ARE THE PROVISIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE UNITED NATIONS CHARTER EXHAUSTIVE?

Membership of international organizations represent a key and topical area of legal discourse, considering their relevance in today's globalised world. This is because rights, privileges, duties and liabilities flow from the fact of membership of these organizations. The United Nations organization is a universal international organization positioned to foster close cooperation among countries of the world and to maintain international peace and security. Membership of such an organization is therefore very important for various reasons. It is found however that despite the existence of legal conditions prerequisite to membership in the United Nations in its charter, on a number of occasions', fulfillment of these conditions by intending members, is not enough to gain them admission into the organization. This is because extra-legal conditions and/or considerations dictated by politics, ideology and sentiments, play an important and some times decisive role. This has created controversies, rancor and hostilities, and affected adversely the work of the organization. This paper attempts to unearth the problematic and grey areas of membership and related issues in the United Nations, and to offer possible ways of addressing the problems identified.