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The United Nations Treaty Collection on the Internet – Developments and Challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

Palitha T.B. Kohona
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Extract

The United Nations Treaty Collection on the Internet (UNTC) now contains, in addition to the major documents, the United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) and the Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General, the texts of treaties recently deposited with the Secretary-General in the authentic languages, the titles of all treaties deposited with Secretary-General in the six official languages, depositary notifications issued by the Secretary-General in his capacity as depositary of multilateral treaties, documentation compiled in connection with three special treaty events held in 2000 and 2001 by the United Nations, the Summary of Practice of the Secretary-General as Depositary of Multilateral Treaties, the Treaty Handbook, information on treaty related technical assistance provided by the Treaty Section of the United Nations and photographs taken at treaty ceremonies in chronological order. Many of these documents were added to the UNTC over the last two years.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , Winter 2002 , pp. 397 - 425
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 by the International Association of Law Libraries 

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References

1 See untreaty.un.org. Google Scholar

2 ST/LEG/SER.E/19.Google Scholar

3 ST/LEG/7/REV.1.Google Scholar

4 UN Sales No. E.02.V2.Google Scholar

5 A/RES/51/158, 16 December 1996.Google Scholar

6 See A/56/484; A/56/586; A/RES/54/102; A/RES/54/28; A/RES/53/100; A/RES/52/153.Google Scholar

7 See for example, para. 7 of A/RES/54/102.Google Scholar

8 See para. 9, The Millennium Declaration, A/RES/55/2.Google Scholar

9 See para. 72, A/56/484.Google Scholar

10 “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.Google Scholar

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11 “Article 102 contains an absolute obligation on UN members and does not have a discretionary character. It does not matter whether a member is convinced that the agreement will never be invoked before an organ of the UN. Article 102 must not be misunderstood as a mere provision setting out the conditions under which an international agreement may be invoked before an organ of the UN,” The Charter of the United Nations (ed. Simma, B.) para. 14, p. 1108 (1995).Google Scholar

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13 Regulations to give effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, UNTS Vol. 859/860 p.viii, last revised by General Assembly Resolution 33/141, 19 December 1978 and by Resolution A/RES/52/153, hereinafter referred to as the Regulations.Google Scholar

14 This document was placed on the UNTC in 2002.Google Scholar

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16 Last updated in 1994.Google Scholar

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18 This is a major exercise involving a number of Departments and work is currently progressing on the years 1985 – 1988.Google Scholar

19 Art. 102, Charter of the United Nations, op.cit. The UNTS has been published since 1946.Google Scholar

20 The other is the Annual Report of the Secretary-General. Google Scholar

21 The disintegration of the former Soviet Union and of the Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslav was particularly significant events in this respect. The readmission of Yugoslavia to the United Nations by Resolution A/55/12 on 1 November 2000 resulted in the submission of 243 new treaty actions relating to treaties deposited with the Secretary-General initially. Further treaty actions were submitted later, including to other depositaries.Google Scholar

22 There are over 1400 active multilateral treaties in existence. See Bowman, M.J. and Harris, D.J., “Multilateral Treaties, Eleventh Cumulative Supplement” (1995).Google Scholar

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25 A treaty is an instrument concluded between two parties being subjects of international law and possessing treaty making capacity, creating legal rights and obligations governed by international law. The characterization employed to describe the instrument is not considered to be a determining factor; See Treaty Handbook, No. E.02.V.2, page 25; also see Aust, A., Modern Treaty Law and Practice, p. 14 et seq. (2000).Google Scholar

26 See Art. 4(2) of the Regulations.Google Scholar

27 See Art. 4(1) of the Regulations.Google Scholar

28 Non-Member States also undertake treaty actions in relation to treaties deposited with the Secretary-General.Google Scholar

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30 24 January 2002, LA41TR/230; also see, A/RES/54/28.Google Scholar

31 Secretary-General called upon” …all relevant United Nations entities to provide the necessary technical assistance that will make it possible for every willing state to participate fully in the emerging global legal order,” Millennium Report, A/54/2000, para. 327 et seq; also see, Road map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The Secretary-General, under the goal of strengthening the international rule of law, referred to “Supporting States to implement international legal commitments, including treaties, and developing United Nations mechanisms, such as the Treaty Handbook, to help Governments draft legislation and run training programs on aspects of international law;” A/56/326, Section II (A), para. 20; also A/55/1, para. 279.Google Scholar

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33 See Article 12 of the Regulations; The League of Nations Treaty Series consists of 205 volumes.Google Scholar

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35 The current rate of publication is around 120 volumes per year.Google Scholar

36 A/RES/54/28; See also GA RES.482(v), 12 December 1950.Google Scholar

37 In 1996, over 550 volumes of the UNTS remained to be published. The annual intake of registered material is the equivalent of approximately 47 published volumes, or roughly 3300 registered treaties.Google Scholar

38 In 1972, the backlog stood at approximately 172 volumes. Almost 15,000 treaties had been registered or filed and recorded since 1946. It increased steadily since then.Google Scholar

39 In 1997, the backlog was estimated at over 11 years. In excess of 25,000 registered treaties remained to be published.Google Scholar

40 See para. 12, A/RES/53/100; see also, para.4, A/RES/51/158; however, no additional resources were provided; also see author's note in A.J.I.L Vol. 92, No. 1, p. 140 (January 1998).Google Scholar

41 Electronic Treaty Database, A/RES/51/158.Google Scholar

42 Treaties or international agreements are either scanned in or inputted directly through diskette or e-mail.Google Scholar

