If you are new to the world of International Agreements-Welcome! We start with questions of what are the agreements, how they work, and why are they important?

There are private and public agreements. We first look at public international agreements. Public International agreements and or contracts are formal understandings or responsibilities between at least two nations. An arrangement between two nations is designated "two-sided," while an understanding between a few nations is "multilateral." The nations limited by a peaceful accord are by and large alluded to as "States Parties."

Nations have understandings that turn into settlements (settled understandings and then to contracts) Once there is agreement these understandings may be codified into a convention, a protocol, a pact, an accord, and so forth. It is the substance of the understanding, not its name, which makes it a deal. Subsequently, the Geneva Protocol and the Biological Weapons Convention are the two settlements, despite the fact that neither has "deal" in its name. Under U.S. law, an arrangement is explicitly a lawfully official understanding between nations that requires confirmation and the "guidance and assent" of the Senate. Any remaining arrangements (settlements in the worldwide sense) are called Executive Agreements, however are in any case lawfully restricting for the U.S. under global law. 

Just because the nations have settled the agreement is not the end. Private entities do not get involved or have to follow them unless they have been “Ratified.”

The ratification process is different depending on the country’s laws and constitutions. In the U.S., the President can only ratify a treaty after getting the consent of two thirds of the Senate or if the treaty contains provisions for further agreements or actions that can be legally binding on the treaty text. The amendment to a treaty is only legal for the states that have ratified the amendment and agreements reached the review of meetings or conferences of the state parties. The state parties do not make it legally binding, but it is politically considered. Another situation in which a treaty that does have provisions for further binding agreements is the UN Charter in which, by signing the written grant by the sovereign, countries agree to be legally bound by UN bodies like the General Assembly and the Security Council. The action of signing or giving formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement makes it officially valid. It is not necessary as UN resolutions are legally binding on the UN Member States, and thus there is no compulsion of signature or contract is required

 When private citizens choose to contract with each other it is important that they pay attention to the settlements, contracts, protocols, ratification of any of these agreement by the nations that they are citizens of. The rules set by the governing bodies of these nations will ultimately be the law if there is a problem.

At TEIL Firms our clients trade with citizens and companies in different countries. They decide what they are selling, how much, when it should be received and or delivered and what to do if a problem arises. If you have questions about any of the above you should contact us for a free consultation. Do not sign agreements unless you understand all of the print, including the fine print!

If you have an international agreement then it goes without saying that you MUST understand the laws governing. Call TEIL 708/531-1740 for more information.