1. The present publication continues that entitled Multilateral Treaties in respect of which the Secretary-General Performs Depositary Functions, the last issue of which appeared in 1980 (ST/LEG/SER.13) with data up to 31 December 1979. This volume, the fifteenth of the Series Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General (ST/LEG/SER.E/ - a supplement to the second volume was issued to cover actions from 1 January to 31 December 1983 under reference ST/LEG/SER.E/2/add.1) consolidates the information (signatures, ratifications, accessions, miscellaneous notifications, reservations, declarations, objections, etc.) relating to all multilateral treaties (494) covered up to 19 April 1999.

2. The previous publication consisted of a main part (comprehensive list of signatures, ratifications, etc.) printed annually, and of an annex entitled Final Clauses (ST/LEG/SER.D/1.Annex and Supplements) in loose-leaf form providing for each treaty deposited with the Secretary-General the text of formal and participation clauses. The annex was updated by annual supplements as required.

3. The present publication corresponds to the main part of the previous one. Under paragraph 6 of resolution 36/112 adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1981, the final clauses of multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General are to be re-issued as part of a new publication entitled Handbook of Final Clauses.¹

4. Like its predecessors, this publication covers (1) all multilateral treaties the original of which is deposited with the Secretary-General,² (2) the Charter of the United Nations, in respect of which certain depositary functions have been conferred upon the Secretary-General (although the original of the Charter itself is deposited with the Government of the United States of America) (3) multilateral treaties formerly deposited with the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, to the extent that formalities or decisions affecting them have been taken within the framework of the United Nations, and (4) certain pre-United Nations treaties, other than those formerly deposited with the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, which were amended by protocols adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

5. Multilateral treaties formerly deposited with the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, by virtue of General Assembly resolution 24 (I) of 12 February 1946 and of a League of Nations Assembly resolution of 18 April 1946³, were transferred, upon dissolution of the League of Nations, to the custody of the United Nations. The Secretariat of the United Nations is now responsible for the performance of the functions formerly entrusted to the League of Nations; since those functions are of a de facto depositary nature, the treaties concerned have been included in the present publication.

6. The publication follows the order adopted in previous ones. Thus, the material is so arranged into two parts: Part I is devoted to United Nations multilateral treaties and Part II to League of Nations multilateral treaties. For ease of reference, those League of Nations treaties and other pre-United Nations treaties that were amended by protocols adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations are included in Part I, so that the lists of States which have become parties to the amending protocol and to the treaty as amended are followed immediately by a list showing the status of the treaty as at the time of its transfer to the custody of the United Nations.

7. Part I is divided into chapters related to given themes, and within each chapter the treaties are listed in the chronological order of their conclusion. Part II, which is not divided into chapters, lists the treaties in the order in which they first gave rise to formalities or decisions within the framework of the United Nations.⁴

(a) United Nations treaties

8. After the full title, particulars are given in respect of each treaty regarding its entry into force and its registration under Article102 of the Charter. References are also given concerning the publication of the text of the Treaty and its annexes, (as well as that of amendments and adjustments) in the United Nations Treaty Series or, if it has not yet been published in the Treaty Series, the reference to United Nations documentation where its text may be found. A note below the title briefly recounts how the treaty was adopted.

9. Participants are listed alphabetically, along with the dates of their signature and deposit of their instrument of ratification, accession, etc..⁵ The presentation for each treaty reflects the provisions in the final clauses of that treaty regarding methods of participation. The number, as at 31 December, of signatories and parties to each treaty appears at the beginning of each treaty, which number includes the participants which apply the treaty provisionally but does not include those States which have ceased to exist. The name of those participants, date of signature and date of the formality effected thereafter, appears in a footnote. Those partici pants having denounced the treaty are not included in that count either; their name and the date of the formality effected is placed in brackets and the information regarding the denunciation appears in a footnote as well.

