What is ratification of a treaty?
Ratification of a treaty is an international act whereby a State establishes on the international plane its consent to be bound by a treaty, and is usually preceded by signature of the treaty. National Parliaments do not ‘ratify’ treaties in this sense, although the term is also used by some States to refer to their domestic constitutional processes applicable to treaties. For the United Kingdom, the act of ratification generally has two parts: signature of the ratification document by the Foreign Secretary (or on certain occasions by the Prime Minister or HM The Queen), and the physical deposit of that document with the Depositary (the administering State or Organisation) of the treaty concerned. The date of ratification is determined by the terms of the particular treaty and international treaty law and practice; it is normally the date of deposit of the ratification document.
