United Nations Treaty Series/Volume 1/Note

Note by the Secretariat
and
Regulations to give effect to Article 102
of the Charter of the United Nations,
adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 1946

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;

(c) Treaties or international agreements transmitted by a party not a Member of the United Nations which were entered into before or after the coming into force of the Charter which were not included in the treaty series of the League of Nations, provided: however, that this paragraph shall be applied with full regard to the provisions of the Resolution of the General Assembly of 10 February 1946 set forth in the Annex to these Regulations.

Article 12 of the Regulations further provides for the publication, in a single series, of treaties or international agreements registered under Article 102 of the Charter as well as of those filed and recorded. The present volume, which is divided into two parts and three annexes, marks the beginning of the publication of the United Nations treaty series.

Part I is devoted to treaties or international agreements concluded by one or more Members of the United Nations after 24 October 1945, the date of the entry into force of the Charter, and registered either on the initiative of one party, or ex officio by the Secretariat, under the provisions of Article 4 of the Regulations.

The exact meaning of the term “treaties and international agreements” has been the subject of discussion. In this connection, the Secretariat thought it necessary to conform to the interpretation of the term “agreement” given in the report of Committee IV/2 of the San Francisco Conference which includes “unilateral engagements of an international character which have been accepted.”^[3]

The Secretariat considered that in this category were included both declarations of acceptance of the optional Clause of the Compulsory Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, made by States under Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Court, and also instruments of adherence to the United Nations submitted by new Members, which involve their acceptance of the obligations of the Charter.

Part II of the volumes in the United Nations treaty series is devoted to the publication of treaties which are not subject to registration and which are filed and recorded under Article 10 of the Regulations.

The Regulations also provide for the registration^[4] or the filing and recording^[5] and the publication^[6] of any subsequent action which effects a change in the Parties to a treaty or agreement, or the terms, scope, or application thereof. Subsequent action mainly signifies ratifications, later accessions, extensions, notices of denunciation, etc.

The two annexes A and B to the volumes of the United Nations treaty series are devoted respectively to the publication of additional information relating to an agreement or treaty which has been registered, or which has been filed and recorded.

Furthermore, in accordance with a decision of the General Assembly of the United Nations of 12 February 1946 and with a decision of the League of Nations Assembly of 18 April 1946, the United Nations has assumed the custody of the originals of treaties, conventions, agreements, and other international instruments formerly entrusted to the League of Nations, and of certain functions of the Secretariat in connection therewith.

The Secretariat of the United Nations has therefore had to record in the registers of the League of Nations the subsequent action affecting the above agreements and conventions.

This additional information will be published in Annex C of the volumes of the present series.

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1. The text of these Regulations is given below.
2. The League of Nations Secretariat has registered and published 4,834 treaties and conventions.
3. The Committee has proposed the adoption of the term “agreement” in preference to the term “engagement” which may fall outside the strict meaning of the word “agreement.” The word “agreement” must be understood as including unilateral engagements of an international character which have been accepted by the State in whose favour such an engagement has been entered into. (U. N. C. I. O., Report of Committee IV 2, document 933, page 705).

   The League of Nations registered declarations of acceptance of the optional Clause of the Compulsory jurisdiction of the Permanent International Court of justice.

4. Article 2 of the Regulations.
5. Article 11.
6. Article 12.