10. The texts of declarations, reservations and objections are normally given in full, either in special sections or in footnotes, after the list of participants. The same applies to communications of a special nature such as declarations recognizing the competence of committees such as the Human Rights Committee or the Committee against Torture and notifications under article 4 (3) of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and also to notifications of territorial application. Related communications, inter alia, declarations with respect to objections, appear in footnotes, the corresponding indicator being inserted in the original communica tion. Unless shown in quotation marks, the text is a translation (by the Secretariat) and unless otherwise indicated the reservations or declarations were made upon accomplishment of the final formality (ratification, accession, etc.).

(b) League of Nations treaties

11. The information provided is essentially based on the official records of the League of Nations - in particular, on the last official League of Nations publication of the list of signatures, ratifications and accessions in respect of multilateral treaties concluded under the auspices of the League of Nations. This accounts for the difference in format as compared with treaties deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Due to the need to convert the manuscript into electronic format in keeping with the technological developments undertaken by the Treaty Section, the presentation of the Leaque of Nations is, largely, similarly to the presentation of other instruments deposited with the Secretary General but certain stylistic differences continue.

12. The list of signatures, ratifications, accessions, etc., in respect of each of the League of Nations multilateral treaties covered by this publication is divided into two sections. The first section reflects the position as at the time of the transfer of those treaties to the custody of the United Nations, without implying a judgement by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the current legal effect of the actions as to which information is provided, or on the status of any of the last official list of the League of Nations. The second section gives a list of actions subsequent to publication in respect of the United Nations multilateral treaties.

13. Detailed explanations concerning the content and arrangement of material in the last official list of the League of Nations are given in the introduction to the publication containing that list. It will be sufficient to note that the procedure of "signature ad refer endum" (under which a signature is not considered to have been definitively affixed until it has been confirmed) was somewhat more frequent in League of Nations days.

14. On the occasion of treaty formalities, issues of a general character (mostly with regard to representation or territorial application) are sometimes raised. An effort has been made to regroup under chapter I.1 and 2 (where a list of all States members of the United Nations is set out) all such issues as may pertain to the States concerned: thus General Assembly resolution 2758 (XXVI) of 25 October 1971 restoring all rights to the People's Republic of China is reproduced under the first mention of China, on page 3. Similarly, Part I, chapter I.1 and 2 contains information transmitted by communications from Heads of States or Governments or Ministers for Foreign Affairs informing the Secretary-General of changes in the official denomination of States or territories, etc.. In the case of States that are not members of the United Nations or in the case of intergovernmental organizations, the information appears in notes corresponding to the formalities that gave rise to the issue. Cross-references are provided as required.

15. More detailed information regarding the previous publications is given in the Introduction to Multilateral Treaties in respect of which the Secretary-General Performs Depositary Functions (ST/LEG/SER.D/13).

¹ For the time being, the texts of the final clauses in multilateral treaties covered by the last volume of Multilateral Treaties in respect of which the Secretary-General Performs Depositary Functions (ST/LEG/SER.D/13) will be found in document ST/LEG/SER.D/1.Annex and Supplements 1 to 11.

² For reasons of economy and size, and in order to maintain this publication in its present format, it will no longer be possible to include the comprehensive status of superseded commodity agreements herein. For the complete status of the supersededagreements, see Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General, Status as at 31December 1994 (ST/LEG/SER.E/13).

³ League of Nations, Official Journal, Special Supplement No. 194, p. 57.

⁴ The first 26 treaties are listed in the order in which they appear in the last League of Nations publication of signatures, ratifications and accessions: see League of Nations, Official Journal, Special Supplement No. 193, Supplement to the Twenty-first List, Geneva, 1946.

⁵ The following main symbols are used: a, accession; A, acceptance, AA, approval; c, formal confirmation; d, succession; P, participation;s, definitive signature (entailing those rights and obligations provided for in the treaty); n, notification (of provisional application, of special undertak ing, etc.). Unless otherwise indicated the date of effect is determined by the relevant provisions of the treaty concerned.