Security Council Working Methods
UN Documents

S/RES/1904 (17 December 2009) renewed the mandate of the 1267 Committee Monitoring Team for 18 months. The resolution also included significant changes to the administration of the 1267 regime, including the creation for an initial period of 18 months of an Office of the Ombudsperson, which is intended to serve as a point of contact for individuals and entities requesting that they be delisted.
• S/RES/1822 (30 June 2008) revised sanctions listing and delisting procedures and mandated a review of the 1267 Consolidated List by June 2010.
• S/RES/1732 (21 December 2006) welcomed the report of the Working Group on Sanctions and decided that it had fulfilled its mandate.
• S/RES/1730 (19 December 2006) agreed to establish a delisting process and create a focal point for receiving delisting requests within the Secretariat.
• S/RES/1674 (28 April 2006) was on the protection of civilians.
• S/RES/1646 (20 December 2005) decided that the five permanent members and two elected members of the Council will have seats on the PBC's Organisational Committee.
• S/RES/1645-A/RES/60/180 (20 December 2005) created the PBC and the Peacebuilding Fund.
• S/RES/1612 (26 July 2005) established a Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict.
• S/RES/1353 (13 June 2001) agreed on detailed elements of Council relationship with TCCs and stated the continued possibility to consider using the Military Staff Committee as one of the means of enhancing UN peacekeeping capacity.
• S/RES/1327 (13 November 2000) agreed to strengthen the system of consultations with TCCs through the holding of private meetings with them and stated a possibility to consider using the Military Staff Committee as one of the means of enhancing UN peacekeeping capacity.
• S/RES/665 (25 August 1990) asked member states to coordinate the implementation of the naval blockade against Iraq through the Military Staff Committee.
• S/RES/1 (25 January 1946) established the Military Staff Committee.

Selected Presidential Statements

S/PRST/2009/24  (5 August 2009) highlighted the Council’s efforts to improve its dialogue with the Secretariat and TCCs/PCCs as well as identified areas for further reflection such as credible and achievable mandates matched with appropriate resources.
• S/PRST/2004/16 (17 May 2004) recognised the need to take into consideration the views of TCCs and strengthen the relationship between those who plan, mandate and manage peace operations and the TCCs.
• S/PRST/2001/3 (31 January 2001) recognised the need to develop a transparent relationship between the Council, the TCCs and the Secretariat, and established the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations to devise ways to achieve this goal.
• S/PRST/1996/13 (28 March 1996) reiterated the desire for enhanced consultation and exchange of information between the Council and TCCs, noted that procedures previously agreed upon to meet this goal had not been fully implemented and agreed on additional procedures to facilitate communication between the Council and the TCCs. 
• S/PRST/1995/48 (26 September 1995) took note of the conclusions of the General Assembly Working Group that the Council, inter alia, continue to review its working methods.
• S/PRST/1994/81 (16 December 1994) expressed the Council's intention to hold more open meetings. 
• S/PRST/1994/62 (4 November 1994) outlined procedures that the Council decided to follow to facilitate enhanced consultation and exchange of information with the TCCs. 
• S/PRST/1994/22 (3 May 1994) welcomed enhanced consultations and exchange of information between the Council and the TCCs regarding peacekeeping operations, including their planning, management and coordination. 
• S/26176 (27 July 1993) indicated that Council members had agreed that the Secretariat should make the tentative forecast available for information to all member states.
• S/25859 (28 May 1993) was the statement in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “An agenda for peace: preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, and peace-keeping.” 

