What’s in the news?

• Norway, Ireland, and Spain said that they would recognise a state of Palestine marking the first time a Western European country has committed to such recognition.

Criteria to be recognised as a state

• The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (1933), identified four conditions of a state: 
  • a permanent population, 
  • defined territory,
  • government, and 
  • capacity to enter into relations with other states.

The United Nations –  criterion for accepting states as Members. 

• • Article 4 of the UN Charter states: Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.

• Procedure:

• • Admission to the United Nations (UN) as a Member State is granted by a two-thirds majority vote in the UN General Assembly. However, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) takes up the candidature only upon the recommendation of the UN Security Council (UNSC)
  • The UNSC comprises five permanent members (P5)- the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and France. 10 temporary member countries chosen on a rotational basis. 
  • For the UNSC recommendation to pass there must be a vote, with at least nine members in favour and no permanent members using their veto. 

Status of Palestine at the UN

• Currently, Palestine is a Permanent Observer State and not a Member State  at the UN. (There is one other Permanent Observer State in the UN — the Holy See, representing Vatican City).
• As a Permanent Observer State, Palestine is allowed to participate in all of the Organization’s proceedings, except for voting on draft resolutions and decisions in its main organs and bodies, from the Security Council to the General Assembly and its six main committees.
• Palestine graduated to the status of non-member Permanent Observer State from having Observer status in 2012. 
• Palestine has attempted to secure membership in the UN as a state in the past. In the UNSC, the United States had vetoed its admission.
• Before the announcement by Norway, Ireland, and Spain, 143 of the UN’s 193 members already recognised Palestine as a state. India accorded recognition in 1988.