Treaty

How it is used

A treaty is negotiated, signed, ratified and enters into force; states can later withdraw from it. Names vary (convention, pact, charter, protocol, covenant), but under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) its legal nature, not its title, makes it a treaty.

Example sentences

1. The two countries signed a treaty on the use of their shared river.

2. The treaty will enter into force once 30 states have ratified it.

3. Under the treaty, each party must report its emissions every year.

Common collocations

• sign a treaty
• ratify a treaty
• peace treaty
• under the treaty
• withdraw from a treaty

Related terms

• ratifyTo give formal final approval to a treaty, usually after a parliament agrees, so that the state becomes legally bound by it.
• conventionA formal multilateral agreement between states on a specific subject, such as human rights or the law of the sea; legally it is a type of treaty.
• signatoryA state or person that has signed an agreement; in treaty law, a state that has signed a treaty but may not yet have ratified it.
• entry into forceThe moment when a treaty or law starts to have legal effect, often after a set number of states have ratified it or on a specified date.
• bindingCreating a legal obligation that the parties must follow, so that a binding agreement or decision cannot simply be ignored.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• treaty · History

More terms: Treaties & Agreements

• memorandum of understanding
• accession
• reservation
• withdrawal