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Guidance for users

Welcome to UK Treaties Online, the digital version of FCO Treaty Section’s treaty records. The following guidance is intended to help you navigate the database and retrieve the records you are searching for:

• Scope
• Sources of information
• Currency
• Status
• Terminology
• Acronyms and popular names
• Document references
• Other documentary references
• Reservations, declarations, statements and objections
• Nomenclature
• Territorial scope
• The Crown dependencies
• The Commonwealth
• What is not recorded on the database?

Scope

The FCO’s treaty database covers some 2,900 multilateral treaty records and over 10,000 bilateral records stretching from 1835 to the present day. The database only contains records of those treaties in which the UK has a direct interest through signature, ratification or its equivalent, although a small number of records relate to treaties to which the UK is not currently a signatory (on account of their relationship to significant treaties that the UK has signed and ratified, e.g. the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, or the Optional protocol to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations concerning Acquisition of Nationality). Entries for earlier 19th Century treaties may not contain a high level of detail.

Sources of information

FCO Treaty Section ensures that all information recorded on this database is obtained from verifiable sources such as treaty depositaries or via the FCO or other UK Government Departments. We are unable to confirm, and do not reproduce, information that derives from other, non-official sources. Please note that our records are based on data inputted over a period of over 20 years by more than one person. As such, we cannot discount the possibility of inaccuracies due to human error. Although we always correct errors when we encounter them, we encourage users to let us know if they encounter any we may have missed.        

Currency

Treaty information on this database is updated weekly.  We make every effort to record new information as soon as possible after it is received, but cannot guarantee that this will be achieved within a definite timescale. For multilateral treaties, if a change to status has occurred but is not reflected on this site, we recommend that you ask the depositary concerned.  You can also ask us about the status of multilateral treaties for which the UK is a depositary, as well as questions relating to bilateral treaties involving the UK, by using our public enquiry service.

Status

The UK has not attempted to define the current status of each and every treaty. However, where a treaty has according to our records clearly been terminated or superseded, these are indicated. Where no termination information is given, current status may be subject to legal interpretation.  We regret that we are unable to provide legal opinion on these and related matters.  

Terminology

“EiF” refers to entry into force date, i.e. the date on which a treaty becomes legally-binding on the States or international organizations which have consented to be bound to it (by definitive signature, ratification, accession, acceptance, etc). Entry into Force may be on a provisional basis (“Prov EiF”) or Definitive (“Def EiF”). With earlier treaty records, there may not be data present in this field. We may be able to provide confirmation of entry into force.    

A glossary of treaty terms is available on the treaty pages of the FCO website. This explains some of the key terms used within treaty records, such as “ratification”, “accession” or “entry into force”.

Acronyms and popular names

Treaties may be referred to by an acronym or popular name, e.g:

• Landmines Convention: Convention on the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, Oslo, 18 September 1997;
•  Ramsar: Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Wildfowl Habitat, Ramsar, 2 February 1971;
• CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Washington, 3 March 1973;

Further information on treaties with popular acronyms

If you are unable to locate the treaty you are after, please contact us:

Tel: 020 7008 1109
Fax: 020 7008 1115
email: treaty.fco@gtnet.gov.uk

Document references

We have commissioned the digital scanning of the entire range of treaties published in the Treaty Series from 1892 to 1996 inclusive. These represent treaties that have entered into force for the UK. Where a treaty has been published in the Treaty Series, database records provide a link to the relevant PDF(s). The size of these files has been kept to a maximum of half a megabyte, and larger treaties have been split into multi-part files in order to enable users to open or download them. We recommend that any indexes or contents pages for such treaties are used to enable identification of the sections sought.

Please note that Treaty Series publications from 1997 to date are published in the Treaty Command papers and Explanatory Memoranda pages of this website, and at present cannot be seen in full-text on the database. Integrating post 1996 Treaty Series publications into the database will be considered as a future enhancement.        

