Charter of the United Nations

The Charter of the United Nations is the founding treaty of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945 near the end of the Second World War and entering into force on 24 October 1945. It establishes the purposes, structure and governing framework of the United Nations system, creating its six principal organs: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. As a foundational instrument of public international law, the Charter sets out core principles including the sovereign equality of states and the prohibition on the use of force against the territorial integrity of another state, and it underlies much of the modern international law governing the peaceful settlement of disputes, arms control and the maintenance of international peace and security.