International treaties, conventions and agreements are an important part of international law. The United Nations Treaty Collection website provides access to a wealth of information on international agreements, treaties and conventions. In international law, a treaty is any legally binding agreement between states (countries). A treaty can be called a convention, protocol, pact, agreement, etc.; It is the content of the agreement, not its name, that makes it a treaty. Thus, both the Geneva Protocol and the Biological Weapons Convention are treaties, although neither has the word “treaty” in its name. Under U.S. law, a treaty is, in particular, a legally binding agreement between countries that requires ratification and “deliberation and approval” by the Senate. All other agreements (treaties in the international sense) are called executive agreements, but are nevertheless legally binding on the United States under international law. An “exchange of notes” is a record of a routine agreement that has many similarities to the private law contract.
The agreement consists of the exchange of two documents, each of the parties being in possession of the part signed by the representative of the other. In accordance with the usual procedure, the accepting State repeats the text of the offering State in order to register its consent. Signatories to the letters may be ministers, diplomats or heads of departments. The note exchange technique is often used, either because of its quick procedure or sometimes to avoid the legislative approval process. This introductory remark is intended to provide a fundamental — but not exhaustive — overview of the key terms used in the United Nations Treaty Series to designate international instruments that are binding under international law: treaties, agreements, conventions, charters, protocols, declarations, declarations of intent, modus vivendi and exchange of notes. The aim is to facilitate a general understanding of their scope and function. “Any international treaty or agreement concluded by a Member of the United Nations. are registered with the Secretariat and published by it as soon as possible. »; (Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations) The General Assembly established an ad hoc committee in 2001 to negotiate an agreement. The first meeting was held in August 2002 and drafting of the text began in May 2004. In August 2006, the Committee reached agreement on the text. Delegates to the Ad Hoc Committee represented NGOs, Governments, national human rights institutes and international organizations. It was the first time that NGOs had been actively involved in the elaboration of a human rights instrument.
Top The IHR (2005) is an international agreement between 194 States Parties and the World Health Organization to monitor, report and respond to events that could pose a threat to international public health. The objective of the IHR (2005) is to prevent, protect and control the international spread of diseases in a manner appropriate and limited to risks to public health and to avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade. (International Health Regulations, art. 2). More information can be found in the IHR factsheets. An international convention or treaty is an agreement between different countries that is legally binding on States parties. Existing international conventions cover various areas, including trade, science, crime, disarmament, transport and human rights. A convention becomes legally binding on a particular State when that State ratifies it. The signature does not make a convention binding, but it shows support for the principles of the convention and the country`s intention to ratify it.
Since States parties are required by law to comply with the principles set out in the Convention, a monitoring body is often established to assess the progress made by States parties in the implementation of the Convention by regularly reviewing reports submitted by States. Human rights conventions do not include an enforcement mechanism to compel States to comply with the principles of the Convention or the recommendations of the monitoring body, and the implementation of these conventions depends on the commitment of each country. Top of page Many multilateral agreements set up a body to monitor the implementation of the agreement. Often, the body is composed of states that are parties to the agreement (i.e., that have signed, ratified, or otherwise agreed to comply with the agreement). These may be called the Conference of the Parties, the Assembly of States Parties or a similar name. A UN Member State may also be a party to a convention. However, not all UN member states participate in all multilateral conventions. Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations provides that “any treaty or international agreement concluded by a Member of the United Nations after the entry into force of the present Charter shall be registered with and published by the Secretariat as soon as possible”. Contracts or agreements that are not registered may not be invoked before any organ of the United Nations. Registration promotes transparency and the availability of contractual texts to the public. Article 102 of the Charter and its predecessor, Article 18 of the Covenant of Nations, have their origin in one of Woodrow Wilson`s Fourteen Points, in which he sets out his idea of the League of Nations: “Open alliances of peace that have been openly realized, according to which there will be no private international agreements of any kind, but diplomacy should always take place openly and in public.” The term “amendment” refers to the formal modification of the contractual provisions that affect all parties to the respective agreement.
These amendments must be made with the same formalities as those which accompanied the initial conclusion of the contract. Many multilateral treaties set out specific requirements that must be met in order for amendments to be adopted. In the absence of such provisions, amendments require the consent of all parties. A modus vivendi is an instrument in which an international agreement of a temporary or provisional nature is included, which must be replaced by an agreement of a more permanent and detailed nature. It is usually done informally and never requires ratification. UN documents can be a rich resource for research on drafting an agreement. States may express their consent to be bound by an “exchange of letters/notes”. The basic feature of this procedure is that signatures do not appear on a letter or note, but on two separate letters or notes. The agreement therefore consists of the exchange of letters or notes, each of the parties having a letter or note signed by the representative of the other party in their possession. In practice, the second letter or note, usually the letter or note in response, will usually reflect the text of the first. In a bilateral treaty, letters or notes may also be exchanged to indicate that all necessary national procedures have been completed. International agreements are formal agreements or obligations between two or more countries.
An agreement between two countries is said to be “bilateral”, while an agreement between several countries is “multilateral”. Countries bound by an international agreement are generally referred to as “States Parties”. Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations provides that “any treaty or international agreement concluded by a State Member of the United Nations after the entry into force of the present Charter shall be registered and published by that State As soon as possible”. All international treaties and agreements registered or submitted and registered with the Secretariat since 1946 will be published in the UNTS. .
