In recent centuries, State practice has developed a variety of terms for international instruments by which States define rights and obligations among themselves. The most commonly used terms are the subject of this overview. However, a whole series of additional terms were used, such as ”statutes”, ”alliances”, ”agreements” and others. Despite this diversity of terminology, there is no exact nomenclature. In fact, the meaning of the terms used varies and changes from one State to another, from one region to another and from one instrument to another. Some terms can be easily exchanged: an instrument called an ”agreement” can also be called a ”treaty”. The IHR (2005) is an international agreement between 194 States Parties and the World Health Organization to monitor, report and respond to all events that may pose a threat to international public health. The objective of the IHR (2005) is to prevent, protect and control the international spread of diseases and to provide a proportionate and limited public health response to public health risks and to avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade. (International Health Regulations, art. 2). More information can be found in the IHR factsheets. The term ”Protocol” is used for agreements that are less formal than those entitled ”Treaty” or ”Convention”.
The term could be used to cover the following types of instruments: For more information on international conventions, see this Harvard Law Review article, this Berkeley Law Research Guide, and this UCLA Law Review article. A treaty is negotiated by a group of countries, either by an organization created for that specific purpose or by an existing body such as the United Nations (UN) Disarmament Council. The negotiation process can take several years, depending on the subject of the treaty and the number of participating countries. At the end of the negotiations, the contract will be signed by the representatives of the governments concerned. The terms may require that the treaty be ratified and signed before it becomes legally binding. A Government ratifies a treaty by depositing an instrument of ratification at a place specified in the treaty; The instrument of ratification is a document containing a formal confirmation that the Government accepts the provisions of the Treaty. The ratification process varies according to the laws and constitutions of each country. In the United States, the president can only ratify a treaty after seeking the ”advice and approval” of two-thirds of the Senate. 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 with and published by the Secretariat as soon as possible”. All treaties and international agreements registered or submitted and registered with the Secretariat since 1946 are published in the UNTS. The terms ”treaty” and ”international agreement” referred to in Article 102 of the Charter cover the widest range of instruments.
Although the United Nations General Assembly has never established a precise definition of the two terms and has never clarified their mutual relationship, Article 1 of the provisions of the General Assembly implementing Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations provides that the obligation to register applies to any international treaty or agreement, ”regardless of its form and descriptive name”. In the practice of the Secretariat under Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, the terms ”treaty” and ”international agreement” include a variety of instruments, including unilateral obligations, such as declarations by new States Members of the United Nations accepting the obligations of the Charter of the United Nations, declarations on the acceptance of the mandatory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice under Article 36(2) of its Statute, and certain unilateral declarations, binding obligations between the reporting nation and other nations. The specific designation of an international instrument is therefore not decisive for the obligation of Member States to register it. In addition to treaties, there are other, less formal international agreements. These include efforts such as the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and the G7 Global Partnership against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Although PSI has a ”Declaration of Prohibition Principles” and the G7 Global Partnership has several G7 Leaders` Declarations, there is no legally binding document in either country that sets out specific commitments and is signed or ratified by Member States. A treaty is an internationally binding agreement between sovereign states (states) and, in some cases, international organizations. An agreement between an Australian state or territory and a foreign government is therefore not a contract. An agreement between two or more States is not a treaty unless those countries intend the document to be binding under international law.
If a contract does not contain any provisions for other agreements or actions, only the text of the contract is legally binding. In general, an amendment to a treaty is binding only on those States that have ratified it, and agreements reached at review conferences, summits or meetings of States parties are politically binding, but not legally. .