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| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Introduction |
| This introductory note seeks to provide a basic - but
not an exhaustive - overview of the key terms employed
in the United Nations Treaty Collection to refer to international
instruments binding at international law: treaties, agreements,
conventions, charters, protocols, declarations, memoranda
of understanding, modus vivendi and exchange of notes.
The purpose is to facilitate a general understanding of
their scope and function. |
| |
| Over the past centuries, State practice has developed
a variety of terms to refer to international instruments
by which States establish rights and obligations among
themselves. The terms most commonly used are the subject
of this overview. However, a fair number of additional
terms have been employed, such as "statutes", "covenants",
"accords" and others. In spite of this diversity of terminology,
no precise nomenclature exists. In fact, the meaning of
the terms used is variable, changing from State to State,
from region to region and instrument to instrument. Some
of the terms can easily be interchanged: an instrument
that is designated "agreement" might also be called "treaty". |
| |
| The title assigned to such international instruments
thus has normally no overriding legal effects. The title
may follow habitual uses or may relate to the particular
character or importance sought to be attributed to the
instrument by its parties. The degree of formality chosen
will depend upon the gravity of the problems dealt with
and upon the political implications and intent of the
parties. |
| |
| Although these instruments differ from each other by
title, they all have common features and international
law has applied basically the same rules to all of these
instruments. These rules are the result of long practice
among the States, which have accepted them as binding
norms in their mutual relations. Therefore, they are regarded
as international customary law. Since there was a general
desire to codify these customary rules, two international
conventions were negotiated. The 1969 Vienna Convention
on the Law of Treaties ("1969 Vienna Convention"), which
entered into force on 27 January 1980, contains rules
for treaties concluded between States. The 1986 Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International
Organizations or between International Organizations ("1986
Vienna Convention"), which has still not entered into
force, added rules for treaties with international organizations
as parties. Both the 1969 Vienna Convention and the 1986
Vienna Convention do not distinguish between the different
designations of these instruments. Instead, their rules
apply to all of those instruments as long as they meet
certain common requirements. |
| |
| Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations provides
that "every treaty and every international agreement entered
into by any Member State of the United Nations after the
present Charter comes into force shall as soon as possible
be registered with the Secretariat and published by it".
All treaties and international agreements registered or
filed and recorded with the Secretariat since 1946 are
published in the UNTS. By the terms "treaty" and "international
agreement", referred to in Article 102 of the Charter,
the broadest range of instruments is covered. Although
the General Assembly of the UN has never laid down a precise
definition for both terms and never clarified their mutual
relationship, Art.1 of the General Assembly Regulations
to Give Effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United
Nations provides that the obligation to register applies
to every treaty or international agreement "whatever its
form and descriptive name". In the practice of the Secretariat
under Article 102 of the UN Charter, the expressions "treaty"
and "international agreement" embrace a wide variety of
instruments, including unilateral commitments, such as
declarations by new Member States of the UN accepting
the obligations of the UN-Charter, declarations of acceptance
of the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court
of Justice under Art.36 (2) of its Statute and certain
unilateral declarations that create binding obligations
between the declaring nation and other nations. The particular
designation of an international instrument is thus not
decisive for the obligation incumbent on the Member States
to register it. |
| |
| It must however not be concluded that the labelling
of treaties is haphazard or capricious. The very name
may be suggestive of the objective aimed at, or of the
accepted limitations of action of the parties to the arrangement.
Although the actual intent of the parties can often be
derived from the clauses of the treaty itself or from
its preamble, the designated term might give a general
indication of such intent. A particular treaty term might
indicate that the desired objective of the treaty is a
higher degree of cooperation than ordinarily aimed for
in such instruments. Other terms might indicate that the
parties sought to regulate only technical matters. Finally,
treaty terminology might be indicative of the relationship
of the treaty with a previously or subsequently concluded
agreement. |
| |
| Treaties |
| |
| The term "treaty" can be used as a common generic term
or as a particular term which indicates an instrument
with certain characteristics. |
| |
| (a) Treaty as a generic term: The term "treaty" has
regularly been used as a generic term embracing all instruments
binding at international law concluded between international
entities, regardless of their formal designation. Both
the 1969 Vienna Convention and the 1986 Vienna Convention
confirm this generic use of the term "treaty". The 1969
Vienna Convention defines a treaty as "an international
agreement concluded between States in written form and
governed by international law, whether embodied in a single
instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever
its particular designation". The 1986 Vienna Convention
extends the definition of treaties to include international
agreements involving international organizations as parties.
