The Immunity of the United Nations and Its Impact on Society

The immunity of the United Nations is a controversial topic that has caused heated debates in the last decades. According to Section 2 of the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations: “The Organization shall enjoy immunity from every form of legal process except insofar as in any particular case it has expressly waived its immunity.” Moreover, Section 29 requires the United Nations to “make provisions for appropriate modes of settlement of private law claims against it.” This Convention has proved to be problematic and different cases have resulted in lack of accountability of the United Nations. In this research paper I will focus on the impact of the immunity of the United Nations on society: what are the implications on States and people’s lives? Firstly, I will make a short analysis of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN. Secondly, I will further explore some case law on the matter, in particular Mothers of Srebrenica et al. v. State of The Netherlands and the United Nations (2008), N.M. and Others v. UNMIK (2008) and George v. UN (2016). Thirdly, I will analyse the general implications of the immunity of the organization on States at the legal, economic and social level. Fourthly, I will provide an in-depth analysis of some confused concepts revolving around the topic of immunity of the United Nations. Finally, I will make a brief summary of the findings.