Limited acceptance of international treaties

Prompt acceptance of a treaty by some States may have a positive impact, and delay by some could have a negative impact, on other States. If a treaty does not receive a sizeable number of acceptances within a reasonable period, states might lose interest in it. Although almost all multilateral United Nations treaties have been adopted by very large majorities, and a number of them unanimously or at least without any negative votes, some of them have been accepted by only a minority of States. Non-acceptance or undue delay in acceptance of treaties has deep consequences on the efficacy of codification and the development of international law. These attitudes can retard the entry into force of a treaty, and may even result in the failure of a treaty to come into effect at all. It is noteworthy that even States that have ratified or acceded to a treaty not yet in force are freed from the obligation to refrain from acts which would defeat its object and purposes, if the treaty's entry into force is unduly delayed. Even after a treaty has entered into force, its true effectiveness may be impaired if it applies only between a small number of countries. For all these and other reasons, prompt acceptance by the widest possible number of States, with least possible delay, is of crucial significance.

In the period up to June, 1968, of the 179 multilateral treaties for which the Secretary-General exercises depositary functions, only 138 had entered into force. The general multilateral treaties adopted under UN auspices are open for acceptance by States Members of the UN, and by States not Members of the UN but which are Members of any specialized agency; acceptance is not limited in time (so that the date at which a State becomes a Member does not affect its capacity to adhere to earlier UN treaties).

As another example, considering the General Secretariat of Organization of American States in its aspect as depositary of inter-American treaties and agreements and of the instruments of ratification: with respect to the 53 treaties and their instruments of ratification, only 43 had entered into force as of July 1984.