Does the UN Security Council have the legal authority to determine the final status of Western Sahara?

The role of the UN Security Council in the Western Sahara conflict raises fundamental legal questions regarding the limits of its powers versus the right to self-determination. Although Article 24 of the UN Charter grants the Council primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, this authority is not absolute; it is bounded by the purposes and principles of the Charter, foremost among them being the right of peoples to self-determination.

Legal analysis, supported by International Court of Justice jurisprudence such as the 1971 Namibia advisory opinion, underscores that Security Council resolutions must be interpreted within their context and the UN’s legal framework. The Council's support in Resolution 2797 (2025) for the autonomy proposal as a basis for negotiation does not legally equate to a declaration of final sovereignty or the overriding of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, which remains a binding legal norm.

Conflict management by the Council, through peacekeeping missions or facilitating dialogue, is fundamentally different from possessing the power to decide territorial sovereignty. Compliance with international law requires a clear distinction between temporary security measures and the final determination of a territory's status, which cannot be achieved independently of the free will of the concerned population.