The Future Composition of the Trusteeship Council

Abstract

So fast has been the development of trust territories toward self-government or independence that a situation will arise in 1960 that seems not to have been foreseen by the founding fathers of the United Nations. Togoland and the Cameroons under French administration and Somaliland under Italian administration will, according to present plans, cease to be trust territories during the course of 1960. Italy's automatic membership in the Trusteeship Council will thus cease, but France, as a permanent member of the Security Council, will remain a permanent member of the Trusteeship Council. This will have both short-term and long-term implications for the balance of membership in the Council, which according to the Charter should be divided equally between states which administer trust territories and states which do not administer such territories.