In order to speak of a "treaty" in the generic sense,
an instrument has to meet various criteria. First of all,
it has to be a binding instrument, which means that the
contracting parties intended to create legal rights and
duties. Secondly, the instrument must be concluded by
states or international organizations with treaty-making
power. Thirdly, it has to be governed by international
law. Finally the engagement has to be in writing. Even
before the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties,
the word "treaty" in its generic sense had been generally
reserved for engagements concluded in written form. |
| |
| (b) Treaty as a specific term: There are no consistent
rules when state practice employs the terms "treaty" as
a title for an international instrument. Usually the term
"treaty" is reserved for matters of some gravity that
require more solemn agreements. Their signatures are usually
sealed and they normally require ratification. Typical
examples of international instruments designated as "treaties"
are Peace Treaties, Border Treaties, Delimitation Treaties,
Extradition Treaties and Treaties of Friendship, Commerce
and Co-operation. The use of the term "treaty" for international
instruments has considerably declined in the last decades
in favor of other terms. |
| |
| Agreements |
| |
| The term "agreement" can have a generic and a specific
meaning. It also has acquired a special meaning in the
law of regional economic integration. |
| |
| (a) Agreement as a generic term: The 1969 Vienna Convention
on the Law of Treaties employs the term "international
agreement" in its broadest sense. On the one hand, it
defines treaties as "international agreements" with certain
characteristics. On the other hand, it employs the term
"international agreements" for instruments, which do not
meet its definition of "treaty". Its Art.3 refers also
to "international agreements not in written form". Although
such oral agreements may be rare, they can have the same
binding force as treaties, depending on the intention
of the parties. An example of an oral agreement might
be a promise made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
one State to his counterpart of another State. The term
"international agreement" in its generic sense consequently
embraces the widest range of international instruments. |
| |
| (b) Agreement as a particular term: "Agreements" are
usually less formal and deal with a narrower range of
subject-matter than "treaties". There is a general tendency
to apply the term "agreement" to bilateral or restricted
multilateral treaties. It is employed especially for instruments
of a technical or administrative character, which are
signed by the representatives of government departments,
but are not subject to ratification. Typical agreements
deal with matters of economic, cultural, scientific and
technical co-operation. Agreements also frequently deal
with financial matters, such as avoidance of double taxation,
investment guarantees or financial assistance. The UN
and other international organizations regularly conclude
agreements with the host country to an international conference
or to a session of a representative organ of the organization.
Especially in international economic law, the term "agreement"
is also used as a title for broad multilateral agreements
(e.g. the commodity agreements). The use of the term "agreement"
slowly developed in the first decades of this century.
Nowadays by far the majority of international instruments
are designated as agreements. |
| |
| (c) Agreements in regional integration schemes: Regional
integration schemes are based on general framework treaties
with constitutional character. International instruments
which amend this framework at a later stage (e.g. accessions,
revisions) are also designated as "treaties". Instruments
that are concluded within the framework of the constitutional
treaty or by the organs of the regional organization are
usually referred to as "agreements", in order to distinguish
them from the constitutional treaty. For example, whereas
the Treaty of Rome of 1957 serves as a quasi-constitution
of the European Community, treaties concluded by the EC
with other nations are usually designated as agreements.
Also, the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA)
was established by the Treaty of Montevideo of 1980, but
the subregional instruments entered into under its framework
are called agreements. |
| |
| Conventions |
| |
| The term "convention" again can have both a generic
and a specific meaning. |
| |
| (a) Convention as a generic term: Art.38 (1) (a) of
the Statute of the International Court of Justice refers
to "international conventions, whether general or particular"
as a source of law, apart from international customary
rules and general principles of international law and
- as a secondary source - judicial decisions and the teachings
of the most highly qualified publicists. This generic
use of the term "convention" embraces all international
agreements, in the same way as does the generic term "treaty".
Black letter law is also regularly referred to as "conventional
law", in order to distinguish it from the other sources
of international law, such as customary law or the general
principles of international law. The generic term "convention"
thus is synonymous with the generic term "treaty". |
| |
| (b) Convention as a specific term: Whereas in the last
century the term "convention" was regularly employed for
bilateral agreements, it now is generally used for formal
multilateral treaties with a broad number of parties.
Conventions are normally open for participation by the
international community as a whole, or by a large number
of states. Usually the instruments negotiated under the
auspices of an international organization are entitled
conventions (e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity of
1992, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
of 1982, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969).
