Introduction
As well-established, the US Constitution is the document that defines the national frame of government in the United States and serves as the supreme “law of the land” being the foundation of US legislation and jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the UN Charter similarly establishes the framework of international cooperation under the United Nations, outlines goals and objectives for the UN, and creates a set of rules that governments of the world should follow concerning their own countries and other countries. The UN Charter establishes the Statute of the International Court of Justice which aims to settle disputes by countries following international law as outlined in the UN Charter and other internationally accepted treaties (Henderson, 2010). The US Constitution creates the Supreme Court that similarly seeks to adjudicate on issues of national importance and state and federal policy following the foundations outlined in the Constitution as the primary law.
Discussion
Despite these structural familiarities between the two documents, it is important to note that the UN charter is not a governing document, meaning that it was not meant to be used for the governance of sovereign states like the US Constitution. Even from a utopian perspective, the UN Charter is not meant for the creation of a world government and lacks many key factors that a national constitution must require. The Constitution has certain attributes such as ‘pervasive law’ (all law is subject) and ‘basic law’ (derives its force). The one unified system of law derived from the Constitution differs from the UN Charter, which is more of a set of guidelines, representing the decentralization prevalent in the international order. Not all international law is subject to the UN, and the Charter is not the legal source of international law (Doyle, 2010).
The first element to compare is the preamble, which in the UN Charter states, “We the peoples of the United Nations determined… to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small” (n.d.). This can be compared strongly to the preamble to the US Constitution which similarly begins with “we the people” and goes on to describe a perfect union, justice, general welfare, liberty, equality, and prosperity. In both cases, there is an emphasis on the fundamental values these key documents are meant to represent.
In Chapter III, Article 7, the UN Charter establishes several key organs of the United Nations, including “a General Assembly, a Security Council, an Economic and Social Council, a Trusteeship Council, an International Court of Justice and a Secretariat” (n.d.). At the same time, the Constitution also serves to establish the three primary branches of the government. These include the legislative branch to create laws, the executive branch to enforce them, and the judicial branch to oversee the courts and the constitutionality of the actions of the other branches. The documents outline the roles and capacities these governance structures provide.
Another aspect of the UN Charter is the articles regarding breaches of peace under Chapter 7. Article 39 indicates that the Security Council determines if there are threats to peace or there has been an act of aggression and the other articles decide on what could be done about it such as sanctions or a peacekeeping force. The issue is that if one member of the security council chooses to veto the resolution, little can be done, as usually happens.
Conclusion
The US Constitution similarly does not give the power to just the President to declare war or intervene in major military operations, and requires authorization by Congress but requires a majority, so it would rarely be held back for political reasons.
Reference List
Doyle, Michael W. 2020. “A Global constitution? The Struggle over the UN Charter.”Hauser Globalization Colloquium Fall 2010.
Henderson, Conway W. 2010. Understanding International Law. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
United Nations. N.d. “United Nations Charter.”United Nations.