43 All published volumes of the UNTS up to volume 1623 (approximately corresponding to the registration year 1986) had already been scanned and placed on a proprietary database. The UNTS Cumulative Index which had been produced from a small database not directly linked to the mainframe has now been amalgamated with the new database.Google Scholar

44 “The Secretariat shall publish as soon as possible in a single series every treaty or international agreement which is registered or filed and recorded, in the original language or languages, followed by a translation in English and in French…,” Article 12(1) of the Regulations.Google Scholar

45 In 1995, 28 volumes of the UNTS were printed. In 1996, 27. In 2001, 126 volumes were printed and 150 were finalized for printing.Google Scholar

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52 See UN Doc. A/C.6/32/5/Add. 1; A/52/363; By its Resolution A/RES/33/141 of 19 December 1978 amending Article 12 of the Regulations, the General Assembly gave the Secretariat the option not to publish in extenso certain categories of bilateral treaties or international agreements belonging to one of the following categories, (Article 12 paragraph 2):Google Scholar

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54 See Resolution A/RES/52/153 of 15 December 1997. The General Assembly amended Article 12 of the Regulations and extended the option not to publish in extenso to multilateral treaties falling within the same categories. Operative Paragraph 7 states, “Invites the Secretary-General to apply the provisions of Article 12, Paragraph 2 of the Regulations to give effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations to multilateral treaties falling within the terms of Article 12 paragraph 2(a) to (c).”Google Scholar

55 Art. 12(2) of the Regulations.Google Scholar

56 See Treaty Handbook, op. cit., at p.33.Google Scholar

57 The special treaty ceremony “Treaty Event- Treaties on Terrorism” which was held at UN Headquarters from 10 to 16 November 2001 attracted 180 different treaty actions. These were processed and published on a daily basis.Google Scholar

58 At the end of 2001, all printed volumes up to April 1998 (over 2000 volumes) had been made available on the Internet. All volumes up to December 2000 will be placed on the Internet in 2002.Google Scholar

59 See “Review Essay,” Harms, W., International Journal of Legal Information, Vol.29, No.2, p.501, (Summer 2001).Google Scholar

60 See A/RES/51/158.Google Scholar

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62 Para.4.1(a), ST/AI/2001/5.Google Scholar

63 A view also held by Trotsky, Leon, Simma, B., op. cit. at para. 1, p. 1104.Google Scholar

64 Only about 450 copies of the printed version of each volume of the UNTS were purchased by the public in the entire world; see GA Document A/52/363 at p.6.Google Scholar

65 The author has discussed the increasing role of NGO's in international norm making in, Kohona, P.T.B., “The Role of Non-State Entities in the Making and Implementation of International Norms” 2 J.W.I. 3, September 2001, p.537.Google Scholar

66 See Pinto, M.C.W., “Democratization of International Law and its Implications for Development and Application of International Law,” United Nations Congress on Public International Law, 15 March 1995.Google Scholar

67 Foreword by Annan, Mr Kofi to the, Millennium Summit, Multilateral Treaty Framework: An Invitation to Universal Participation, DPI/2130 (2000).Google Scholar

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69 Figures recorded at the end of November 2001.Google Scholar

70 See Section 5, para. 5.1, United Nations Internet Publishing, ST/AI/2001/5.Google Scholar

71 UNTS Vol. 943 p.311.Google Scholar

72 See copyright notice, Annex to ST/AI/2001/5.Google Scholar

73 See Section 3 para. 3.6, United Nations Internet Publishing, ST/AI/2001/5.Google Scholar

74 See, Alston, P., “Charging for Access to International Law Treaty Information: Time for the UN to Rethink a Perverse Initiative”, 12 E.J.I.L. No.2, p.351 (2001).Google Scholar

75 A/RES/51/158.Google Scholar

76 Para.56, A/52/363 at p.8.Google Scholar

77 See para. 9, A/RES/52/153.Google Scholar

78 See para. 11, A/RES/53/100.Google Scholar

79 Agreements dealing with commodities are terminated or superseded most frequently due to their short life span.Google Scholar

80 Treaty actions, such as reservations, declarations and objections may be submitted to the depositary in languages other than English or French, requiring translation into these languages.Google Scholar

81 Sometimes, special political circumstances may result in an upsurge in the number of treaty actions being undertaken by States. The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to China in 1997 resulted in over 200 treaty actions in a short period. The readmission of Yugoslavia to the United Nations on 1 November resulted in an excess of 240 treaty actions. The legal analyses of some of the resulting issues occupied weeks.Google Scholar

82 Depositary notifications with attachments, which tend to be a small minority, continue to be sent by facsimile due to technical reasons.Google Scholar

83 See, Para. 326, Millennium Report, 1999–2000 (A/54/2000).Google Scholar

84 See The United Nations Treaty Collection on the Internet at untreaty.un.org. Google Scholar

85 DPI/2130.Google Scholar

86 Multilateral Treaty Framework – An Invitation to Universal Participation, Focus 2001: Rights of Women and Children, UN Publication.Google Scholar

87 See Para. 326, Millennium Report, 1999–2000, A/54/2000.Google Scholar

88 See Para. 327, Ibid. Google Scholar

89 See Para. 297, A/55/1.Google Scholar

90 Printed in 2001 and available on the UN Treaty Collection on the Internet.Google Scholar

91 “Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that hard copies of the publications mentioned in paragraph 9 continue to be distributed to permanent missions free of charge in accordance with their needs;” para. 11, A/RES/52/153.Google Scholar

92 Treaties registered up to the end of 2001 would be processed in 2002 and will be printed during the year, if translations are received in time.Google Scholar