The same holds true for instruments adopted by an organ
of an international organization (e.g. the 1951 ILO Convention
concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers
for Work of Equal Value, adopted by the International
Labour Conference or the 1989 Convention on the Rights
of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly of the UN). |
| |
| Charters |
| |
| The term "charter" is used for particularly formal and
solemn instruments, such as the constituent treaty of
an international organization. The term itself has an
emotive content that goes back to the Magna Carta of 1215.
Well-known recent examples are the Charter of the United
Nations of 1945 and the Charter of the Organization of
American States of 1952. |
| |
| Protocols |
| |
| The term "protocol" is used for agreements less formal
than those entitled "treaty" or "convention". The term
could be used to cover the following kinds of instruments: |
| |
| (a) A Protocol of Signature is an instrument subsidiary
to a treaty, and drawn up by the same parties. Such a
Protocol deals with ancillary matters such as the interpretation
of particular clauses of the treaty, those formal clauses
not inserted in the treaty, or the regulation of technical
matters. Ratification of the treaty will normally ipso
facto involve ratification of such a Protocol. |
| |
| (b) An Optional Protocol to a Treaty is an instrument
that establishes additional rights and obligations to
a treaty. It is usually adopted on the same day, but is
of independent character and subject to independent ratification.
Such protocols enable certain parties of the treaty to
establish among themselves a framework of obligations
which reach further than the general treaty and to which
not all parties of the general treaty consent, creating
a "two-tier system". The Optional Protocol to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 is a well-known
example. |
| |
| (c) A Protocol based on a Framework Treaty is an instrument
with specific substantive obligations that implements
the general objectives of a previous framework or umbrella
convention. Such protocols ensure a more simplified and
accelerated treaty-making process and have been used particularly
in the field of international environmental law. An example
is the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer adopted on the basis of Arts.2 and 8 of
the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone
Layer. |
| |
| (d) A Protocol to amend is an instrument that contains
provisions that amend one or various former treaties,
such as the Protocol of 1946 amending the Agreements,
Conventions and Protocols on Narcotic Drugs. |
| |
| (e) A Protocol as a supplementary treaty is an instrument
which contains supplementary provisions to a previous
treaty, e.g. the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status
of Refugees to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status
of Refugees. |
| |
| (f) A Proces-Verbal is an instrument that contains a
record of certain understandings arrived at by the contracting
parties. |
| |
| Declarations |
| |
| The term "declaration" is used for various international
instruments. However, declarations are not always legally
binding. The term is often deliberately chosen to indicate
that the parties do not intend to create binding obligations
but merely want to declare certain aspirations. An example
is the 1992 Rio Declaration. Declarations can however
also be treaties in the generic sense intended to be binding
at international law. It is therefore necessary to establish
in each individual case whether the parties intended to
create binding obligations. Ascertaining the intention
of the parties can often be a difficult task. Some instruments
entitled "declarations" were not originally intended to
have binding force, but their provisions may have reflected
customary international law or may have gained binding
character as customary law at a later stage. Such was
the case with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Declarations that are intended to have binding
effects could be classified as follows: |
| |
| (a) A declaration can be a treaty in the proper sense.
A significant example is the Joint Declaration between
the United Kingdom and China on the Question of Hong Kong
of 1984. |
| |
| (b) An interpretative declaration is an instrument that
is annexed to a treaty with the goal of interpreting or
explaining the provisions of the latter. |
| |
| (c) A declaration can also be an informal agreement
with respect to a matter of minor importance. |
| |
| (d) A series of unilateral declarations can constitute
binding agreements. A typical example are declarations
under the Optional Clause of the Statute of the International
Court of Justice that create legal bonds between the declarants,
although not directly addressed to each other. Another
example is the unilateral Declaration on the Suez Canal
and the arrangements for its operation issued by Egypt
in 1957 which was considered to be an engagement of an
international character. |
| |
| Memoranda of Understanding |
| |
| A memorandum of understanding is an international instrument
of a less formal kind. It often sets out operational arrangements
under a framework international agreement. It is also
used for the regulation of technical or detailed matters.
It is typically in the form of a single instrument and
does not require ratification. They are entered into either
by States or International Organizations. The United Nations
usually concludes memoranda of understanding with Member
States in order to organize its peacekeeping operations
or to arrange UN Conferences. The United Nations also
concludes memoranda of understanding on co-operation with
other international organizations. |
| |
| Modus Vivendi |
| |
| A modus vivendi is an instrument recording an international
agreement of temporary or provisional nature intended
to be replaced by an arrangement of a more permanent and
detailed character. It is usually made in an informal
way, and never requires ratification. |
| |
| Exchange of Notes |
| |
| An "exchange of notes" is a record of a routine agreement,
that has many similarities with the private law contract.
