1. Registration of Treaties under Article 102 of the
Charter of the United Nations
Seminar on the undertaking of Treaty Actions for Treaties
November
UN Headquarters
Muriel Djella Ogandaga
Arturo Requesens
Associate Legal Officers
Treaty Section

2. Agenda Article 102 of the UN Charter - Mandate
Definition of Treaty and Treaty-making Capacity
Registration procedures for Member States
Publication of Treaties and Subsequent Actions
Legal Technical Assistance offered by OLA (including internet databases)

3. United Nations Charter Article 102
Paragraph 1: Every treaty and every international agreement entered into by any Member 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.
Paragraph 2: No party to any such treaty or international agreement which has not been registered in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article may invoke that treaty or agreement before any organ of the United Nations.

4. Article 102: Origins and Policy Objective
To avoid secret diplomacy (W. Wilson)
Article 18 of the Covenant of the League of Nations:
Every treaty or international engagement entered into hereafter by any Member of the League shall be forthwith registered with the Secretariat and shall as soon as possible be published by it. No such treaty or international engagement shall be binding until so registered.

5. Implications of Article 102
Each Member State: must register all international agreements/treaties.
United Nations Secretariat: must publish all agreements registered.
This function is performed at UN HQ by the Office of Legal Affairs, Treaty Section.

6. Article 102(2): Sanctions and Penalties
No party to a non-registered agreement may invoke that treaty or agreement before any organ of the United Nations (e.g., the International Court of Justice).
The Article 102 sanction seems to apply only to the parties of an unregistered agreement.
 Third parties have invoked unregistered treaties; parties in the middle of an ICJ proceeding have registered an agreement used in a defense and the ICJ allowed.

7. When must a treaty be registered?
Article 102(1): “as soon as possible”
Secretariat’s practice: the OLA Treaty Section encourages all Member States to submit their treaties for registration – including those from any time period (no deadline for registration).
This furthers Article 102’s objective to encourage greater transparency and OLA’s mandate to promote the rule of law
Also results in a greater number of treaties in the UN Treaty Series, and therefore a better resource for Member States of the UN

8. Important Note Registration does not imply a judgment by Secretariat:
nature of the instrument,
status of a party, or any similar question
Secretariat’s action/inaction does not confer or take away:
status of a treaty/ international agreement
status of a party
Agreement/entity MUST possess status at international law.

9. Summary
Member State: must submit for registration all international agreements/treaties
Secretariat: must publish registered agreements

10. Definition of “Treaty” or “International Agreement”
UN Charter: no definition
Regulations to give effect to Article 102 (GA 1946)
Article 1:“whatever its form and descriptive name”
Vienna Convention, 1969, Article 2(1)(a) :
“treaty” means an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation.

11. “Treaty” or “International Agreement”
Article 102
“Treaty” or “International Agreement”
Treaty
Convention
Exchange of notes/letters
Protocol
MOU
Minutes
Unilateral Declaration

12. Treaty characteristics
Registrable
At least 2 Parties with treaty-making capacity
Intention to create legal obligations at international law
Binding at international law
Entry into force date/method
Old/Terminated agreements included
Not registrable
Mere political declarations
Agreements governed by domestic law
Not in force; no simple signature

13. Treaty-Making Capacity
At least two parties
- Sovereign states
- Intergovernmental organizations
No capacity:
Non-state entities
- Secretariat is guided by GA/SC resolutions

14. Summary Treaty/International Agreement
whatever its form and descriptive name
Parties
treaty-making capacity on international plane
intention to create obligations at international law

15. Types of Subsequent Actions to Treaties registered by the UN Secretariat
Multilateral
Ratification/Accession
Termination
Extension to territories
Denunciation
Amendment
Bilateral
Change in parties
Modification of terms/Termination
Change in scope of application

