Part III Treaty Formation, 11 Managing the Process of Treaty Formation: Depositaries and Registration

Subject(s):

Depositaries and registrations — Treaties, amendments and modification — Treaties, entry into force — Treaties, ratification

The formation of a treaty will often involve actors and acts beyond the parties and their communications inter se. This chapter analyses two of the most prominent examples of this phenomenon: (i) the role of the depositary of a multilateral treaty; and (ii) the obligation to register with the UN Secretariat bilateral and multilateral treaties and treaty formalities. The role of the depositary traditionally commences with the adoption of the treaty text that designates it as such. At that moment, the provisions regulating the legal procedures for the treaty to come into existence — the so-called ‘final clauses’ or ‘final provisions’ — become effective. Following adoption of a treaty’s text, the depositary normally prepares the original treaty. As the original must include all authentic languages, the text in all authentic languages must be submitted to the depositary.