Professor Ray Murphy:

In 1956, there was the Suez crisis involving major powers but especially the French. There was no way the Security Council was going to be able to approve any UN operation involving deploying in that area because of the direct French involvement in the conflict on the ground. Therefore, there was an initiative to go to the General Assembly to seek its approval under the charter. As I said, the General Assembly will only have jurisdiction when the Security Council is unable to act. This was tested before the International Court of Justice to be in conformity with international law and the UN charter. There is a precedent for the General Assembly taking a role in the maintenance of international peace and security.