Declaration on Friendly Relations

The Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations was adopted by consensus as UN General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV) on 24 October 1970, the 25th anniversary of the UN Charter. Drafted over nearly a decade by a Special Committee established in 1963, it elaborates seven principles drawn from Article 2 of the Charter:

• The prohibition on the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
• The duty to settle international disputes by peaceful means.
• The duty of non-intervention in matters within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.
• The duty of states to cooperate with one another in accordance with the Charter.
• The principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.
• The sovereign equality of states.
• The duty to fulfil in good faith obligations assumed under the Charter.

Although a General Assembly resolution is formally non-binding, the Declaration is widely regarded as an authoritative interpretation of the Charter and as evidence of opinio juris contributing to customary international law. The International Court of Justice relied on it heavily in Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States), Judgment of 27 June 1986, when finding that the non-use-of-force and non-intervention principles bind states as custom independently of treaty law.

The Declaration is also frequently cited on self-determination: it affirms the right of peoples freely to determine their political status, while including a "safeguard clause" protecting the territorial integrity of states "conducting themselves in compliance with the principle of equal rights and self-determination... and thus possessed of a government representing the whole people." This clause has been central to debates over remedial secession, including arguments before the ICJ in the 2010 Kosovo advisory opinion. For MUN delegates, Resolution 2625 is a foundational reference text in nearly any committee touching sovereignty, intervention, or use of force.