The agreement consists of the exchange of two documents,
each of the parties being in the possession of the one
signed by the representative of the other. Under the usual
procedure, the accepting State repeats the text of the
offering State to record its assent. The signatories of
the letters may be government Ministers, diplomats or
departamental heads. The technique of exchange of notes
is frequently resorted to, either because of its speedy
procedure, or, sometimes, to avoid the process of legislative
approval. |
| |
| |
| Glossary of terms relating
to Treaty actions |
| |
| This glossary is intended as a general guide and is
not presumed to be exhaustive |
| |
|
Adoption
|
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Acceptance or Approval
|
|
Accession
|
|
Act of Formal Confirmation
|
|
Amendment
|
|
Authentication
|
|
Correction of Errors
|
|
Declarations
|
|
Definitive Signature
|
|
Deposit
|
|
Entry into Force
|
|
Exchange of Letters/Notes
|
|
Full Powers
|
|
Modification
|
|
Notification
|
|
Objection
|
|
Provisional Application
|
|
Ratification
|
|
Registration and Publication
|
|
Reservation
|
|
Revision
|
|
Signature ad referendum
|
|
Signature Subject to Ratification, Acceptance or Approval
|
| |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
1. Adoption |
| "Adoption" is the formal act by which the form and content
of a proposed treaty text are established. As a general
rule, the adoption of the text of a treaty takes place
through the expression of the consent of the states participating
in the treaty-making process. Treaties that are negotiated
within an international organization will usually be adopted
by a resolution of a representative organ of the organization
whose membership more or less corresponds to the potential
participation in the treaty in question. A treaty can
also be adopted by an international conference which has
specifically been convened for setting up the treaty,
by a vote of two thirds of the states present and voting,
unless, by the same majority, they have decided to apply
a different rule. |
| |
| [Art.9, Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 2. Acceptance and Approval |
| |
| The instruments of "acceptance" or "approval" of a treaty
have the same legal effect as ratification and consequently
express the consent of a state to be bound by a treaty.
In the practice of certain states acceptance and approval
have been used instead of ratification when, at a national
level, constitutional law does not require the treaty
to be ratified by the head of state. |
| |
| [Arts.2 (1) (b) and 14 (2), Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 3. Accession |
| |
| "Accession" is the act whereby a state accepts the offer
or the opportunity to become a party to a treaty already
negotiated and signed by other states. It has the same
legal effect as ratification. Accession usually occurs
after the treaty has entered into force. The Secretary-General
of the United Nations, in his function as depositary,
has also accepted accessions to some conventions before
their entry into force. The conditions under which accession
may occur and the procedure involved depend on the provisions
of the treaty. A treaty might provide for the accession
of all other states or for a limited and defined number
of states. In the absence of such a provision, accession
can only occur where the negotiating states were agreed
or subsequently agree on it in the case of the state in
question. |
| |
| [Arts.2 (1) (b) and 15, Vienna Convention on the Law
of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 4. Act of Formal Confirmation |
| |
| "Act of formal confirmation" is used as an equivalent
for the term "ratification" when an international organization
expresses its consent to be bound to a treaty. |
| |
| [Arts.2 (1) (b bis) and 14, Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations
or between International Organizations 1986] |
| |
| 5. Amendment |
| |
| The term "amendment" refers to the formal alteration
of treaty provisions affecting all the parties to the
particular agreement. Such alterations must be effected
with the same formalities that attended the original formation
of the treaty. Many multilateral treaties lay down specific
requirements to be satisfied for amendments to be adopted.
In the absence of such provisions, amendments require
the consent of all the parties. |
| |
| [Art.40, Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 6. Authentication |
| |
| The term "authentication" refers to the procedure whereby
the text of a treaty is established as authentic and definitive.
