About UN Documents

Rules of procedure state how a body conducts its work. In the UN, each principal parliamentary organ has its own rules of procedure, or provisional rules in the case of the Security Council. In addition to the rules of procedure for each organ, some subsidiaries of the principal organs may also have their own rules of procedure. Conferences often adopt rules of procedure as well.

Some key UN rules of procedure include:

• A/520/Rev.21 : General Assembly, 2025
  • Comments on some procedural practices are made available online , available from General Assembly website
• E/5715/Rev.2 : Economic and Social Council, 1992
• E/5975/Rev.1 : Rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council, 1983
• S/96/Rev.7 : Security Council, Provisional rules, 1983
  • Provisional rules section of the Repertoire of the Practice of the UN Security Council

If a conference or subsidiary body has its own rules of procedure, they will usually be issued with the series symbol of the body. They may be called provisional or draft rules as they are prepared in advance of the meetings and are adopted when the body convenes. Check the report of the body for the decision adopting the rules. Some examples include:

• A/CONF.227/2025/2 : Provisional rules of procedure : 4th International Conference on Financing for Development
• A/CONF.234/2 : Rules of procedure for United Nations congresses on crime prevention and criminal justice
• CD/8/Rev.10 : Rules of procedure of the Conference on Disarmament
• CERD/C/35/Rev.4 :  Rules of procedure : Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
• DP/1997/32 : Rules of procedure of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
• E/CONF.105/2 : Provisional rules of procedure : 11th United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names

It can be difficult to research the rules of procedure in force for a particular UN body at a particular date (today, 10 years ago, 50 years ago, etc.). Some bodies have had the same rules in place for decades; some subsidiary bodies may use the rules of their principal organ, others may have their own rules. Rules of procedure can become important points of debate when negotiations become intense. 

In addition to the specialized sites linked above, resources to research further include the following:

• Repertory of Practice of UN organs
• Reference books such as the following:
  • Blokker, Neils. Legal Facets of the Practice of International Organizations, 435 Recueil des Cours / Collected Courses 73 (2024).
  • Sabel, Robbie. Rules of Procedure at UN and Inter-Governmental Conferences. 3rd edition. Cambridge, United Kingdom ; Cambridge University Press, 2018.
  • Schermers, Henry G, and Niels Blokker. International Institutional Law : Unity within Diversity. 6th revised edition. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Nijhoff, 2018. 
  • Simma, Bruno et al. Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary. Oxford University Press USA, 4th edition. 2024.
  • Webb, Philippa et al. Oppenheim’s International Law. United Nations. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2017.