We have made every effort to ensure that the title, publication details and visual content of the Treaty Series PDF files attached to database records are accurate. However, due to the very large number of documents involved, it has not been possible to check every individual page. Moreover, the visual quality of files reflects the condition of the original publications from which they were scanned, and may vary as a result. We would welcome feedback from users of this service about items that either fail to open, appear to be incomplete or are incorrectly scanned.

Prior to entry into force for the UK, bilateral treaties are published in the Country Series (e.g. France No.001(2008): Cm 1234), multilateral treaties are published in the Miscellaneous Series (e.g. Miscellaneous No.005(2008): Cm 5678), and EC treaties in the EC Series (e.g. EC No.010(2008): Cm7890). Some treaties that have been published in the above Series may not have been published in Treaty Series perhaps because they have not yet entered into force for the UK. It has not yet been possible to digitize all the existing Country, Miscellaneous and EC Series of Command papers. We regret that we are unable to provide copies of such texts on demand but copies may be obtained from either TSO Ltd, The British Library Document Supply Centre or The National Archives.

Other documentary references

The UK Treaty Series dates from 1892. Texts of UK treaties prior to this date may be recorded in the British State Papers Series (e.g. BSP: 32 BSP 150 refers to Volume 32, page 150). Where known, references to original treaty documents held in The National Archives at Kew, UK, are denoted by the prefix “PRO Ref” – nb. “PRO” relates to the older “Public Record Office” name of TNA.

Treaties may also have been published as Command papers outside the Treaty Series and details are shown where known. Reference may be made to foreign States’ Treaty Series if publication has not taken place in the UK for any reason.  Where a treaty has been registered with either the League of Nations or with the United Nations, the Registration number (and/or UNTS number) is given if known.

Reservations, declarations, statements and objections

The existence of such treaty actions is recorded on the database against the name of the Participants in question along with the date of such actions. The full text of Reservations and Declarations are not generally recorded. In the case of treaties for which the UK is a depositary, the full text of Reservations and Declarations are recorded in the status lists maintained on the depositary pages of this website.

Otherwise, the texts of Reservations and Declarations made at the time of UK ratification are reproduced in the Treaty Series Command Paper for a given treaty, and subsequently in the Supplementary List of Ratifications, Accessions, Withdrawals, Etc, which is published on a quarterly basis.

Depositaries (such as the UN or Council of Europe) maintain websites (accessible as links from this website), where the full text of Reservations, Declarations, Statements and Objections may be given.

Nomenclature

The names of States and Organizations that are listed as Participants in treaties are generally listed as those applicable when a State or organisation signed or became a party to a treaty, e.g. USSR, IMCO, Federation of the West Indies, etc.  This is to preserve the original context of the treaty activity in question.

Research for treaties applicable to The Russian Federation might therefore involve separate database searches for Russia (pre-1917), Soviet Union (1917-1991) and Russian Federation (26 Dec.1991-). Historical treaties applicable to Thailand will encompass treaties listing Siam; those applicable to Serbia may involve Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia, Yugoslav Socialist Federal Republic, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Treaties to which East Germany (DDR) became a Party were applicable to the Federal Republic of Germany following re-unification on 3 October 1990. However, the database continues to include references to East Germany as a Participant.  

Further examples: Ethiopia was formerly called Abyssinia; Iran formerly Persia, Romania also Rumania or Roumania; Serbia also Servia.  NB: this list is not exhaustive.    

Ireland is listed on the database as “Ireland, Republic of”: this is to preserve consistency with older references to Ireland held on treaty records. It is not intended to detract from HMG’s current public usage of the term “Ireland” in Official and State-to-State communications.    

Territorial scope

The database includes the names of the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies of the United Kingdom which have been specifically included in the UK’s treaty obligations, either at the time of ratification or accession, or subsequently.  

Please note that this information will only be present where the UK has specifically extended a treaty to a given territory or where research has established that a treaty applies to a given territory.  Where no information is given on a particular territory, further research may be required to establish whether older treaties are applicable by means of a general rule or statement of collective application on the part of the UK e.g. to “all territories”. We regret that we are unable to enter into research on behalf of private individuals.