Once a treaty has been authenticated, states cannot unilaterally
change its provisions. If states which negotiated a given
treaty do not agree on specific procedures for authentication,
a treaty will usually be authenticated by signature, signature
ad referendum or the initialling by the representatives
of those states. |
| |
| [Art.10, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 7. Correction of Errors |
| |
| If, after the authentication of a text, the signatory
and contracting states are agreed that it contains an
error, it can be corrected by initialling the corrected
treaty text, by executing or exchanging an instrument
containing the correction or by executing the corrected
text of the whole treaty by the same procedure as in the
case of the original text. If there is a depositary, the
depositary must communicate the proposed corrections to
all signatory and contracting states. In the UN practice,
the Secretary-General, in his function as depositary,
informs all parties to a treaty of the errors and the
proposal to correct it. If, on the expiry of an appropriate
time-limit, no objections are raised by the signatory
and contracting states, the depositary circulates a proces-verbal
of rectification and causes the corrections to be effected
in the authentic text(s). |
| |
| [Art.79, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969] |
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| 8. Declarations |
| |
| Sometimes states make "declarations" as to their understanding
of some matter or as to the interpretation of a particular
provision. Unlike reservations, declarations merely clarify
the state's position and do not purport to exclude or
modify the legal effect of a treaty. Usually, declarations
are made at the time of the deposit of the corresponding
instrument or at the time of signature. |
| |
| 9. Definitive Signature |
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| When the treaty is not subject to ratification, acceptance
or approval, "definitive signature" establishes the consent
of the state to be bound by the treaty. Most bilateral
treaties dealing with more routine and less politicized
matters are brought into force by definitive signature,
without recourse to the procedure of ratification. |
| |
| [Art.12, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969] |
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| 10. Deposit |
| |
| After a treaty has been concluded, the written instruments,
which provide formal evidence of consent to be bound,
and also reservations and declarations, are placed in
the custody of a depositary. Unless the treaty provides
otherwise, the deposit of the instruments of ratification,
acceptance, approval or accession establishes the consent
of a state to be bound by the treaty. For treaties with
a small number of parties, the depositary will usually
be the government of the state on whose territory the
treaty was signed. Sometimes various states are chosen
as depositaries. Multilateral treaties usually designate
an international organization or the Secretary-General
of the United Nations as depositaries. The depositary
must accept all notifications and documents related to
the treaty, examine whether all formal requirements are
met, deposit them, register the treaty and notify all
relevant acts to the parties concerned. |
| |
| [Arts.16, 76 and 77, Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties 1969] |
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| 11. Entry into Force |
| |
| Typically, the provisions of the treaty determine the
date on which the treaty enters into force. Where the
treaty does not specify a date, there is a presumption
that the treaty is intended to come into force as soon
as all the negotiating states have consented to be bound
by the treaty. Bilateral treaties may provide for their
entry into force on a particular date, upon the day of
their last signature, upon exchange of the instruments
of ratification or upon the exchange of notifications.
In cases where multilateral treaties are involved, it
is common to provide for a fixed number of states to express
their consent for entry into force. Some treaties provide
for additional conditions to be satisfied, e.g., by specifying
that a certain category of states must be among the consenters.
The treaty may also provide for an additional time period
to elapse after the required number of countries have
expressed their consent or the conditions have been satisfied.
A treaty enters into force for those states which gave
the required consent. A treaty may also provide that,
upon certain conditions having been met, it shall come
into force provisionally. |
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| [Art.24, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969] |
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| 12. Exchange of Letters/Notes |
| |
| States may express their consent to be bound by an "exchange
of letters/notes". The basic characteristic of this procedure
is that the signatures do appear not on one letter or
note but on two separate letters or notes. The agreement
therefore lies in the exchange of both letters or notes,
each of the parties having in their possession one letter
or note signed by the representative of the other party.
