Treaties and Treaty Making
- What is a Treaty?
- Treaties, the Constitution and the National Interest
- Negotiating and Implementing Treaties
What is a Treaty?
A treaty is an agreement between States (countries) which is binding at international law. In some cases international organisations can be parties to treaties. A treaty may also be called a ‘treaty', ‘convention', ‘protocol', ‘covenant' or ‘exchange of letters'. An agreement between an Australian State or Territory and a foreign Government will not, therefore, be a treaty. Even if a document is agreed between two or more sovereign countries, it will not be a treaty unless those countries intend the document to be binding at international law.
Treaties can be bilateral - between Australia and one other country. An aviation agreement between Australia and the United States is one example. Multilateral treaties are those between three or more countries: an example is the United Nations Charter. Multilateral treaties are generally developed under the auspices of international (inter-governmental) organisations such as the United Nations or the International Labour Organisation, but regional multilateral treaties (like the Convention for the Protection of the Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific Region ‘SPREP') are of growing importance for Australia.
Frequently, ‘declarations', such as the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, are adopted by the UN General Assembly, but those declarations are not treaties as they are not intended to be binding by reason of their adoption. Such declarations may, however, be part of a long process that leads ultimately to the negotiation of a UN convention such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. They may also, in certain circumstances, assist in the interpretation of a treaty, as is the case with the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States (1970).
Why are Treaties necessary?
Arguably, the need for treaties has increased as the world's interdependence has intensified. Continuing technological innovation, economic globalisation and the growth of transnationalism has resulted in an enormous increase in the frequency and rapidity of global interaction. Such challenges require both national and international responses. Where a problem cannot be adequately addressed by a country acting alone (for example, in relation to ozone depletion or the depletion of migratory fish stocks), acting cooperatively at the international level becomes essential for a country to protect its own interests.
What subjects are covered by Treaties?
In recent decades, the issues subject to treaties have expanded. Australia is a Party to agreements on postal, shipping and social security and health arrangements, defence and security, nuclear non-proliferation, the environment, civil aviation, maritime delimitation, technological exchanges, and agreements designed to establish universal standards in relation to the treatment of civilians in time of war. Australia has also invested considerable energy into outlawing the use of weapons of mass destruction, and into various aspects of law of the sea and the international trading system. The need for global rules on the protection and promotion of human rights, education, the environment, wildlife and the world's cultural and natural heritage is now widely accepted. Most recently, the establishment of effective international regimes to combat criminal activity which does not respect national borders, including terrorism, has taken on a new urgency.
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