Book VII Treaties and Treaty-Making, 31 Treaties and other International Instruments—I General Definition, Treaty Formalities

Subject(s):

Diplomatic relations — Sovereignty — Peace treaties — Specific treaties — Governments

This chapter provides a general definition of treaties and their formalities. As there is no single, all-embracing definition of the term ‘treaty’ the chapter instead reviews particular aspects of the general definition of treaties: the agreements involving international organizations and oral agreements, the requirement that agreement should be governed by international law, and the instruments not intended to give rise to legal relations. The chapter then closes its first section with questions of form and terminology. The chapter also deals with the formalities in the drawing up of treaties. These are: the initialling and signatures, the preparation of signature texts, the languages used in the treaties, and registration and publication of treaties.