In practice, the second letter or note, usually the letter
or note in response, will typically reproduce the text
of the first. In a bilateral treaty, letters or notes
may also be exchanged to indicate that all necessary domestic
procedures have been completed. |
| |
| [Art.13, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969] |
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| 13. Full Powers |
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| "Full powers" means a document emanating from the competent
authority of a state designating a person or persons to
represent the state for negotiating, adopting, authenticating
the text of a treaty, expressing the consent of a state
to be bound by a treaty, or for accomplishing any other
act with respect to that treaty. Heads of State, Heads
of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs are considered
as representing their state for the purpose of all acts
relating to the conclusion of a treaty and do not need
to present full powers. Heads of diplomatic missions do
not need to present full powers for the purpose of adopting
the text of a treaty between the accrediting state and
the state to which they are accredited. Likewise, representatives
accredited by states to an international conference or
to an international organization or one of its organs
do not need to present full powers for the purpose of
adopting the text of a treaty in that conference, organization
or organ. |
| |
| [Art.2 (1) (c) and Art.7 Vienna Convention on the Law
of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 14. Modification |
| |
| The term "modification" refers to the variation of certain
treaty provisions only as between particular parties of
a treaty, while in their relation to the other parties
the original treaty provisions remain applicable. If the
treaty is silent on modifications, they are allowed only
if the modifications do not affect the rights or obligations
of the other parties to the treaty and do not contravene
the object and the purpose of the Treaty. |
| |
| [Art.41, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 15. Notification |
| |
| The term "notification" refers to a formality through
which a state or an international organization communicates
certain facts or events of legal importance. Notification
is increasingly resorted to as a means of expressing final
consent. Instead of opting for the exchange of documents
or deposit, states may be content to notify their consent
to the other party or to the depositary. However, all
other acts and instruments relating to the life of a treaty
may also call for notifications. |
| |
| [Arts.16 (c), 78 etc,. Vienna Convention on the Law
of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 16. Objection |
| |
| Any signatory or contracting state has the option of
objecting to a reservation, inter alia, if, in its opinion,
the reservation is incompatible with the object and purpose
of the treaty. The objecting state may further declare
that its objection has the effect of precluding the entry
into force of the treaty as between objecting and reserving
states. |
| |
| [Art.20-23, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
1969] |
| |
| 17. Provisional Application |
| |
| A treaty or a part of a treaty can be applied provisionally,
if the treaty itself so provides or if the contracting
parties have in some other manner so agreed. The provisional
application ends once the treaty enters into force. |
| |
| [Art.25, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 18. Ratification |
| |
| Ratification defines the international act whereby a
state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if
the parties intended to show their consent by such an
act. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is
usually accomplished by exchanging the requisite instruments,
while in the case of multilateral treaties the usual procedure
is for the depositary to collect the ratifications of
all states, keeping all parties informed of the situation.
The institution of ratification grants states the necessary
time-frame to seek the required approval for the treaty
on the domestic level and to enact the necessary legislation
to give domestic effect to that treaty. |
| |
| [Arts.2 (1) (b), 14 (1) and 16, Vienna Convention on
the Law of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 19. Registration and Publication |
| |
| Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations provides
that "every treaty and every international agreement entered
into by any Member of the United Nations after the present
Charter comes into force shall as soon as possible be
registered with the Secretariat and published by it".
Treaties or agreements that are not registered cannot
be invoked before any organ of the United Nations. Registration
promotes transparency and the availability of texts of
treaties to the public. Article 102 of the Charter and
its predecessor, Article 18 of the Pact of the League
of Nations, have their origin in one of Woodrow Wilson's
Fourteen Points in which he outlined his idea of the League
of Nations: "Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at,
after which there shall be no private international understandings
of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always openly
and in the public view". |
| |
| [Art.80, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 20. Reservation |
| |
| A reservation is a declaration made by a state by which
it purports to exclude or alter the legal effect of certain
provisions of the treaty in their application to that
state. A reservation enables a state to accept a multilateral
treaty as a whole by giving it the possibility not to
apply certain provisions with which it does not want to
comply. Reservations can be made when the treaty is signed,
ratified, accepted, approved or acceded to. Reservations
must not be incompatible with the object and the purpose
of the treaty. Furthermore, a treaty might prohibit reservations
or only allow for certain reservations to be made. |
| |
| [Arts.2 (1) (d) and 19-23, Vienna Convention of the
Law of Treaties 1969] |
| |
| 21. Revision |
| |
| Revision has basically the same meaning as amendment.
However, some treaties provide for a revision additional
to an amendment (i.e., Article 109 of the Charter of the
United Nations). In that case, the term "revision" refers
to an overriding adoption of the treaty to changed circumstances,
whereas the term "amendment" refers only to a change of
singular provisions. |
| |
| 22. Signature ad referendum |
| |
| A representative may sign a treaty "ad referendum",
i.e., under the condition that the signature is confirmed
by his state. In this case, the signature becomes definitive
once it is confirmed by the responsible organ. |
| |
| [Art.12 (2) (b), Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
1969] |
| |
| 23. Signature Subject to Ratification, Acceptance
or Approval |
| |
| Where the signature is subject to ratification, acceptance
or approval, the signature does not establish the consent
to be bound. However, it is a means of authentication
and expresses the willingness of the signatory state to
continue the treaty-making process. The signature qualifies
the signatory state to proceed to ratification, acceptance
or approval. It also creates an obligation to refrain,
in good faith, from acts that would defeat the object
and the purpose of the treaty. |
| |
| [Arts.10 and 18, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
1969] |
| |