Selected Notes of the President of the Security Council

• S/2010/507 (27 July 2010) was a note which focused on enhancing Council transparency, as well as interaction and dialogue with non-Council members.
• S/2008/847 (31 December 2008) was the result of the 2008 work of the Informal Working Group on Documentation revising procedures regarding the list of items with which the Council is seized.
• S/2007/749 (19 December 2007) was the note in which the Council reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing the efficiency and transparency of its work and listed additional measures the Council agreed on in 2007 and committed itself to implement.
• S/2006/997 (22 December 2006) transmitted the report of the Informal Working Group on Sanctions.  
• S/2006/928 (21 November 2006) requested that the Secretariat provide an updated version of the descriptive index of notes and statements by the Council president relating to documentation and procedure.
• S/2006/507 (19 July 2006) described the outcome of the six months of work of the Informal Working Group in 2006 under the leadership of Japan.
• S/2006/78 (7 February 2006) contained the updated descriptive index of notes and statements by the Council president relating to documentation and procedure. 
• S/2005/841 (29 December 2005) extended the mandate of the Working Group on Sanctions until 31 December 2006. 
• S/2004/1014 (23 December 2004) extended the mandate of the Working Group on Sanctions until 31 December 2005 and that expanded its mandate, inter alia, to improve archives and databases in the Secretariat and strengthen cooperation between sanctions committees, monitoring bodies and regional organisations.  
• S/2004/939 (2 December 2004) superseded the note of 22 November 2002 (S/2002/1276) and emphasised that newly elected members of the Council would be invited to attend both formal and informal meetings of subsidiary bodies, rather than just formal meetings, for one month preceding their term.  
• S/2003/1185 (18 December 2003) extended the mandate of the Working Group on Sanctions until 31 December 2004.
• S/2002/1276 (22 November 2002) established that newly elected Council members would be invited to attend informal consultations of the Council and formal meetings of subsidiary bodies for one month prior to their term and that if an incoming member were assuming the presidency in the first two months of its term, it would be able to attend informal consultations for two months preceding its term.  
• S/2002/964 (27 August 2002) outlined criteria for eligibility for participation in private meetings and consultation meetings with TCCs.  
• S/2002/591 (29 May 2002) was the note establishing the seating pattern for non-Council members participating in Council meetings. 
• S/2002/199 (22 May 2002) indicated a change in the period covered in the annual report. 
• S/2002/70 (15 January 2002) indicated that the Permanent Representative from Cameroon would serve as the chairman of the Informal Working Group on Sanctions until 31 December 2003. 
• S/2002/56 (14 January 2002) established joint meetings of the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations and the TCCs. 
• S/2001/640 (29 June 2001) indicated that the Council president should draw the attention of members and regional organisations to Council decisions and relevant presidential press statements, while the Secretariat should make non-state actors aware of resolutions, presidential statements of the Council and presidential press statements.
• S/2000/319 (17 April 2000) established on a temporary basis an Informal Working Group to develop general recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness of UN sanctions. 
• S/2000/274 (31 March 2000) indicated procedures for the distribution of Council statements.
• S/2000/155 (28 February 2000) indicated that newly elected Council members would be invited to observe informal consultations of Council members for one month preceding their term of membership. 
• S/1999/1291 (30 December 1999) indicated that the Council agreed that the president should make draft resolutions and presidential statements available to non-Council members and provide them with substantive briefings soon after consultations of the whole. 
• S/1999/165 (17 February 1999) emphasised that all Council members be allowed to participate fully in the preparation of Council resolutions and presidential statements.
• S/1999/92 (29 January 1999) indicated the Council's determination to improve the work of sanctions committees and listed a series of practical proposals to this effect. 
• S/1998/1016 (30 October 1998) indicated that the Council agreed that the Secretary-General should be encouraged to make statements to the Council in public meetings and outlined measures to strengthen communication between the Council, TCCs and members at large. 
• S/1998/354 (30 April 1998) indicated that the UN Journal should each month include a reminder that member states can pick up copies of the Council tentative forecast of work and that the president make available to all member states the Council calendar.
• S/1997/451 (12 June 1997) indicated that the Council agreed to make modifications to the format of its annual report and attach assessments of the Council's work by presidents during the reporting period that would be informational and not necessarily reflect the views of the Council.   
• S/1996/704 (29 August 1996) outlined procedures for deleting items from the Council's list of matters of which it was seized.  
• S/1996/603 (22 August 1996) indicated that the Council would delete from its list of matters of which it was seized any item not taken up in the previous five years, unless a member state objected.
• S/1996/54 (24 January 1996) indicated the Council's agreement that chairs of sanctions committees brief interested members of the UN after each meeting and raise awareness among committee members and the broader UN membership of improvements in the procedures of the sanctions committees. 
• S/1995/438 (31 May 1995) indicated that the Council agreed to continue the practice of hearing states and organisations affected by sanctions during closed meetings of the sanctions committees.
• S/1995/234 (29 March 1995) indicated that the Council agreed to implement measures to make the sanctions committees more transparent by, inter alia, increasing the practice of issuing press releases after Committee meetings. 
• S/1994/230 (28 February 1994) was the note in which the Council agreed to make draft decisions in provisional form available to all members at the time they have been introduced in consultations of the whole.
• S/26812 (29 November 1993) indicated that the Council agreed to continue to review periodically the list of matters of which it was seized. 
• S/26389 (31 August 1993) indicated that the Council agreed that effective 1 January 1994 its documents should be published in an annual series. 
• S/26176 (27 July 1993) was the note indicating Council members' agreement that the Secretariat should make the tentative forecast  available to all member states once it has been transmitted to all members of the Council. 
• S/26015 (30 June 1993) indicated that the Council agreed to take all necessary measures to ensure the timely submission of its annual report to the General Assembly.     

