International Agreements
International Agreements : An international agreement is governed by international law; the term refers to a broad classification of legally binding arrangements between states. The arrangements include: treaties, conventions, protocols, annexes, accords, and memoranda of understanding. Other common titles include notes, pact, declaration, statute, constitution and process-verbal. The title is not a controlling factor in making distinctions among arrangements. Some titles are not used consistently; and titles are often used as synonyms, with subtlety in differentiation and resulting in an inability to apply certitude in definition. In this context, the following general characteristics apply:: Treaties are international agreements and are equivalent to conventions. The Vienna Convention on the Law on Treaties defines a treaty as "an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation". In its restricted sense in the United States, a treaty denotes an international agreement made by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate in accordance with Article II, section 2 of the Constitution. During a year, the U.S. may be a signatory to approximately 400 international agreements; only about a dozen are treaties. Under U.S. law a treaty (or other international agreement, however designated) becomes the law of the land and is binding on federal, state and local government. This is not always the case in other nations which may require legislative action before a treaty takes the same effect as domestic law. The term "plurilateral" is sometimes used to differentiate between a treaty embracing a restricted number of states in contrast with "multilateral" as a reference to a treaty which is open to all nations.: Conventions are essentially the same as treaties. In the 1980s and beyond, the term convention has been used more in connection with multilateral, than bilateral, arrangements. Depending on the nature of the convention, the President may or may not consult the Senate.: Protocols may be any sort of international agreement. A protocol can stand alone or, more generally, it may be a supplementary agreement, or an amendment, of some sort.: Annexes are subsidiary agreements which are additional to a previously established arrangement. However, there is flexibility; the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) uses the term "annex" to indicate a free-standing agreement.: Accords are further from treaties than conventions. If there is any distinction to be made, an accord may suggest a non-binding agreement; there are exceptions.: Memoranda of Understanding are very detailed documents devised by Executive Branch agencies (such as aviation or major fishery agreements). An MOU may be less significant; it takes into account U.S. practice and the requirements of the other government. When a treaty or an executive agreement is first published by the United States, it is assigned a TIAS number and published in slip form in the Treaties and other International Acts Series. TIAS, published by the Department of State, is a series of individual pamphlets
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