s.II Treaty Formation, 8 Treaty Signature

To become a party to a treaty, a State must express its consent to be bound by the treaty. Such consent can be expressed in a variety of ways, including through signature of the treaty by a proper representative of the State.1 Under modern treaty practice, however, States often express their consent to be bound by a separate act of ratification that is carried out after signature. For bilateral treaties, this ratification is typically manifested by the exchange of instruments of ratification. For multilateral treaties, it is typically manifested by the deposit of...