Selected Security Council Debate Records

• S/PV.6300 and resumption 1 (22 April 2010) was an open debate on working methods.
• S/PV.5968 and resumption 1 (27 August 2008) was a Council debate on working methods.
• S/PV.5878 (28 April 2008) was a briefing  by Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe on progress regarding the fulfilliment of UNAMI's mandate and by US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on behalf of the Mulltinational Force in Iraq.
• S/PV.5156 (30 March 2005) was the last wrap-up session at the end of Council presidency to date.
• S/PV.4677 (20 December 2002) was a wrap-up session held by Colombia with several references being made to the issue of working methods.
• S/PV.4616 (26 September 2002) was the public discussion of the draft report of the Council to the General Assembly.
• S/PV.4445 (21 December 2001) was the wrap-up session held by Mali during which several members raised the issue of working methods.
• S/PV.4343 (29 June 2001) was a wrap-up session at the end of Bangladeshi presidency, the first such session held publicly.
• S/PV.4257 and resumption 1 (16 January 2001) was the open debate on TCCs.
• S/PV.3705(16 October 1996) was an orientation debate on Afghanistan organised by the Honduran presidency.
• S/PV.3689 (15 August 1996) was an orientation debate on demining as part of peacekeeping, organised by Germany.
• S/PV.3654 (18 April 1996) was an orientation debate on the Middle East organised by the Chilean presidency.
• S/PV.3648 and S/PV.3650 (9 April 1996) was an orientation debate on Afghanistan organised by the Chilean presidency.
• S/PV.3641 (15 March 1996) was an orientation debate on Somalia organized by the Botswana presidency.
• S/PV.3628(6 February 1996) was an orientation open debate on Angola organised by the US presidency.
• S/PV.3621 (25 January 1996) was an orientation open debate on Liberia, organised by the UK presidency.
• S/PV.3611 (20 December 1995) was an open debate on peacekeeping during which numerous working methods issues, including the relationship with TCCs, were raised.
• S/PV.3483 (16 December 1994) was an open debate on Security Council working methods.
• S/PV.3372 (3 May 1994) was a presidential statement that focused on the Secretary-General's report An Agenda for Peace, and welcomed enhanced consultations and exchange of information with the TCCs.

