Treaties are made through three main stages: countries negotiate a text, authorized representatives sign it, and each country then ratifies it under its own domestic process. The treaty becomes binding under international law only after enough countries formally consent and the treaty’s own entry-into-force conditions are met. In the United States, ratification requires two-thirds approval from the Senate before the President can complete it, and even a ratified treaty may need separate legislation from Congress before American courts will enforce it. The path from a first draft to enforceable law can take years.
Negotiating and Adopting the Text
Every treaty begins with countries working out what the agreement will say. Diplomats, subject-matter experts, and government lawyers draft provisions, exchange proposals, and negotiate until they reach a text everyone can accept. Bilateral treaties need only the two governments to agree. At larger international conferences, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties sets a default rule: the text is adopted when two-thirds of the countries present vote in favor, unless they agree on a different threshold.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Once adopted, the text is authenticated, which locks the wording in place. Authentication can follow whatever procedure the negotiators agreed on, or it can happen through representatives signing or initialing the text.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties After that point, changes require a formal amendment process.
Signing the Treaty
When authorized representatives sign a treaty, they authenticate the text and signal their country’s intent to move toward ratification. Signing does not bind a country to the treaty’s terms. A country that signs but never ratifies is not required to comply with the substantive obligations.
Signing does carry one legal effect. Under Article 18 of the Vienna Convention, a country that has signed a treaty must refrain from acts that would defeat its object and purpose. That interim duty lasts until the country either ratifies or makes clear it does not intend to become a party.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties A signatory cannot actively undermine the treaty’s core goals in the meantime.
Ratifying the Treaty
Ratification is the step that turns a signature into a binding commitment. It is the formal act by which a country consents to be legally bound.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Each country ratifies through its own constitutional procedure, so the internal steps vary from state to state.
In the United States, the President submits the treaty to the Senate, which must give its “advice and consent” by a two-thirds vote of the senators present.2Constitution Annotated. Article II Section 2 Clause 2 That supermajority is one of the highest thresholds in American government. If the Senate approves, the President then formally ratifies by signing the instrument of ratification. If the Senate rejects the treaty, the process ends there.
Reservations, Understandings, and Declarations
Countries do not always accept a treaty exactly as written. Under the Vienna Convention, a country may attach a reservation when signing, ratifying, or acceding, as long as the treaty does not prohibit it and the reservation is not incompatible with the treaty’s object and purpose.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties A reservation modifies or excludes the legal effect of specific provisions as they apply to that country.
In the U.S. Senate process, these conditions are known collectively as RUDs. A reservation narrows a specific provision. An understanding clarifies how the country interprets a provision. A declaration states the country’s position on the treaty’s domestic legal effect. RUDs adjust the treaty’s scope only for the country that attaches them.
Depositing the Instrument of Ratification
After finishing its internal process, a country communicates its consent internationally by depositing an instrument of ratification with the treaty’s designated depositary. For many major multilateral treaties, that depositary is the UN Secretary-General.3Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Signature and Ratification Guide The instrument is a formal document, usually signed by the head of state or foreign minister, certifying that the country has completed its domestic requirements and agrees to be bound.4Convention on Biological Diversity. Procedures for Deposit of the Instrument of Ratification, Acceptance, Approval or Accession
Accession: Joining Later
Not every country takes part in a treaty’s original negotiations. Accession is the mechanism that lets a country join after the signing period has closed. Under the Vienna Convention, accession is available when the treaty itself provides for it or when the original negotiating states agree to allow it.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties The legal effect matches ratification: the acceding country becomes fully bound once its instrument of accession is deposited. A country that gains independence after a treaty opens for signature can only join through accession.
When the Treaty Enters Into Force
A treaty does not become binding the moment one country ratifies. It enters into force on whatever date and under whatever conditions the treaty itself sets. If the treaty says nothing about it, the Vienna Convention default is that the treaty enters into force once all negotiating countries have consented to be bound.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Most multilateral treaties set a numerical threshold: the agreement takes effect after a specified number of countries have ratified or acceded. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea required 60 ratifications. Some treaties add a waiting period, such as 30 or 90 days after the threshold is reached, to give countries time to prepare. The depositary tracks ratifications and notifies parties and eligible states when the treaty is about to enter into force.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
For a country that ratifies or accedes after a treaty is already in force, the treaty typically enters into force for that country on the date it deposits its instrument, unless the treaty says otherwise.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Whether the Treaty Is Enforceable in U.S. Courts
A treaty being binding between countries is one question. Whether it creates rights that someone can enforce in an American court is another. That turns on whether the treaty is self-executing.
A self-executing treaty has automatic domestic effect as federal law the moment it is ratified. Courts can apply it directly, and individuals can invoke its protections without Congress doing anything further.5Legal Information Institute. Self-Executing and Non-Self-Executing Treaties
A non-self-executing treaty does not create enforceable law on its own. Congress has to pass implementing legislation to give it domestic effect. In Medellín v. Texas (2008), the Supreme Court held that a treaty is not binding domestic law unless Congress has enacted statutes implementing it or the treaty itself conveys an intention to be self-executing and was ratified on that basis.6Justia US Supreme Court. Medellin v. Texas, 552 U.S. 491 (2008) Turning a non-self-executing treaty into enforceable domestic law is Congress’s job, not the President’s.
The practical consequence matters. Many major human rights treaties ratified by the United States are non-self-executing. They carry international obligations, but they do not, on their own, create rights that individuals can bring into an American courtroom.
Executive Agreements Are a Different Path
The formal Article II treaty process is not the only way the United States enters binding international agreements. The majority of U.S. international commitments are executive agreements rather than treaties, and they come in two main forms.
Congressional-executive agreements are authorized by legislation. Congress passes a law empowering the President to negotiate and conclude the agreement, often in areas like trade. These need only a simple majority in both chambers, not a two-thirds Senate vote. Congress has used this route since the early Republic, including for the annexation of Texas and Hawaii.7Constitution Annotated. Congressional Executive Agreements
Sole executive agreements rest entirely on the President’s constitutional authority over foreign affairs, with no congressional involvement. The Supreme Court recognized this power in United States v. Belmont (1937), holding that the President can enter certain international compacts without consulting the Senate. Sole executive agreements can preempt state law based on the federal government’s foreign relations power, even though they do not have the Supremacy Clause footing that formal treaties enjoy.8Legal Information Institute. Legal Effect of Executive Agreements
The line between what needs a formal treaty and what can proceed as an executive agreement has never been sharply drawn. In practice, politically sensitive or long-term commitments tend to go through the treaty process, while trade deals and routine arrangements go through executive agreements.
Withdrawing From a Treaty
Countries are not stuck in treaties forever. Most treaties include their own withdrawal clauses spelling out how a party can leave. When a treaty is silent, the Vienna Convention allows withdrawal only if the parties intended to permit it or if a right of withdrawal can be implied from the nature of the agreement, and the withdrawing country must give at least twelve months’ notice.1United Nations. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Withdrawal ends obligations going forward but does not erase duties that already accrued while the treaty was in force.