Frequently cited U.N. documents will often be drawn from the Official Records, masthead documents, or Internet sources; U.N. websites are favored over all other Internet sites. The Official Records are the preferred source for citations, but masthead documents and documents drawn from U.N. websites are acceptable. Press releases, sales documents, yearbooks, and periodicals should be cited only when preferred sources are unavailable or when the purpose of the citation so requires.
Many users will refer to the masthead version of the document. As such, paragraph and article numbers, rather than page numbers in the Official Records, should be used for pinpoint citations whenever possible. Some documents utilize both unnumbered and numbered paragraphs, referred to as preambular and operative paragraphs, respectively; cite language in preambular paragraphs by page number and language in the numbered operative paragraphs by paragraph number. For resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council, cite the Official Records and provide a parallel citation to document symbols for the individual resolution.
This section covers the principal organs of the United Nations and several subsidiaries of the General Assembly. Subsidiaries of organs or committees should be included in citations whenever appropriate. Other organs and committees not specifically covered by this section should be cited analogously to the examples in this rule. If a committee is known by an abbreviation, write out the committee’s full name in the first instance and include the proper abbreviation in brackets. The abbreviation may then be used in subsequent instances.
(a) In general.
Reports from U.N. organs, committees, or the Secretariat should include the name of the body and the subcommittee, if any (both abbreviated according to rule 15.1(d)); the title of the report; the pinpoint cite, if any; the document symbol; and the date. If a personal author is given along with the institutional author, the author should be included in a parenthetical at the end of the citation.
(b) Reports of subsidiary bodies to parent organs.
Reports of subsidiary bodies to parent organs are usually part of the Official Records of the parent organ, as are the reports of the principal organs to the General Assembly. Include the title of the report; the name of the body; the session number; dates of the session; the pinpoint cite, if any; the document symbol; the Official Record supplement number; and the date of publication.
U.N. S.C. Rep. of the Security Council, Aug. 1, 2007–July 31, 2008, U.N. Doc. A/63/2; GAOR, 63d Sess., Supp. No. 2 (2008).
Comm. on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Legal Subcomm, Rep. on its 24th Sess., Mar. 18–Apr. 4, 1985, U.N. Doc. A/AC.105/352 (Apr. 11, 1985).
Rep. of the Int’l Law Comm’n, 60th Sess, May 5–June 6, July 7–Aug. 8, 2008, U.N. Doc. A/63/10; GAOR, 63d Sess., Supp. No. 10 (2008).
U.N. Group of Experts on Côte d’Ivoire, Rep., transmitted by letter dated Oct. 17, 2007 from the Chairman of the Security Council Comm. established pursuant to resolution 1572 (2004) concerning Côte d'Ivoire addressed to the President of the Security Council, ¶¶ 61-80, U.N. Doc. S/2007/611 (Oct. 18, 2007).
(c) Reports from the Secretary-General or other officials.
When citing a report published by the Secretary-General, or anyone acting in an official capacity as a committee chair, representative, envoy, etc., include in the citation: the author of the report; the title of the report; the pinpoint cite, if any; the body to which the document is delivered, if needed; the document symbol; and the date. List the author’s official capacity and not his or her name. If a personal author is given along with the institutional author, the author should be included in a parenthetical at the end of the citation.
U.N. Secretary-General, An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-Keeping: Rep. of the Secretary-General, ¶ 14, U.N. Doc. A/47/277-S/24111 (June 17, 1992).
Executive Chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Comm’n (UNMOVIC), 8th Quarterly Rep. of the Executive Chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission in Accordance with Paragraph 12 of Security Council Resolution 1284 (1999), transmitted by Note of the Secretary-General, U.N. Doc. S/2002/195 (Feb. 26, 2002).
Special Rapporteur on the Expulsion of Aliens, Fourth Rep. on the Expulsion of Aliens, Int’l Law Comm’n, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/594 (Mar. 24, 2008) (by Maurice Kamto).
(d) Reports from conferences.
If the report is the product of a conference or a series of conferences, include in the citation: the conference name; the name of this particular meeting of the conference, if it is in a series; the place of the conference, unless it occurs at the headquarters of the organizing agency; the dates of the conference; the report title; the pinpoint cite, if any; the document symbol, when available; and the official document date, if different from the conference date:
World Conference on Human Rights, June 14–25, 1993, Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, ¶ 37, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.157/23 (July 12, 1993).
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janiero, Braz., June 3-14, 1992, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.151/26/Rev.1 (Vol. I), Annex I (Aug. 12, 1992).
Most U.N. documents are issued as masthead documents. Some documents originally published in masthead form, such as resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council, are subsequently issued in the Official Records. Always cite to the Official Record, when possible. Masthead documents should be cited by the name of the institutional author, if any (rule 21.7.4(a)); the title of the document (rule 21.7.4(b)); pinpoint cite, if any; the document symbol (rule 21.7.4(c)); and the date of publication.
U.N. Secretary-General, Letter dated Mar. 2, 2006 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly, U.N. Doc. A/60/706 (Mar. 3, 2006).
