United Nations resolutions are formal expressions of the opinion or will of United Nations organs. They generally consist of two clearly defined sections: a preamble and an operative part. The preamble generally presents the considerations on the basis of which action is taken, an opinion expressed or a directive given. The operative part states the opinion of the organ or the action to be taken.

The term "decision" is used to designate formal actions, other than resolutions, dealing with non-substantive or routine matters such as elections, appointments, the time and place of meetings and the taking note of reports. They are sometimes also used to record the adoption of a text representing the consensus of the members of a given organ.

Resolutions

Resolutions of the Security Council are first published as individual documents, always identified by the prefix S/RES/- . (An unofficial version of the text is reproduced in the press release summarizing the account of the meeting at which the resolution was adopted.) They are consecutively numbered. Four digits representing the year of adoption are enclosed in parentheses immediately following the sequential number. Security Council resolutions can only be identified, apart from the document symbols assigned to them, by the subjects to which they relate since they do not carry individual titles.

Example:

S/RES/955 (1994)

concerning the establishment and Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Decisions

Decisions of the Security Council are unnumbered and, as they are not issued as individual documents, have no document series symbol assigned to them.

Presidential Statements

Formal presidential statements are published as individual documents. (An unofficial version of the text is reproduced in the press release summarizing the account of the meeting at which the statement was made.) Prior to 1994, they were issued in the general Security Council series (i.e., S/[sequential number]). Since that time, a special prefix (S/PRST/-), followed by four digits representing the year in which the statement was released, is used to identify them. A new numbering sequence is established at the beginning of each calendar year.


Examples:

S/22133	concerning the situation in Liberia
S/PRST/1996/37	concerning mine clearance

Both resolutions and decisions of the Security Council are compiled into annual cumulations which are issued in the S/INF/- series as part of the Official Records of the Security Council. Presidential statements are also included in these cumulations. Since 1994, a press release produced well in advance of the official, edited compilation has also been issued cumulating the unofficial text of resolutions, decisions and presidential statements as well as the voting record for all resolutions adopted within the year. A subject index facilitates access to the material contained in the press release compilation.

Online research on Security Council resolutions from 1946 and presidential statements from 1979 onwards can be conducted in UNBISnet.

The full text of Security Council resolutions from 1946 onwards is retrievable through UNBISnet, the Official Document System of the United Nations (ODS) as well as at the UN Documentation Centre.

The full text of presidential statements (1994 onwards) can be accessed through UNBISnet, the Official Document System of the United Nations (ODS) as well as at the UN Documentation Centre. UNBISnet and the ODS additionally provide links to the full text of a number of earlier presidential statements.