Note by the Secretariat

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Note by the Secretariat
1. Under Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations every treaty
and every international agreement entered into by a Member of the
United Nations after the coming into force of the Charter must be
registered with the Secretariat and published by it. The General
Assembly, by Resolution 97 (I) of 14 December 1946, adopted
Regulations to give effect to Article 102 of the Charter. These
Regulations were last amended on 19 December 1978 (“the
Regulations”).
2. Under article 1 of the Regulations, parties are required to effect
the registration of every treaty or international agreement subject to
registration concluded by them. Under article 4 of the Regulations, the
United Nations is required to register ex officio every treaty or
international agreement which is subject to registration where the
United Nations (i) is a party to the treaty or agreement, (ii) has been
authorized by a treaty or agreement to effect registration, or (iii) is the
depositary of a multilateral treaty or agreement. The specialized
agencies may also register treaties in certain specific cases. The
Regulations also provide in article 10 for the filing and recording of
certain categories of treaties and international agreements other than
those subject to registration under Article 102 of the Charter. The
Secretariat is designated in Article 102 as the organ with which
registration or filing and recording is effected.
3. The present Statement is issued monthly by the Office of Legal
Affairs of the Secretariat pursuant to article 13 of the Regulations.
4. Part I contains a statement of treaties and international
agreements registered in accordance with article 1 of the Regulations.
Part II contains a statement of treaties and international agreements
filed and recorded in accordance with article 10 of the Regulations.
With regard to each treaty or international agreement registered or filed
and recorded, the following information is provided: registration or
recording number, title, date of conclusion, date and method of entry
into force, languages in which it was concluded, name of the authority
which initiated the formality of registration or filing and recording and
date of that formality. Annexes to the Statement contain subsequent
actions concerning treaties and international agreements registered or
filed and recorded with the Secretariat of the United Nations or
registered with the Secretariat of the League of Nations. These actions
can be in the form of supplementary agreements, agreements which
amend or modify previously registered agreements, or certified
statements. Certified statements are composed of data only, such as
ratifications, accessions, etc.
5. Under Article 102 of the Charter and the Regulations, the
Secretariat is responsible for the registration and publication of
treaties. In respect of ex officio registration and filing and recording,
where the Secretariat has responsibility for initiating action under the
Regulations, it has authority for dealing with all aspects of the
responsibility.
6. In other cases, when treaties and international agreements are
submitted by a party for the purpose of registration or filing and
recording, they are first examined by the Secretariat in order to
ascertain (i) whether they fall within the category of agreements
requiring registration or are subject to filing and recording, and (ii)
whether the technical requirements of the Regulations are met. It is
noted that an authoritative body of practice relating to registration has
been developed in the League of Nations and the United Nations. In
some cases, the Secretariat may find it necessary to consult with the
registering party concerning the question of registrability. However,
since the terms "treaty" and "international agreement" have not been
defined in the Charter or in the Regulations, the Secretariat follows the
principle of respecting the position of the Member State submitting an
instrument for registration that in so far as that party is concerned the
instrument is a treaty or an international agreement within the meaning
of Article 102. Therefore registration of an instrument submitted by a
Member State does not imply a judgement by the Secretariat on the
nature of the instrument, the status of a party, or any similar question.
It is the understanding of the Secretariat that its action does not confer
on the instrument the status of a treaty or an international agreement if
it does not already have that status and does not confer on a party a
status which it would not otherwise have.
7. The obligation to register rests on the Member State and the
purpose of Article 102 of the Charter is to give publicity to all treaties
and international agreements subject to registration. Under paragraph
2 of Article 102, no party to a treaty or international agreement subject
to registration, which has not been registered, may invoke that treaty or
agreement before any organ of the United Nations.
Publication of treaties and international agreements
8. Pursuant to article 12 of the Regulations, treaties and international
agreements registered or filed and recorded are published in the
United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) in their original language or
languages, together with a translation in English and French, as
necessary. By its resolution 33/141 A of 19 December 1978, the
General Assembly gave the Secretariat the option not to publish in
extenso certain categories of bilateral treaties or international
agreements belonging to one of the following categories:
(a) Assistance and co-operation agreements of limited scope
concerning financial, commercial, administrative or technical
matters;
(b) Agreements relating to the organization of conferences,
seminars or meetings;
(c) Agreements that are to be published otherwise than in the
UNTS by the United Nations Secretariat or by a specialized
or related agency.
9. By its resolution 52/153 of 15 December 1997, the General
Assembly extended this option to multilateral treaties falling within the
terms of article 12 (2) (a) to (c).
10. In accordance with article 12 (3) of the Regulations, those
treaties and international agreements that the Secretariat intends not
to publish in extenso are identified in the Statement by an asterisk
preceding the title.
UNTS volumes published since 1946 are available on the United
Nations Web site at: https://treaties.un.org

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