U.N. President of the S.C., Letter dated Dec. 9, 2008 from the President of the Security Council to the Secretary-General, U.N. Doc. S/2008/757 (Dec. 9, 2008).
Prevention Through Education, Ministerial Declaration of the 1st Meeting of the Ministers of Health and Education to Stop HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Latin America and the Caribbean, in letter dated Aug. 15, 2008 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, U.N. Doc. A/63/307 (Aug. 19, 2008).
Permanent Rep. of Somalia to the U.N., Letter dated May 12, 2008 from the Permanent Rep. of Somalia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, U.N. Doc. S/2008/323 (May 14, 2008).
U.N. Secretariat, Expulsion of Aliens, Memorandum by the Secretariat, ¶¶ 702-44, Int’l Law Comm’n, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/565 (July 10, 2006).
(a) Author.
Include the name of the author, as listed on the cover page of the document:
U.N. Secretary-General, Letter dated Mar. 2, 2006 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly, U.N. Doc. A/60/706 (Mar. 3, 2006).
United Nations, Econ. & Soc. Council, Comm. on Arrangements for Consultation with Non-Governmental Orgs., Dev. of Tourism on the African Continent, Statement Submitted by the Int’l Union of Official Travel Orgs., U.N. Doc. E/C.2/562 (1960).
(b) Title.
Capitalize the title in accordance with rule 8.
(c) United Nations document symbol.
Include the U.N. document symbol (rule 21.7.1), if available.
Only provide citations to a URL for materials without document or press release symbols. United Nations websites are preferred to all other websites. Cite materials in accordance with rule 21.7.4 and format them pursuant to rule 18.1:
U.N. Secretary-General, High-Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals 25 September 2008: Committing to Action: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Background Note by the Secretary-General (July 25, 2008), http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2008highlevel/pdf/commiting.pdf.
Letter from the President of the General Assembly to all Permanent Representatives and Permanent Observers to the U.N. (Dec. 16, 2008), http://www.un.org/ga/president/63/letters/peacebuilding161208.pdf.
U.N. President of the G.A., Remarks on the Work to Date of the Sixty-Third Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Dec. 23, 2008), http://www.un.org/ga/president/63/statements/ga231208.shtml.
Verbatim records of the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Trusteeship Council are kept in the Official Records of those organs. The Economic and Social Council and the Trade and Development Board do not keep verbatim records. All citations to verbatim (PV.) and summary records (SR.) should be to the Official Records whenever possible.
Include in the citation the Official Record title; the subdivision of the organ, if necessary; the session and meeting number; the pinpoint citation, if necessary; the U.N. document number; and the date:
U.N. GAOR, 56th Sess., 1st plen. mtg. at 3, U.N. Doc. A/56/PV.1 (Sept. 12, 2001).
U.N. SCOR, 59th Sess., 4893d mtg. at 2, U.N. Doc. S/PV.4893 (Jan. 15, 2004).
The final, authorized versions of resolutions appear in the Official Records. However, it has become customary to cite the electronic versions found in the Official Document System (ODS) of the United Nations using resolution symbols. Cite resolutions either to the Official Records or using resolution symbols. For pinpoint citations to material within a resolution, use paragraph or article numbers.
(a) General Assembly.
After 1976, General Assembly resolution symbols are designated as session number/resolution number. The first resolution adopted during the forty-seventh General Assembly would thus be G.A. Res. 47/1.
Prior to 1976, the resolution symbols continued increasing from year to year and the session number was indicated as a Roman numeral in parentheses after the resolution number.
(i) Citation to the Official Record.
General Assembly resolutions and decisions are published in the supplements to the Official Records (GAOR). The Official Records are documents and have their own symbols, different from the symbol of the resolutions. General Assembly decisions are not published as individual documents, but have numbers similar to resolutions and are published only in the supplements to the Official Records.
G.A. Res. 832 (IX), U.N. GAOR, 9th Sess., Supp. No. 21, U.N. Doc. A/2890, at 19 (Oct. 21, 1954).
G.A. Res. 47/163, ¶ 5, U.N. GAOR, 47th Sess., Supp. No. 49, (Vol. I), U.N. Doc. A/47/49 (Vol. I), at 120 (Dec. 18, 1992).
G.A. Dec. 62/557, U.N. GAOR, 62d Sess., Supp. No. 49, (Vol. III), U.N. Doc. A/63/49 (Vol. III), at 106 (Sept. 15, 2008).
(ii) Citation to electronic version found in the Official Document System (ODS).
To cite to the electronic versions of resolutions, use resolution symbols. To create resolution symbols, insert “A/RES/” before the resolution number.
G.A. Res. 47/1, ¶ 2, U.N. Doc. A/RES/47/1 (Sept. 22, 1992).
G.A. Res. 62/228, ¶ 35, U.N. Doc. A/RES/62/228 (Dec. 22, 2007).
G.A. Res. 2262 (XXII), ¶ 12, U.N. Doc. A/6884 (Nov. 3, 1967).
G.A. Res. 133 (II), at 43, U.N. Doc. A/519 (Nov. 17, 1947).