Other Security Council Documents

• S/2010/165 (1 April 2010) was the letter transmitting the concept paper for the 22 April 2010 debate on working methods.
• S/2010/10/Add.9* (8 March 2010) was the revised seizure list of the Security Council for 2010.
• S/2010/10 (21 January 2010) was the original seizure list of the Security Council published in 2010.
• S/2009/193 (8 April 2009) was a letter from the Permanent Representative of Finland to the president of the Security Council containing the report from the sixth Annual Workshop for Newly Elected Members of the Security Council containing numerous references to the discussion of working methods.
• S/2009/10/Add.13 (6 April 2009) was the revised seizure list of the Security Council for 2009.
• S/2009/10 (30 January 2009) was the original seizure list of the Security Council for 2009.
• S/2008/589 (29 August 2008) was the intervention of the Philippines during the 27 August 2008 open debate on working methods.
• S/2008/528 (4 August 2008) was the letter transmitting the concept paper by the Belgian Presidency stressing the purpose of an open debate on implementing the presidential note in S/2006/507.
• S/2008/455 (11 July 2008) was a letter from the Chairman of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict to the president of the Council transmitting the annual report of the Working Group and addressing various aspects of the Group’s working methods.
• S/2008/418 (20 June 2008) was the letter from the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the President of the Security Council on behalf of the S-5 requesting a meeting on the topic of working methods to which all interested member states would be invited. 
• S/2008/10/Add.13 (9 April 2008) was the revised seizure list of the Security Council published in 2008.
• S/2008/10 (11 January 2008) was the original seizure list of the Security Council published in 2008.
• S/2008/195 (20 March 2008)   was a letter from the Permanent Representative of Finland to the president of the Security Council containing the report from the fifth Annual Workshop for Newly Elected Members of the Security Council containing numerous references to the discussion of working methods.
• S/2007/784 (31 December 2007) was the letter from the Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the President of the Security Council summarising the 13 December 2007 Arria formula meeting on “Enhancing and widening interaction and dialogue between the Security Council and other United Nations Member States, as part of the implementation of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document.”
• S/2007/137 (9 March 2007) was a letter from the Permanent Representative of Finland to the president of the Security Council containing the report from the fourth Annual Workshop for Newly Elected Members of the Security Council with numerous references to the discussion of working methods.
• S/2001/671 (6 July 2001) was a Russian proposal on enhancing the activities of the Military Staff Committee.
• S/2001/626 (22 June 2001) was a letter from the representative of Pakistan with proposals regarding the improvement in the Council relationship with TCCs.
• S/2001/535 (30 May 2001) was a letter from the representatives of Argentina, Canada, Ghana, Jordan, the Netherlands and New Zealand with proposals regarding the improvement in the Council relationship with TCCs.
• S/2001/73 (23 January 2001) was a letter containing Canada's proposal for improving cooperation between the Council and TCCs.
• S/2000/809 (21 August 2000) was the report of the Panel on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations known as the Brahimi report.
• S/1998/286 (27 March 1998) was Costa Rica's assessment of its December 1997 presidency of the Council, containing a "Position paper on working methods of the Security Council".
• S/1995/456 (2 June 1995) was a letter from the Permanent Representative from Argentina to the president of the Security Council proposing that the Working Group evaluate the nomenclature of Council documents. 
• S/1994/1279 (9 November 1994) was a letter from the Permanent Representative of France to the Secretary-General containing an aide-memoire that, inter alia, proposed orientation debates.   
• S/1994/1063 (15 September 1994) was a letter from Argentina and New Zealand to the president of the Security Council requesting an open meeting to consider various procedural issues, including participation.
• S/24111 (17 June 1992) contained the Secretary-General's report, An Agenda for Peace.
• S/96.REV.7 (1983) is the most version of the Provisional Rules of Procedure of the Security Council.
• S/96 (24 June 1946) contains Provisional Rules of Procedure of the Security Council.

Selected General Assembly Resolutions

• A/RES/60/1 (16 September 2005) was the outcome document of the 2005 World Summit which recommended that the Security Council continue to adapt its working methods so as to increase the involvement of states not members of the Council in its work, as appropriate, enhance its accountability to the membership and increase the transparency of its work.
• A/RES/51/208 (17 December 1996) invited the Council to establish consultative mechanisms to address the impact of sanctions as well as to enhance the effectiveness and transparency of the sanctions committees.
• A/RES/50/51 (11 December 1995) was the first of several General Assembly resolutions calling for measures to assist third states affected by Security Council sanctions.
• A/RES/48/26 (3 December 1993) was a resolution that established an Open-ended Working Group to consider all aspects of the question of increase of the Council membership as well as other matters related to the Council.
• A/RES/47/62 (11 December 1992) requested the Secretary-General to invite member states to submit written comments on a possible review of Council membership and asked the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly a report containing the comments of member states on the subject at its 48th session.  
• A/RES 1991A (XVIII) (17 December 1963) was a resolution adopting amendments to the Charter on the composition of the Council and establishing the allocation of seats to various regions.
• A/RES/1/11 (24 January 1946) was a resolution in which the General Assembly determined how the Security Council would proceed in selecting a Secretary-General.

Other General Assembly Documents

•  GA/10886 (12 November 2009) was the press release regarding the debates of the General Assembly on the Annual Report of the Security Council in 2009 (A/64/2).
• A/63/PV.54, A/63/PV.55 and A/63/PV.56 (19 and 20 November 2008) were the debates of the General Assembly on the Annual Report of the Security Council in 2008 (A/63/2)
• A/62/PV.48, A/62/PV.49, A/62/PV.50 and A/62/PV.51 (12-14 November 2007) were the debates of the General Assembly on the Annual Report of the Security Council in 2007 (A/62/2).
• A/61/PV.72, A/61/PV.73, A/61/PV.74 and A/61/PV.75 (11 and 12 December 2006) were the debates of the General Assembly on the Annual Report of the Security Council in 2006 (A/61/2).
• A/60/733 (30 March 2006) provided analysis and recommendations to facilitate the review of mandates.
• A/60/L.49 (17 March 2006) was the draft resolution on Improving the working methods of the Security Council submitted by the S5.