The database also includes information relating to territorial extensions made by other States, where these are known. A search on a particular Territory may show the multilateral and bilateral treaties that are applicable to it. Alternatively, treaty records retrieved by a title or date-range search will show the participating States, plus their overseas territories where applicable.  

The names of UK Overseas Territories are those applicable at the time of extension on ratification, etc. e.g. Leeward Islands.  Researchers looking for comprehensive lists of treaties applicable to the current UK Overseas Territories of Anguilla or Montserrat, for example, would need to run searches for the “Leeward Is”, “St.Kitts & Nevis and Anguilla”, as well as for the “Federation of the West Indies”. Information on treaties applicable to the Cayman Islands prior to 1959 would require a search for treaties applicable to Jamaica (since the Caymans were a dependency of Jamaica until this date). Similarly, the Falkland Islands Dependencies are now South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, and a comprehensive search for such information will require separate searches for each incarnation. For more information on territorial application past and present, refer to the Memorandum on application published on this website to illustrate the lists of multilateral treaties extended to the UK Overseas Territories.

The Crown dependencies

In the case of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, the UK’s treaty obligations were seen as applicable to them on an automatic basis (subject to specific exclusion) in the period up to and including 16 October 1950. The so-called “Bevin Despatch” of 16 October 1950 reversed this position, and from that date the UK’s treaty obligations were not automatically applicable to the Crown Dependencies.

From then on, the UK has explicitly included the Crown Dependencies in its instruments of ratification, or through subsequent declarations or other treaty actions. References to the Crown Dependencies on treaty records may be collective (i.e. Channel Is), or named individually (Jersey, Bailiwick of) – reflecting treaty practice at the time of application. We are unable to offer legal interpretation on this point, but users seeking to research the widest possible scope of treaties applicable to the Crown Dependencies are recommended to run separate database searches on “Channel Is”, “Jersey”, “Jersey, Bailiwick of” (the Bailiwick extends to Herm, Sark and Jethou), “Guernsey”, “Guernsey, Bailiwick of”, and “ Isle of Man”.           

The Commonwealth

For treaties concluded on behalf of Commonwealth States,  the database contains records of treaties between the UK, acting in the name of a Commonwealth State (Canada, for example), and Third Parties. Independent Member States of the Commonwealth are responsible for their own external and treaty relations. The status and application of such earlier treaties performed by the UK on their behalf are the responsibility of the government of the State concerned, and questions relating to these should be referred as appropriate.  

What is not recorded on the database?

a) Pre 1835 Treaties. In-house records of treaty obligations inherited by the current FCO Treaty Section began in ledgers first started in1835. This formed the basis of the first electronic database created by the FCO in the early 1980s. Prior to this, details of older treaties were published in a variety of works.

b) Intra-Commonwealth Procedures. Amongst Commonwealth States there are non-treaty procedures to facilitate extradition, for judicial co-operation (such as the enforcement of judgements and service of documents), and for co-operation in other areas such as healthcare. Such procedures are not determined by treaties, and enquiries should be made to the relevant Departments (such as the Home Office, Ministry of Justice or other Government Departments responsible for UK policy towards a given treaty).

c) Legislation. In the UK, treaties are not self-executing, and have to be implemented domestically through legislation.  The details of implementing legislation are not generally recorded on the database. Enquiries instead should be addressed to the Ministry of Justice or to whichever department or agency has overall responsibility for implementing the treaty in the UK.
Please note that the website of the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) hosts a database of Revised Legislation for the UK.  

d) Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs). See our glossary elsewhere on the treaty pages for a definition. These instruments are not regarded as legally-binding in international law and are not treaties. The UK does not publish MoUs or register them with the UN.    

e) Agreements entered into by the governments of the UK Overseas Territories with third-party States under a deed of Entrustment from the UK.  Since 1968, Bermuda has, for example, had a standing entrustment to enter into agreements on subjects of purely local concern.  We do not have comprehensive records of such agreements, although some records are now present on the database. Enquiries about such treaties should be directed to the Overseas Territories Directorate of the FCO, or to the governments of the OTs themselves.  
 

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