(iii) General Assembly resolutions known by a popular name.
For General Assembly resolutions better known by title (e.g., the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), put the title at the beginning of the citation:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, U.N. Doc. A/RES/217(III) (Dec. 10, 1948).
2005 World Summit Outcome, G.A. Res. 60/1, U.N. Doc. A/RES/60/1 (Sept. 16, 2005).
Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, G.A. Res. 47/135, Annex, U.N. GAOR, 47th Sess. Supp. No. 49 (Vol. I), U.N. Doc. A/47/49 (Vol. 1), at 210 (Dec. 18, 1992).
(b) Security Council resolutions.
Cite Security Council resolutions in accordance with either rule 21.7.2(a)(i) or 21.7.2(a)(ii). Resolution symbols are created by inserting “S/RES/” prior to the resolution number. Security Council presidential statements may be cited in a similar manner.
S.C. Res. 508, ¶ 3, U.N. SCOR, 37th Year, U.N. Doc. S/INF/38, at 5 (June 5, 1982).
S.C. Res. 1325, ¶ 8, U.N. Doc. S/RES/1325 (Oct. 31, 2000).
S.C. Pres. Statement 2008/48, U.N. Doc. S/PRST/2008/48 (Dec. 22, 2008).
(c) Resolutions issued by other organs.
Resolutions issued by other U.N. organs should be cited analogously to General Assembly and Security Council resolutions.
E.S.C. Res. 1990/26, U.N. Doc. E/RES/1990/90 (May 24, 1990).
T.C. Res. 2014 (XXVI), U.N. TCOR, 26th Sess., Supp. No. 1, U.N. Doc. T/1549, at 2 (June 1, 1960).
(d) Resolutions by subsidiary bodies.
Resolutions issued by subsidiary bodies of the principal U.N. organs should be cited by the name of the subsidiary body and resolution number; the title, session, and date of the document where the resolution is found; the title of the Official Records; the supplement number; the U.N. document symbol; the pinpoint cite, if any; and the date:
Human Rights Council Res. 5/1, Rep. of the Human Rights Council, 5th Sess., June 11-18, 2007, U.N. GAOR, 62d Sess., Supp. No. 53, A/62/53, at 48 (June 18, 2007).
Numerous U.N. agencies publish, for sale to the public, documents other than Official Records. These sales publications may take many forms, such as reports, studies, or proceedings. Every citation to a sales publication must include the author and/or title (rule 21.7.7(a)); the page(s) or paragraph(s) (rule 21.7.7(b)); the U.N. document symbol, if available (rule 21.7.7(c)); the sales number (rule 21.7.7(d)); and the year (rule 21.7.7(e)).
(a) Author and title.
Include the author and/or title according to rules 15.1 and 15.3. Include the name of the author only if it is not apparent from the title of the document:
U.N. Dep’t of Int’l Econ. & Soc. Affairs, U.N. Model Double Taxation Convention Between Developed and Developing Countries, at 243, U.N. Doc. ST/ESA/102, U.N. Sales No. E.80.XVI.3 (1980).
U.N. Dep’t of Econ. & Soc. Affairs, Comm. for Dev. Policy, Handbook on the Least Developed Country Category: Inclusion, Graduation and Special Support Measures, U.N. Sales No. E.07.II.A.9 (2008).
(b) Page(s) or paragraph(s).
The volume and subdivision designations should be followed by the page(s) or paragraph(s) to which reference is intended. Introduce page numbers with the word “at.”
(c) United Nations document symbol.
Include the U.N. document symbol (rule 21.7.1), if available.
(d) United Nations sales number.
Include the U.N. sales number:
U.N. Dep’t of Int’l Econ. & Soc. Affairs, World Economic Survey 1977, at I-19, U.N. Doc. ST/ESA/82, U.N. Sales No. E.78.II.C.1 (1977).
(e) Year.
Give the year of publication.
United Nations yearbooks and periodicals collect summaries of the work of subsidiary organizations and related documents. Citations should include the author and/or title of the document or separately designated article (if any); the name of the yearbook or periodical (abbreviated according to rule 16.4); and the U.N. document symbol or, if none, the U.N. sales number (rule 21.7.7(d)). For example:
Summary Records of the 1447th Meeting, [1977] 1 Y.B. Int’l L. Comm’n 175, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/SER.A/1977.
Human Rights in the Union of Burma in 1953, 1953 Y.B. on H.R. 31, U.N. Sales No. 1955.XIV.1.
1981 U.N. Jurid. Y.B. 41, U.N. Doc. ST/LEG/SER.C/19.
1985 U.N.Y.B. 1391, U.N. Sales No. E.84.I.1.
Material reprinted in yearbooks from other U.N. documents should be cited to the original source or to the official records of a U.N. organ:
Report of the International Law Commission to the General Assembly, 19 U.N. GAOR Supp. No. 9, at 1, U.N. Doc. A/5509 (1963), reprinted in [1963] 2 Y.B. Int’l L. Comm’n 187, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/SER.A/1963/Add.1.
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