A little less than thirty years ago a fortunate and important innovation was introduced in international law: the obligation of registering and publishing treaties and international agreements. The international engagements which constitute the laws of nations were thus made subject to the sanction of publicity and to the control of public opinion.
This new rule, which arises from the wish to eliminate the distrust created by all secret diplomacy and which forms a definite advance in international relations, was originally adopted by the Covenant of the League of Nations.
It has now been made a part of the Charter of the United Nations, Article 102 of which provides that:
- 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.
- 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.
At its meeting on 14 December 1946, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Regulations[1] to give effect to Article 102 of the Charter. The desirability of avoiding any breach of continuity in a system which has functioned efficiently for many years[2] and the opportunity of extending the scope of this system have been taken into account. These Regulations therefore provide that the publication of treaties and international agreements by the Secretariat will not be confined to those defined by Article 102 of the Charter.
- Article 10 of these Regulations Stipulates to this effect that:
- The Secretariat shall file and record treaties and international agreements, other than those subject to registration under Article 1 of these regulations, if they fall in the following categories:
- (a) Treaties or international agreements entered into by the United Nations or by one or more of the specialized agencies;
- (b) Treaties or international agreements transmitted by a Member of the United Nations which were entered into before the coming into force of the Charter, but which were not included in the treaty series of the League of Nations;
- ↑ The text of these Regulations is given below.
- ↑ The League of Nations Secretariat has registered and published 4,834 treaties and conventions.
