Research Guides: UN General Assembly Documentation: Introduction

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Delegates submit voting ballots during the General Assembly plenary meeting for voting on the election of a member of the International Court of Justice. November 2021

Delegates submit voting ballots during the General Assembly plenary meeting. November 2021. UN Photo UN7916704

Delegates submit voting ballots during the General Assembly plenary meeting. November 2021. UN Photo UN7916704.

A view of UN Headquarters and delegates of the high-level week of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly. September 2022. UN Photo UN7953041.

Csaba Kőrösi, President of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, addresses the opening of seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly Debate. September 2022. UN Photo UN7953043.

A view of the flags outside the General Assembly building.

The General Assembly building. September 2020. UN Photo UN7871214.

Introduction to General Assembly Documentation

UN Digital Library collection: General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the United Nations. Chapter IV, Articles 9-22, of the UN Charter concern the General Assembly.

All Member States participate in the General Assembly and each state has one vote.

The General Assembly meets in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly (A/520/Rev.20).

Each year, a regular session is held. Special and emergency special sessions may also be convened.

The regular session begins on the Tuesday of the third week in September (starting with 78th session, will be second week of September in accordance with A/RES/75/325);
The session is suspended in late December;
The session reconvenes in February;
The session concludes the day before the next session begins.

Meetings of the General Assembly are announced and summarized in the Journal of the United Nations. The Journal lists the documents of the General Assembly as they are published throughout the year.

From the 1st session (1946) through the 30th session (1975), General Assembly meetings and documents were consecutively numbered. At the 31st session, the symbols began to include the session number.

The basic format for the symbols of General Assembly documents is:

A/session/sequential number
- Example: A/73/1
From 1946 to 1975, the format was A/sequential number
- Example: A/9601

Search for "status of documentation" "General Assembly"

Key UN Charter Provisions Related to the General Assembly

Chapter IV : Articles 9-22 : General Assembly

Article 9 : Composition
Articles 10-17 : Functions and Powers
Articles 18-19 : Voting
Articles 20-22 : Procedures

UN Charter Research Links

Charter of the United Nations website The Charter of the United Nations on the UN website, organized by chapter, with an introduction that explains the amendments to the text. Links to the text of the Charter in other official UN languages.
Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs Analytical studies of the decisions of the UN principal organs under each of the Articles of the Charter ; Comprehensive summary of the decisions of United Nations Organs, together with review of related material, organized by Charter Articles.
Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly website Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly on the UN website, includes current text of the Rules, link to the official issuance, and comments on some procedural practices.
Search for General Assembly Rules of Procedure Search for documentsymbol:"A/520*" AND "rules of procedure" returns all revisions of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly