When a complaint concerning a threat to the peace or a breach of the peace is brought before the Security Council, the President of the Council or any member state may initiate a resolution. The process leading to a resolution is called consultation. If one of the permanent members votes against a resolution, it cannot be passed. This is the rule often referred to as the veto.

Prepatory work for resolutions

Nowadays it is customary for the three permanent members - France, the United Kingdom and the United States (P3) to submit a draft resolution. Their UN Ambassadors or other representatives meet every day to discuss the issues on the Security Council agenda and to agree on the texts of the draft resolutions.

This procedure is followed by consultations in the permanent five (P5) group and among the other groups within the Council. It is important to have gained broad support when the draft resolution is submitted before the official meeting.

Closed informal meetings

The Security Council members may have to consult their national groups in the General Assembly. The representatives meet at closed informal meetings at the UN Headquarters.

It is in the informal consultation chamber, next to the Security Council chamber, that the travaux préparatoires of the Council (working papers, draft resolutions etc.) are completed. While formal meetings do not last very long, an informal consultation of the whole can last for several hours and may run into several sessions. When a given resolution or action has been agreed upon, the consultation is adjourned and the members move next door to open a formal session of the Council.

The most important decisions by the Security Council are passed at informal consultations of the whole. They are completely closed to any nonmembers and completely off the record. Such meetings take place very often - sometimes late at night.

Official formal meetings

When, finally, the official meetings take place, they are often short without long debates, and voting procedure. Statements by member states can be made, if desired.

The resolutions of the Security Council, unlike those of the General Assembly, are binding upon all UN member nations. In accepting the Charter, all nations agree to accept and carry out these decisions of the Security Council.

The veto

Under the UN Charter, article 27, 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.

The Security Council Resolutions

The Security Council resolutions carry the following document symbol:

The text of the Security Council resolutions are published in different versions:

• The official version is an annual compilation in Resolutions and decisions of the Security Council, published as part of the Official Records of the Security Council.
• Security Council resolutions 1946-.
• A printed index to Security Council resolutions for the given session is published in the Yearbook of the United Nations.

Voting records are not given in the resolutions. They can be retrieved through other sources:

• The first unofficial version is reproduced in the Security Council Press Releases.
• A voting chart from 1976 onwards is published in the Index to Proceedings of the Security Council.
• More background information about the resolution can be retrieved through the official meeting records.
• The UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library research guide: How to Find General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions and Voting Records.

As the decisions have already been taken during the informal consultation, the formal vote becomes a quick and simple procedure, in which delegates vote by show of hands.

Find vetoes

• Security council - Veto list from 1946 and onwards.
• The Security Council meetings records is another official source.
• The voting information is included in the Security Council Press Releases, which is the first unofficial summary of the meetings.

Learn more about the Security Council meeting records in DagDok.

Literature

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 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.