The Court Says Pay

The framers of the United Nations Charter agonized over the consequences of allowing great states a political veto, but they hardly worried about a power that can paralyze the U.N. almost as effectively: the financial nyet.

Although many nations are behind in paying their regular annual share of costs (approximate total arrears: $5,000,000), the really critical deficit involves members' deliberate decisions not to pay "special assessments." Because they dislike U.N. operations in the Congo and the Middle East, voted by the veto-proof General Assembly, the Communist bloc has refused to pay its share of the annual $140 million price of troubleshooting in those areas. For their own political reasons, France, Belgium and most of the Arab states will not ante up for one or the other of these assessments. The $200 million U.N. bond issue, backed with U.S. funds if Congress approves, will ease the pressure for a while, but the problem of the financial veto goes much deeper. Seven months ago, the General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice to decide whether all U.N. costs must be shared by all members. Last week the court gave its decision: yes.

The World Court's 9-to-5 ruling* is "advisory," and although the General Assembly will probably endorse it this fall, enforcement is far from automatic. The U.N. Charter bars an Assembly vote for members more than two years in full arrears, but excepts any state that cannot pay "due to conditions beyond the control of the member," a phrase that can mean too many things to too many countries. And by paying only part of its debt each year, a member country can put off a showdown with the Charter provision indefinitely--while still refusing to pay for U.N. operations it dislikes.

*In favor of the decision were judges from Australia, Great Britain, Greece. Italy, Japan, Nationalist China, Panama. United Arab Republic and the U.S. Against: Argentina, France, Peru, Poland, Soviet Union.

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