PRACTICAL GUIDE PRACTICAL GUIDE OF THE TREATY OFFICE TREATY THE OF PRACTICAL GUIDE Guide to procedures applicable to the daily management of acts concerning the conventions of the Council of Europe PREMS 169419 ENG The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human Treaty Office September 2020 rights organisation. It comprises 47 member states, including all members of the European Union. All Council of the Council of Europe www.coe.int of Europe member states have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The European Court of Human Rights oversees the implementation of the Convention in the member states. PRACTICAL GUIDE Guide to procedures applicable to the daily management of acts concerning the conventions of the Council of Europe Treaty Office of the Council of Europe September 2020 Council of Europe French edition: Guide de la pratique du Bureau des Traités The opinions expressed in this work are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Council of Europe. All requests concerning the reproduction or translation of all or part of this document should be addressed to the Directorate of Communication (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or [email protected]). All other correspondence concerning this document should be addressed to the Directorate of Legal Advice and Public International Law – Treaty Office. Cover and layout: Documents and Publications Production Department (SPDP), Council of Europe Photos: © Shutterstock © Council of Europe, September 2020 Printed at the Council of Europe Contents INTRODUCTION 5 I. OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES 7 1. Drafting of a new treaty 8 2. Titles of treaties 8 3. Decisions to adopt and open for signature 9 4. Simultaneous adoption and opening for signature of a treaty 10 5. Production and communication 11 6. Opening for signature 12 a. Model of invitation letter to an opening for signature ceremony 13 b. Example of room layout 16 c. Model of signatory list for Protocol 17 d. Communication on the website 17 7. Day-to-day treaty management 18 a. Signature 18 b. Ratification/acceptance/approval/accession (consent) 20 c. Procès-verbal of signature and ratification - Models 22 d. Exceptional circumstances 27 e. Entry into force 27 8. Participation of non-member States in Council of Europe treaties 30 a. Procedure 33 b. Examples illustrating the procedure 34 9. Modification of treaties 41 a. Correction of treaties 41 b. Modification of treaties: adding of new signatories 43 c. Amendments to treaties 44 d. Separation and reunification of States – European upheavals 45 e. Special statements 46 II. COUNCIL OF EUROPE DEPOSITARY PRACTICE 49 Depositary functions in the Council of Europe 49 1. Checklists for the depositary 53 2. Opening for signature 53 3. Full powers of signature and Instruments of ratification 54 Full powers of signature 54 Instrument of ratification/acceptance/approval 55 4. Ceremony of signature – Deposit of instrument of ratification 56 a. Procedure for signature 56 b. Deposit of instruments of ratification 56 5. Parent treaties 57 6. Mandatory declarations and terms of signature 57 a. Mandatory declarations 57 b. Terms of signature 58 7. Renewal of reservations 61 a. Procedure of follow-up to and renewal of reservations and declarations: 62 b. Follow-up table 63 c. Correspondence related to the renewal of reservations: 64 8. Notifications 68 a. Presentation 68 b. Procedure 68 c. List of notifications 70 d. Specific notifications 93 9. Custody: living historical archives 108 APPENDIX 1 – GLOSSARY ON TREATIES 109 APPENDIX 2 – FUNDAMENTAL TEXTS 111 ► Page 3 Introduction he present publication provides an overview The Treaty Office publishes and is the custodian of over the Council of Europe’s treaty-making and the original texts of all the treaties and organises T depositary activities. It is intended as a practical each signature or ratification ceremony. It receives tool, assembling in a single document an overview and registers the ratifications, as well as any dec- of treaty-related procedures and practices as well larations and reservations that may accompany as examples of the most common documents used them, and any withdrawal or modification thereof. in this context. It ensures that the documents it receives are in due and proper form and notifies them to the member Since it was founded in 1949, the Council of Europe States of the Council of Europe and other States or has contributed, by concluding treaties, to achiev- organisations which are parties to the treaties. The ing greater unity between its member States and to Treaty Office also exercises all the specific functions creating a truly European legal space. To date, more that are sometimes assigned to it by the treaties. than 220 treaties have been concluded with a view to fostering international co-operation, establishing The text of all Council of Europe treaties, their common European standards and approximating explanatory reports, the status of signatures and the legislation of European states. ratifications, declarations and reservations made by States and the notifications issued by the Treaty The Council of Europe Treaty Series groups together Office since 2000 are available on the website of the all treaties concluded since 1949. Whether termed Council of Europe Treaty Office: https://www.coe.int/ “agreement”, “convention”, “arrangement”, “charter”, en/web/conventions. or “code”, these texts are all international treaties in the sense of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the I hope this publication will be of use for all those Law of Treaties. interested in the Council of Europe and its conven- tional acquis. