A/RES/1541(XV) GA

Resolutions adopted on the reports of the Fourth Committee 29 l. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on offers of study and training facilities under General Assembly resolutions 845 (IX); 2. Reaffirms its resolution 1471 (XIV) of 12 De- cember 1959; 3. Invites once again the Administering Members concerned to take. all necessary measures to ensure that scholarships and training facilities offered by Member States are utilized by the inhabitants of the Non-Self- Governing Territories, and to render every assistance to those persons who have applied for, or have been granted, scholarships or fellowships, particularly with regard to facilitating their travel formali~ies ; 4. Requests all Administering Members ~~ich_ have not already done so to give the fullest pubhc1ty 111 the Territories under their administration to a!J offers of study and training facilities made by Member States; 5. Urges Member States to increase the number of scholarships offered ; 6. Requests the Member States offering scholarships to take into account the necessity of furnishing complete information about the scholarships offered, and, when- ever possible, the need to provide travel funds to prospective students; 7. Requests the Secretary-General and the specialized agencies to give such assistance as is possible and as may be sought by the Member States concerned and by the applicants ; 8. Further requests the Secretary-General to prepare for the sixteenth session of the General Assembly a report on the actual use of scholarships and training facilities offered by Member States to students from the Non-Self-Governing Territories._ 948th plenary meeting, 15 December 1960. 1541 (XV). Principles which should guide Mem- bers in determining whether or not an obligation exists to transmit the information called for under Article 73 e of the Charter The General Assembly, Considering the objectives set forth in Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations, Bearing in mind the list of factors annexed to General Assembly resolution 742 (VIII) of 27 November 1953, Having examined the report of the Special Committee of Six on the Transmission of Information under Article 73 e of the Charter,12 appointed under General Assembly resolution 1467 (XIV) of 12 December 1959 to study the principles which should guide Members in determining whether or not an obligation exists to transmit the information called for in Article 73 e of the Charter and to report on the results of its study to the Assembly at its fifteenth session, 1. Expresses its appreciation of the work of the Special Committee of Six on the Transmission of Infor- mation under Article 73 e of the Charter; 2. Approves the principles set out in section V, part B, of the report of the Committee, as amended and as they appear in the annex to the present resolution; 3. Decides that these principles should be applied in the light of the facts and the circumstances of each 12 Ibid., agenda item 38, document A/4526. case to determine whether or not an obligation exists to transmit information under Article 73 e of the Charter. 948th plenary meeting, 15 December 1960. ANNEX l'RINC!PLES WHICH SHOliLIJ GUIDE MEMBERS IN DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT AN OBLIGATION EXISTS TO TRANSMIT THE INFORMATION CALLED FOR IN ARTICLE 73 e OF TIIE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NA'!IONS Principle I The authors of the Charter of the United Nations had in mind that Chapter X [ should be applicable to territories which were then known to be of the colonial type. An obligation exists to transmit information under Article 73 e of the Charter in respect of such territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government. Principle I I Chapter XI of the Charter embodies the concept of Non-Self- Governing Territories in a dynamic state of evolution and progress towards a "full measure of self-government". As soon as a territory and its peoples attain a full measure of self- government, the obligation ceases. Until this comes about, the obligation to transmit information under Article 73 e continues. Principle II I The obligation to transmit information under Article 73 e of the Charter constitutes an international obligation and should be carried out with due regard to the fulfilment of international law. Principle IV Prima facie there is an obligation to transmit information in respect of a territory which is geographically separate and is distinct ethnically and/or culturally from the country admin- istering it. Principle V Once it has been established that such a prima facie case of geographical and ethnical or cultural distinctness of a territory exists, other elements may then be brought into consider;ition. These additional elements may be, inter alia, of an administrative, political, juridical, economic or historical nature. If they affect the relationship between the metropolitan State and the territory concerned in a manner which arbitrarily places the latter in a position or status of subordination, they support the presumption that there is an obligation to transmit information under Article 73 e of the Charter. Principle VI A Non-Self-Governing Territory can be said to have reached a full measure of self-government by: (a) Emergence as a sovereign independent State; ( b) Free association with an independent St?.te; or (c) Integration with an independent State. Principle VII (a) Free assoc1at10n should be the result of a free and voluntary choice by the peoples of the territory concerned expressed through informed and democratic processes. It should be one which respects the individuality and the cultural charac- teristics of tke territory and its peoples, and retains for the peoples of the territory which is associated with an independent State the freedom to modify the status of that territory through the expression of their will by democratic means and through constitutional processes. (b) The associated territory should have the right to deter- mine its internal constitution without outside interference, in accordance with due constitutional processes and the freely 30 General Assembly - Fifteenth Session expressed wishes of the people. This does not preclude con- sultations as appropriate or necessary under the terms of the free association agreed upon. Principle