Note by the Secretariat

• Pages: 7-7

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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 A/RES/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: http://untreaty.un.org