16. Filing and Recording
Agreements not subject to registration  are voluntarily filed and recorded (but are still published by the UN Secretariat).
Includes agreements between:
United Nations and Specialized Agencies
United Nations and non-member states
Specialized Agencies and non-member states
2 or more Specialized Agencies
Specialized Agencies and International Governmental Organizations

17. Requirements for Member States for the Registration of Treaties
Regulations to give effect to Article 102 » uniform guidelines
Treaty/international agreement (Article 102)
Must have already entered into force
Accompanied by a Certifying Statement:
“text is a true and complete copy thereof and includes all reservations/declarations made by the parties thereto”
Full title
Date and place of conclusion
Date and method of Entry into Force
All authentic languages

18. Requirements
Submission must be complete
- e.g., authentic texts, protocols, annexes, maps
Copy of submission must be legible
* Any parent agreement or related agreements that are incorporated by reference must already be registered
Date of effect of registration = date of receipt by Secretariat of the complete submission

19. Requirements for Publication
Electronic copy
(G.A. Res. A/RES/51/158 of 10 Jan. 97)
Diskette or CD-ROM
Courtesy translations into any of the six official languages
(preferably English/French)

20. Communication by Secretariat
If successful:
 Submitter receives a certificate of registration

22. Communication by Secretariat (Continued)
If there is a problem with the registration:
 Submitter is most commonly requested to submit missing information or clarify:
Authentic language versions
Entry into force information
Missing annexes, protocols, etc.
Translations and electronic copy

23. Summary
Documentation complete; meets definition of “international agreement” under Article 102 and its Regulations
Certifying statement correct and matches the Agreement itself
Translations/electronic copy submitted
Agreement registered and published

24. Publication Mandate OLA Treaty Section
Monthly Statement
Publication of Treaties in the United Nations Treaty Series
Publication Mandate: - Article 12 of the Regulations to give effect to Article 102 (see Treaty Handbook p. 32) - Modified by A/153 of 15 December 1997

25. United Nations Treaty Series Limited Publication Policy
Exceptions to publication in extenso:
Assistance / co-operation agreements of limited scope:
financial, commercial, administrative or technical matters
e.g. project agreements, World Bank bilateral financial agreements
Agreements relating to the organization of conferences, seminars or meetings
Agreements that are to be published elsewhere by UN Secretariat or specialized or related agency
e.g. IAEA agreements

26. United Nations Treaty Series Limited Publication Policy
Exceptions to publication in extenso:
Lengthy lists of products attached to trade agreements
And: Agreements of the European Community/Union are published only in English and French
Source: Article 12(2) of the GA regulations to give effect to Article 102 of the UN Charter

27. United Nations Treaty Series
Published in a single series beginning in 1946 (with the SG’s annual report, UNTS is 1 of only 2 publications mandated in the UN Charter)
All integral elements of an agreement including protocols, agreed minutes, attachments and maps

28. United Nations Treaty Series Publications
Texts of agreements registered and filed and recorded with the Secretariat
All languages of the registered agreements
Over 140 languages
Translations into English and French

29. UNTS on the Internet http://treaties.un.org
Full texts of treaties and treaty actions with textual component are available.
Including declarations, statements, reservations, etc.
Search and retrieval capabilities for all treaties
Facility to view, save and print the full texts of treaties.
Full texts of multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General awaiting publication in the UNTS

30. Requirements for Faster Publication of Treaties Submitted for Registration
Clean, legible hard copies submitted
TRANSLATIONS – into English and French
Electronic text (Wordperfect, Word, PdF, Tif, etc.)

31. Legal Technical Assistance Provided by the Office of Legal Affairs
Research for Member States and their Governments
Texts and parties to multilateral and bilateral treaties
Capacity-building Trainings at Headquarters and in the regions
Individual assistance provided by Legal Officers on specific treaty-related questions
Reference to substantive offices and treaty bodies

32. Copyright © 2009 by the United Nations. All rights reserved
Copyright © 2009 by the United Nations. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the United Nations