Treaties and Executive Agreements by Jan Christopher Elmido

TREATIES AND EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS
ž TREATY DEFINED
¡ A formal agreement, usually but not necessarily in writing, which is entered into by states or entities possessing the treaty-making capacity for the purpose of regulating their mutual relation under the law of nations
ž FUNCTIONS
¡ Enable parties to settle finally actual and potential conflicts
¡ Make it possible for the parties to modify the rules of international customary law by means of optional principles or standards
¡ Lead to a transformation of unorganized international society into one which may be organized on any chosen level of social integration
¡ Provide stimulus for the growth of international customary law

TREATY-MAKING PROCESS
ž NEGOTIATION
¡ Undertaken directly by the head of the state but usually assigned to authorized representatives
¡ Submitting of the draft by one of the parties
¡ Counter-proposals by the other party
¡ Subsequent negotiations
ž SIGNATURE
¡ The authenticating of the instrument and for the purpose of symbolizing the good faith of the parties
ž RATIFICATION
¡ The formal act by which a state confirms and accepts the provisions of a treaty concluded by its representatives
¡ Art. VII, Sec. 21.
¢ No treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.
ž EXCHANGE OF INSTRUMENTS OF RATIFICATION
¡ Signifies the effectivity of the treaty
ž REGISTRATION AND PUBLICATION

EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS
¡ Treaty - like agreement with another country in which the President binds the country without submission to the Senate
¡ “an international agreement embodying adjustments of detail carrying out well-established national policies and traditions, and those involving arrangements of a more or less temporary nature.” [Commissioner of Custom v. Eastern Sea Trading, 3 SCRA 351]
ž Nature of Executive Agreements :
¡ 2 classes :
¢ (1) agreements made purely as executive acts affecting external relations and independent of or without legislative authorization, which may be termed as presidential agreements, and
¢ (2) agreements entered into in pursuance of acts of Congress, or Congressional-Executive Agreements.
ž TREATY DISTINGUISHED FROM EXECUTIVE AGREEMENT
¡ Executive agreements entered into by the President need no concurrence.
¢ Art. VII, Sec. 21.
No treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate