Memoranda def5/21/2023 It must however not be concluded that the labelling of treaties is haphazard or capricious. The particular designation of an international instrument is thus not decisive for the obligation incumbent on the Member States to register it. 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. 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". By the terms "treaty" and "international agreement", referred to in Article 102 of the Charter, the broadest range of instruments is covered. ![]() All treaties and international agreements registered or filed and recorded with the Secretariat since 1946 are published in the UNTS. Instead, their rules apply to all of those instruments as long as they meet certain common requirements.Īrticle 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". Both the 1969 Vienna Convention and the 1986 Vienna Convention do not distinguish between the different designations of these instruments. 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. 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. Since there was a general desire to codify these customary rules, two international conventions were negotiated. Therefore, they are regarded as international customary law. These rules are the result of long practice among the States, which have accepted them as binding norms in their mutual relations. 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.Īlthough 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. 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 title assigned to such international instruments thus has normally no overriding legal effects. Some of the terms can easily be interchanged: an instrument that is designated "agreement" might also be called "treaty". In fact, the meaning of the terms used is variable, changing from State to State, from region to region and instrument to instrument. In spite of this diversity of terminology, no precise nomenclature exists. However, a fair number of additional terms have been employed, such as "statutes", "covenants", "accords" and others. ![]() ![]() ![]() The terms most commonly used are the subject of this overview. 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 purpose is to facilitate a general understanding of their scope and function. 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. Definition of key terms used in the UN Treaty Collection
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