The Amendment of the Constitutive Instruments of the United Nations And Specialized Agencies

Published in 1968 and long out of print, this work has been reprinted now because of its relevance to the current efforts to reform the United Nations. When Zacklin wrote his analysis, he was an inexperienced young scholar who would not join the United Nations for another seven years; he has been Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs since 1998. In this anaylsis he identifies constitutions of international organizations as treaties, but of a particular kind, and examines the special problems regarding the amendment of those constitutions when the international body--in this case the United Nations--feels the need to adapt to new developments even when participating states would rather stick to the devil they know. Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ralph Zacklin, Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs since 1998, joined the United Nations in 1973 and worked in the Office of Legal Affairs as Director and Deputy to the United Nations Legal Counsel, as well as in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as Officer-in-Charge and Acting Deputy to the High Commissioner. He has taught international law at several institutions, including the Hague Academy of International Law.

This is an unrevised reprint of the 1968 edition.