56

In conveying their proposal to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the New Zealand Government reaffirmed their objections to the veto, their view that in practice it had prevented the establishment of an effective system of collective security against aggression, and their conviction that this in turn had done much to undermine confidence in the capacity of the United Nations to achieve its primary purposes. They also stated that they would support any proposals designed to eliminate or modify the existing provisions of the Charter requiring the unanimity of the permanent members of the Security Council. The Interim Committee set up a seventeen-member sub-committee which is making an exhaustive study of the occasions when the veto can be used under the Charter, and of whether there are possible methods—apart from an improvement in relations among the Great Powers, which would naturally be reflected in decreased use of the veto —of reducing the number of occasions for using the veto. The sub-committee was asked to report to the Interim Committee by 15 May. (b) Principles of International Co-operation The Interim Committee set up a sub-committee which has planned a long-term study of the basic principles and methods of international co-operation for the maintenance of peace and security; up to the present a good deal of its attention has been concentrated on past and possible future methods of peaceful settlement of disputes. (c) Future of the Interim Committee To assist it in considering whether there should be a permanent standing committee of the General Assembly the Interim Committee has set up two sub-committees : the first is examining what an Interim Committee might do to facilitate the meetings of the General Assembly by sorting out and annotating the items proposed for the Assembly's agenda ; the second is considering what an Interim Committee might usefully do to see that the resolutions passed by the General Assembly are fulfilled in practice. 2. The Security Council Under the Charter the Security Council has the primary responsibility for keeping world peace; it is so organized as to be able to function continuously. The Council consists of five permanent members and six non-permanent members selected for two-year terms by the Assembly at its regular annual session. Non-permanent members are not eligible for immediate re-election. With the replacement of Australia, Brazil, and Poland as from 1 January, 1948,