The Security Council consists of 15 members, 5 with permanent seats. The remaining 10 are elected for 2-year terms by the General Assembly, they are not eligible for immediate re-election.
Permanent members of the Council are: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
10 non-permanent members are currently Austria, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Japan, Libya, Mexico, Turkey, Uganda and Vietnam.
The Security Council has the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security and members agree to carry out its decisions. The Council may investigate any dispute that threatens international peace and security. When the Security Council is handling a dispute or situation the General Assembly makes no recommendation unless the Council requests it.
The Security Council functions continuously, each member being represented at all times. It may change its place of meeting.
Any member of the UN may participate in its discussions and a nation not a member of the UN may appear if it is a party to a dispute.
The Security Council may decide to enforce its decisions without the use of arms. Such measures include interruption of economic relations, break in transportation and communications, and severance of diplomatic relations. If such measures fail the Council may call on UN members to furnish armed forces and assistance. The right of individual or collective self-defense is not prohibited by membership in the UN, and if a member nation is attacked it may do what is necessary, reporting this to the Security Council, which may take independent action. However, the Council encourages regional arrangements or agencies by means of which local disputes can be settled without getting as far as the Council, after the Council has approved this method.
The Economic and Social Council
Economic and Social Council consists of twenty-seven members. The Council is concerned with financial and technical assistance to the less developed countries, the international protection of refugees and aid to the world's children.
The International Court of Justice
The principal judicial organ of the United Nations is the International Court of Justice which sits at the Hague in the Netherlands. It is composed of fifteen judges who are elected by the Security Council and the General Assembly.