A General Assembly resolution recommendation is the standard output of GA deliberation: a formal text adopted by the plenary or one of its six Main Committees that recommends a course of action to states, UN organs, or the Secretary-General. Unlike Security Council resolutions adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, GA resolutions are generally not legally binding on member states. Their authority is political and moral, drawn from the universality of GA membership.
The legal basis sits in Articles 10–14 of the UN Charter, which empower the Assembly to "discuss" and "make recommendations" on matters within the Charter's scope. Article 11 covers international peace and security; Article 13 covers progressive development of international law and human rights; Article 14 covers peaceful adjustment of situations. The recurring verb in these articles is recommend — not decide or require.
There are narrow exceptions where GA decisions do bind: internal matters such as the budget (Article 17), admission of new members, election of non-permanent Security Council members, and appointment of the Secretary-General. These are decisions, not recommendations.
In Model UN, delegates should distinguish operative verbs accordingly. GA committee draft resolutions typically use soft verbs — calls upon, urges, encourages, recommends, invites, requests — rather than the binding decides, demands, authorizes reserved for Security Council texts. Misusing Chapter VII language in a GA committee (DISEC, SOCHUM, ECOFIN, SPECPOL, Legal, or the Third Committee) is a common procedural error.
Despite their non-binding nature, GA recommendations carry weight. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Resolution 217 A (III), 1948) and the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Resolution 1514 (XV), 1960) were GA recommendations that shaped subsequent treaty law and state practice. Repeated GA recommendations can also contribute to evidence of opinio juris in the formation of customary international law.
Example
In December 1960 the General Assembly adopted Resolution 1514 (XV), recommending the swift end of colonialism — a non-binding text that nonetheless reshaped decolonization norms over the following decade.
Frequently asked questions
Generally no. Under Articles 10–14 of the UN Charter the GA issues recommendations. The narrow exceptions are internal matters — most notably the UN budget under Article 17, admissions, and elections — where GA decisions do bind member states or UN organs.
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