VII I integration with an independent State should be on the basis of complete equality between the peoples of the erstwhile Non- Self-Governing Territory and those of the independent country with which it is integrated. The peoples of both territories should have equal status and rights of citizenship and equal guarantees of fundamental rights and freedoms without any distinction or discrimination; both should have equal rights and opportunities for representation and effective participation at all levels in the executive, legislative and judicial organs of government. Pri,iciple IX Integration should have come about in the following circum- stances: (a) The integrating territory should have attained an advanced stage of self-government with free political institutions, so that its peoples would have the capacity to make a responsible choice through informed and democratic processes; (b) The integration should be the result of the freely ex- pressed wishes of the terrttory's peoples acting with full knowl- edge of the change in their status, their wishes haying been expressed through informed and democratic processes, im- partially conducted and based on universal adult suffrage. The United Nations could, when it deems it necessary, supervise these processes. Principle X The transmission of information in respect of Non-Self- Governing Territodes under Article 73 e of the Charter is subject to such limitation as security and constitutional considerations may require. This means that the extent of the ihformation may be limited in certain circumstances, but the limitation in Article 73 e cannot relieve a Member State of the obligations of Chapter XI. The "limitation" can relate only to the quantum of information of economic, social and educa- tional nature to be transmitted. Principle X I The only constitutional considerations to which Article 73 e of the Charter refers are those arising from constitutional relations of the territory with the Administering Member. They refer to a situation in which the constitution of the territory gives it self-government in economic, social and educational matters through freely elected institutions. Nevertheless, the responsibility for transmitting information under Article 73 e continues, unless these constitutional relations preclude the Government or parliament of the Administering Member from receiving statistical and other information of a technical nature relating to economic, social and educational conditions in the territory. Principle XII Security considerations have not been invoked in the past. Only in very exceptional circumstances can information on economic, social and educational conditions have any security aspect. In other circumstances, therefore, there should be no necessity to limit the transmission of information on security grounds. 1542 (XV). Transmission of information under Article 7 3 e of the Charter The General Assembly, Recalling that, by resolution 7 42 (VIII) of 27 Nov- ember 1953, the General Assembly approved a list of factors to be used as a guide in determining whether a Territory is or is no longer within the scope of Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations, Recalling al,so that differences of views arose among Member States concerning the status of certain terri- tories under the administrations of Portngal and Spain and described by these two States as "overseas prov- inces" of the metropolitan State concerned, and that with a view to resolving those differences the General Assembly, by resolution 1467 (XIV) of 12 December 1959, appointed the Special Committee of Six on the Transmission of Information under Article 73 e of the Charter to study the principles which shonld guidt' Members in determining whether or not an obligation exists to transmit the information called for in Article 73 e, Recognizing that the desire for independence is the rightful aspiration of peoples under colonial subjugation and that the denial of their right to self-determination constitutes a threat to the well-being of humanity and to international peace, Recalling with satisfaction the statement of the repre- sentative of Spain at the 10-l8th meeting of the Fourth Committee that his Government agrees to transmit in- formation to the Secretary-General in accordance with the provisions of Chapter XI of the Charter, Mindful of its responsibilities under Article 14 oi the Charter, Being aware that the Government of Portugal has not transmitted information on the territories under its administration which are enumerated in operative para- graph 1 below add has nut expressed any intention of doing so, and became such information as is otherwise available in r('gard to the conditions in these territories gives cattse for concern, l. Considers that, in the light of the provisions of Chapter XI of the Charter, General Assembly resolution 742 (VIII) and the principles approved hy the Assembly in resolution 1541 (XV) of 15 Drcemher 1960, the territories under the administration of Portugal listed hereunder are Non-Self-Governing Territories within the meaning of Chapter XI of the Charter: (a) The Cape Verde Archipelago; ( b) Guinea, called Portuguese Guinea; ( c) Sao Tome and Principe, and their dependencies; (d) Sao Joao Batista de Ajuda; (e) Angola, including the enclave of Cabinda; (f) Mozambique; (g) Goa and dependencies, called the State of India; ( h) Macau and dependencies ; (i) Timar and dependencies; 2. Declares that an obligation exists on the part of the Government of Portugal to transmit information under Chapter Xl of the Charter concerning these terri- tories and that it should be discharged without further delay; 3. Requests the Government of Portugal to transmit to the Secretary-General information in accordance with the provisions of Chapter XI of the Charter on the con- ditions prevailing in the territories under its administra- tion enumerated in paragraph 1 above ; 4. Requests the Secretary-General to take the nec- essary steps in pursuance of the declaration of the Gov- ernment of Spain that it is ready to act in accordance with the provisions of Chapter XI of the Charter; 5. Invites the Governments of Portugal and Spain to participate in the work of the Committee on Informa- tion from Non-Self-Governing Territories in accordance

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