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe is the depositary of all these treaties. The tasks related to the exercise of depositary functions are carried Jörg Polakiewicz out by the Treaty Office, which is responsible for the Director of Legal Advice and Public International day-to-day administration of the Council of Europe Law (Legal Adviser) treaties. Council of Europe ► Page 5 I. Operational procedures here are several stages in the life of a Council of Europe treaty, from the drafting to the day-to-day manage- T ment of signatures and ratifications. These stages, detailed below, are illustrated with models and examples that provide a very concrete under- standing of the phases to be followed and the key points to be followed and complied with. ► Drafting of a new treaty ► Titles of treaties ► Decisions to adopt and open for signature ► Simultaneous adoption and opening for signature of a treaty ► Production and communication ► Opening for signature ► Day-to-day treaty management ► Participation of non-member States ► Modification of treaties ► Page 7 1. Drafting of a new treaty ADOPTION • OPENING FOR • PROPOSALS by steering by the Committee SIGNATURE or monitoring of Ministers committees • RATIFICATION by the States (Member and • PROPOSALS by • DRAFTING of the text of non-member States) specialised ministers the convention by an • ENTRY INTO FORCE expert committee • RECOMMENDATIONS of the Parliamentary • TRANSMISSION of the Assembly or Congress draft to the Committee of Ministers DECISION IMPLEMENATION by the Parties by the Committee • OPINION of the of Ministers Parliamentary Assembly 2. Titles of treaties “European Treaty Series” (ETS) and “Council of Europe Treaty Series” (CETS) The 1949 Statute of the Council of Europe has been numbered “1” in the series. Amendments and texts of statutory character adopted after this have been numbered 6, 7, 8 and 11. However, as these texts are not treaties in the meaning of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, they have been removed from the list of treaties and appended to the Statute of the Council of Europe. Treaties Nos. 3 and 4 are the headquarters agreements concluded between the Council of Europe and France. As these texts are bilateral treaties, and not multilateral treaties adopted pursuant to Article 15 of the Statute, they have also been removed from the list. As regards treaties supplemented by protocols “A” or “B”, this corresponds to a practice followed until 1972 when a convention and a protocol were adopted and opened for signature on the same day in order to underline the links between the two instruments. This practice is no longer used. All treaties (conventions, protocols) have their own separate number in the series. Conventions and agreements opened for signature between 1949 and 2003 were published in the “European Treaty Series” (ETS Nos. 1 to 193 included). Since 2004, this Series is continued by the “Council of Europe Treaty Series” (CETS No. 194 and following). It was decided, in December 2011, in agreement with the editorial department and the Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers, that in respect to the titles of the conventions, protocols and agreements, in English, the initials of the words within the title would be written in uppercase, except for articles, conjunctions, prepositions and gerunds such as “relating, concerning, establishing, etc.”. They remain in lowercase in French. Page 8 ► Practical guide – Treaty Office of the Council of Europe 3. Decisions to adopt and open for signature MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES Decisions CM/Del/Dec(2017)1291/10.3 5 July 2017 1291st meeting, 5 July 2017 10.3 European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) Draft Protocol amending the Additional Protocol to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (ETS No. 167) and its explanatory report Decisions The Deputies 1. took note of the Parliamentary Assembly’s opinion (Opinion No. 295) on the draft Protocol amending the Additional Protocol to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (ETS No. 167); 2. adopted the Protocol amending the Additional Protocol to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (ETS No. 167), as it appears in document CM(2017)90, and took note of its explanatory report, as it appears in document CM(2017)90-add; 3.