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The Trusteeship Council was set up under chapters XII and XIII of the UN Charter to ensure that non-self-governing territories were administered in the best interests of their people and of international peace and security. With the termination of the Trusteeship Agreement for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1994, and Palau’s admission as the 185th member of the UN, the Trusteeship Council completed the task entrusted to it with respect to the last of the 11 territories that had been placed under the Trusteeship System. The Council now consists of the five permanent members of the Security Council, and has amended its rules of procedure to allow it to meet as and when the occasion may require.
The Secretary-General recommended in both his 1994 report on the Work of the Organisation and his 2005 report In Larger Freedom that the General Assembly proceed with steps to eliminate the Trusteeship Council in accordance with article 108 of the Charter. World Leaders endorsed this recommendation at the 2005 World Summit and recorded in the Outcome Document their agreement to delete chapter XIII of the Charter and references to the Council in chapter XII.
