TreatyOffice Nutshell

7/30/2019 TreatyOffice Nutshell

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The Treaty

Officein a Nutshell


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Since it was ounded in 1949, the Council o Europe huted to achieving greater unity between its 47 mem

and to creating a pan-European legal area by concludin

200 treaties in all areas o its competence. These treaties

the concrete applications o the three undamental prin

underlie the work o the Organisation: democracy, human

the rule o law.

The Secretary General o the Council o Europe is the depo

these treaties. The tasks related to the exercise o depos

tions are carried out by the Treaty Ofce, which is responsday-to-day administration o the treaties o the Council

The Treaty Ofce publishes and is the custodian o the or

o all the treaties and organises each ceremony o si

ratifcation. It receives and registers the ratifcations, as declarations and reservations that accompany them, and

drawal or modifcation thereo. It ensures that the do

receives are in due and proper orm and notifes them to t


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Procedures or signature and

deposit o instruments o ratifcation

Signature

Contact the Treaty Ofce to organise an appointment with theSecretary General or his/her Deputy.

Send a copy o the ull powers to the Treaty Ofce at least 24hours beore the appointment.

During the appointment, the signatory hands over the original othe ull powers, signs the original treaty and theprocs-verbalprepared or the occasion, a copy o which will be given to him/her.

A special case: the opening o a treaty or signature

Once a treaty is adopted by the Committee o Ministers, it is openedor signature by the member States during a ceremony organisedby the Treaty Ofce. During this ceremony, States sign the originaltreaty. Aprocs-verbal o signature is not prepared or this occasion.However, a notifcation listing the signatures on the day o the

opening or signature and a certifeto the Permanent Representatiomember States.

Deposit o instrument

There are two ways to depos

In person

The original o the instrument o Secretary General or his/her Deput

The appointment is organised by instrument is to be sent to the Trethe appointment.

The person depositing the instrumto produce ull powers authorisingoriginal o the instrument o ratif

By mailThe original o the instrument o Treaty Ofce or registration. Thisinstrument.

On each occasion, aprocs-vereservations and/or declarations ratifcation. A copy o theprocs-Permanent Representative o theinstrument.

The date o registration is the datinstrument by the Secretary Gene

Ater each signature or ratifcatiupdated and a notifcation is sentappropriate, to the other States or o


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A ew defnitions

Treaty: an international agreement concluded between States inwritten orm and governed by international law. Most o the Councilo Europe treaties are entitled conventions but some are reerredto as agreements, charters, codes or protocols. Whatever their

denomination, all these instruments are treaties as defned by the1969 Vienna Convention on the Law o Treaties.

Signature: act whereby a State indicates its intention to becomeparty to a treaty. In principle, the signature precedes the ratifcation,acceptance or approval o the treaty.

Full powers: document by which the Head o State, Head oGovernment or Minister or Foreign Aairs authorises a person, usuallyan Ambassador or a Minister, to sign a treaty on behal o the State.

Instrument o ratifcation, acceptance or approval(the termused depends on the procedure o each State): document by which

a State expresses its consent to be bound by a treaty. The instrumento ratifcation, acceptance or approval must be issued by the Head oState, Head o Government or Minister or Foreign Aairs and signedaccordingly.

Accession: act whereby a State expresses its consent to be boundby a treaty. It has the same legal eect as ratifcation. Accession is,in general, the instrument by which non-member States o theOrganisation become parties to the Council o Europe treaties. Thedeposit o an instrument o accession is not preceded by the signatureo the treaty. The instrument o accession must be issued by the

Head o State, Head o Government or Minister or Foreign Aairsand signed accordingly.

Procs-verbal:document prepared by the Treaty Ofce certiyingthat a State has signed, ratifed, accepted, approved or acceded toa treaty.

A new treatyby the Committ

and opened f

Ratification,Approval,

Acceptance

Signature

Impleme


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Signature of the European Convention on Human Rights by Robert Schuman in Rome on 4 November 1950.


