A Study on the Trusteeship System under International Law

This article attempted to critically examine the trusteeship system established based on the UN Charter. Furthermore, it intended to clarify whether the trusteeship system contributed to overcoming the decolonization of international law. To this end, it examined the process of transferring the mandate system to the trusteeship system as the League of Nations was dissolved. In addition, it identified implications of the trusteeship system by reviewing the obligations under sacred trust for civilization and submitting a petition and objective of the trusteeship system. An overall review of the trusteeship system shows that it was established by modifying and supplementing the shortcomings of the mandate system. The trusteeship system stipulated the open-door policy in the UN Charter, which aimed at international peace, security, and economic peace, and tried to grant nationality and rights to the peoples of the trust territories. Therefore, it can be evaluated that the trusteeship system showed greater efforts to overcome colonialism under international law than the mandate system in the past. However, according to the judgments associated with South West Africa and certain phosphate lands in the Nauru cases, the authorities for administration violated their obligations within the trusteeship system. First, it was confirmed through the Northern Cameroon case that the obligations of mandate powers, which were confirmed in the previous mandate system, were maintained in the trusteeship system. Second, in phosphate lands in the Nauru case, the ICJ confirmed that the violation of the mandate's obligations, which began in the mandate system, continued in the trusteeship system. Finally, in the case pertaining to South West Africa, the ICJ stated that the violation of the mandate's obligations, which began in the mandate system, continued in the UN system. Through this study, it can be seen that while the trusteeship system contributed to overcoming the decolonization of international law, the violation of obligations of the mandate powers continued in both the UN system and the trusteeship system.