The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was established to ensure the implementation of the Agreements stated in the Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict, signed in Paris on 23 October 1991, also known as the Paris Peace Accords. This was an unprecedented and unique mission for the UN in which their primary role was the mediation of a cease fire and a political transition in Cambodia.

. The Paris Agreement was signed between the four Cambodian factions that had been at war since the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and the subsequent establishment of Vietnamese governance of Cambodia. These factions were: the Khmer Rouge (PDK); the party of Prince Norodom Sihanouk (FUNCINPEC); the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF); and the Vietnamese backed People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). Under the Agreement, the Supreme National Council of Cambodia (SNC) was established and was to be the legitimate governing body and authority in Cambodia during the transitional period. The SNC was made up of the four Cambodian factions and this governing body delegated all powers necessary to the United Nations to ensure the implementation of the Agreements. This power was implemented through UNTAC.