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Frequently asked questions

1 Are ull powers needed or every signature?

Yes. Other than the Head o State, Head o Government or Ministeror Foreign Aairs, any person appointed by his/her government to

sign a treaty o the Council o Europe must have ull powers. Fullpowers shall indicate precisely the name and position o the person

designated, as well as the ull title o the treaty to be signed. Full

powers must be signed by the Head o State, Head o Governmentor Minister or Foreign Aairs

Sometimes the Permanent Representative o a State has general ullpowers which allow him/her to sign all Council o Europe treatieswithout it being necessary or his/her authorities to prepare specifc

ull powers or each signature. The original o general ull powers

is to be sent to the Secretary General o the Council o Europe or tothe Treaty Ofce.

2 Are there any time limits to sign

and ratiy Council o Europe treaties?

No. The treaties can be signed at any time once they have beenopened or signature. Furthermore, once a State has signed a treaty,it can choose to ratiy it at any time aterwards. Sometimes Statessign and ratiy treaties simultaneously.

3 When does a treaty enter into orce

ater its ratifcation by a State?

When a State ratifes a treaty, it enters into orce or that State aterthe expiry o a period o time set by the treaty,usually three months.

Once the treaty enters into orce

legally binding and the State mus

4 In which language do the

need to be made by the S

Communications must be made two ofcial languages o the Cou

the instruments o ratifcation, ac

the text o the reservations and d

transmitted to the Treaty Ofce in

I these documents are written in

accompanied by a translation into

5 When and how can reservProvided that they are not exclud

possibility o making reservations

In order to take eect, these reser

time o ratifcation o the treaty. To

ply with general treaty law and

imposed by the treaty concerned

Reservations must be made no la

the instrument o ratifcation. No

the ratifcation.

Reservations may be contained ei

tion or in a note verbale rom the

Permanent Representation to the


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6 Are there any compulsory declarations?

Yes. Some Council o Europe treaties speciy that States must, at thelatest when depositing the instrument o ratifcation, make a

declaration which usually consists in designating a national authorityresponsible or the implementation o the treaty. Declarations may

either be contained in the instrument o ratifcation or in a note

verbale rom the Ministry or Foreign Aairs or the PermanentRepresentation to the Council o Europe.

I the compulsory declaration provided or by the treaty is not madeat the time o ratifcation, registration o the ratifcation may bedelayed until the State concerned has submitted this declaration to

the Treaty Ofce.

Example: under the Convention on Cybercrime, States are requiredto designate an authority responsible or receiving and answering

requests or extradition and mutual assistance.

7 Can a reservation or declaration be modifed

ater the ratifcation o the treaty?

Once a State has made a reservation at the time o ratifcation,this reservation can only be modifed aterwards in a way which

makes it less restrictive. Indeed, i a State expanded the scope o

a reservation made upon ratifcation, this would amount to a newreservation, which according to the law o treaties cannot occurater ratifcation.

Ater the deposit o the instrument o ratifcation, a declaration whichdesignates a competent authority to implement the treaty may bemodifed at any time when, or example, the State has designated

another competent authority or when the contact details o thedesignated authority have changed.

8 How are the signatures an

o a treaty made public?

A press release is prepared or eCouncil o Europe treaty and theupdated.

When a State has signed a treaty, d

tion or made any other communicaOfce inorms all the member Stwell as the other States or internacceded to the treaty or have beea notifcation. This inormation is


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Some fgures

On average, the Committee o Ministers o the Councadopts 3 new treaties each year.

Every year, the Treaty Ofce deals with more than 35related to treaties.

With over 2000 visits a day, the Treaty Ofce has most visited websites o the Council o Europe.

Almost all the Council o Europe treaties are open to Sare not members o the Organisation. To date, 26 non-mem

mainly American and Arican (or example the UnitedAmerica, Costa Rica, South Arica or Senegal), have signratifed Council o Europe treaties in the felds o legal coin criminal matters, environment, culture, education or s

Website

The text o all Council o Europe treaties, their explanatothe status o signatures and ratifcations, declarations ations made by States and the notifcations issued by the Trare available on the website o the Council o EuroOfce:


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C O N T A C T

Treaty OfficeDirectorate of Legal Advice

and Public International LawCouncil of Europe

F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex (France)Tel.: +33 (0)3 88 41 20 00

Fax: +33 (0)3 88 41 20 52E-mail: [email protected]

ID8153

C O N T A C T

reaty OfficeDirectorate of Legal Advice

and Public International LawCouncil of Europe

F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex (France)T l.: +33 (0)3 88 41 20 00

Fax: +33 (0)3 88 41 20 52E-mail: [email protected]

8153

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