolutions and statements of voting members indications on the consequences for the continued action of the Security Council. A broad subject index according to the following topics: 1) vetoes on membership 2) vetoes on political questions 3) vetoes on organizational matters and United Nations operations.
The Veto : a Historical Necessity, 1946-2001 : a Comprehensive Record of the Use of Veto in the UN Security Council. CD-ROM included, contains text of Security Council resolutions 1-1350, membership of the Security Council 1946-2001. Full text of vetoed draft resolutions with statements and indications of continued action of the Security Council.
Databases and Indexes
Full text meeting records from the Security Council in all official UN languages from 1975 onwards can be retrieved through the United Nations Official Document System - ODS.
UNBISnet provides bibliographic and voting information from the meetings of the Security Council from 1979 onwards with links to full texts for recent years.
Printed Indexes
All meeting records listed from 1976 onwards in the Index to Proceedings of the Security Council, contained in the UN Collection of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala and in the Libraries at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva.