(or sometimes ) is a

Legal Latin A number of Latin terms are used in law, legal terminology and legal maxims. This is a partial list of these terms, which are wholly or substantially drawn from Latin, or anglicized Law Latin. __TOC__ Common law Civil law Ecclesia ...

term commonly used in

public international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

and

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

that refers to the right to conclude

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

. It is usually referred to in English as treaty-making power. As defined in article 6 of the

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) is an international agreement that regulates treaties among sovereign states. Known as the "treaty on treaties", the VCLT establishes comprehensive, operational guidelines, rules, and proced ...

, every

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

possesses the capacity to conclude treaties. International organizations as well as subnational entities of federal states may have treaty-making power as well. ' is linked to the concept of international

legal personality Legal capacity is a quality denoting either the legal aptitude of a person to have rights and liabilities (in this sense also called transaction capacity), or the personhood itself in regard to an entity other than a natural person (in this sen ...

International organizations

International organization An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own le ...

s commonly have the power to conclude treaties as well. A notable example is the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, which has concluded a number of free trade agreements. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations aims to be an extension to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and deals with treaties between one or more states and one or more international organizations and between international organizations. However, this Vienna Convention is not yet into force as of 2013 due to insufficient number of ratifications. One of the most extensive cases on international organizations’ treaty-making power is the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice titled, ''Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations'', which details the relationship between sovereignty and the obligation to pay reparation, as well as the criteria to determine international legal personality.

Federal states

Federated state A federated state (also State (polity), state, province, region, Canton (administrative division), canton, Länder, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation ...

s, as part of a federal (sovereign) state, usually do not have the power to conclude treaties—which is determined by the federal constitution. For example, the Contract Clause of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

explicitly forbids U.S. states from concluding treaties. The Constitution of Mexico also prohibits its states from making treaties. On the other hand, the Constitution of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

for example grants its communities and regions the power to make treaties.Article 167 of the

Constitution of Belgium The Constitution of Belgium (; ; ) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the separation of powers. The most recent major ...

The of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and the cantons of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

can make treaties within their respective competencies.

International organizations

Federal states

References

See also