Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 49 Part 2.djvu/1653

 REGISTRATION OF TREATIES. 3659 Arrangement effected by exchange oj notes between the acting legal adviser January 22 and 23, 1934. oj the Secretariat oj the League oj Nations and the American Oonsul at Geneva providing jor the registration oj treaties and other interna- tional agreements oj the United States oj America with the Secretariat oj the League oj Nations. Signed January 22 and 23,1934, effective January 23, 1934. The Acting Legal Adviser of the Secretariat of the League of Nations (McKinnon Wood) to the American Consul at Geneva (G-Ubert) DEAR MR. GILBERT, LEAGUE OF NATIONS, Geneva, January ~2nd, 1931,.. With reference to my recent conversations with you, I am author- re:is~t:tt ised by the Secretary-General to confirm that provision for the etc., of the United States of America with registration with the Secretariat by States not belonging to the the Secretariat of the , League of Nations. League, of international agreements concluded by them is made in paragraph 13 of the memorandum regarding the registration and publication of treaties which was approved by the Council of the League of Nations on May 19th, 1920 (see Volume I, No.1, of the Treaty Series, pp. 8-13). I annex the text of this paragraph in P08i. p. 3600. French and English. You will observe from the terms of the paragraph that the Coun- cil recognised that such registration by a non-Member State would be absolutely voluntary. It may be of interest for me to mention that, commencing in October 1920, Germany proceeded to register treaties with the Secre- tariat as contemplated in the paragraph, on the understanding that this did not imply that she considered herself as bound by the pro- visions of Article 18 of the Covenant (see Treaty Series, Volume II, p. 60). I might also mention that, since she ceased to be a member of the League, Brazil has continued to register treaties with the Secretariat. In such cases a simple acknowledgment of the request for regis- tration, and not a formal certificate of registration, is addressed by the Secretariat to the Government presenting a treaty for registra- tion, in view of the fact that the registration is not legally obligatory. Should, therefore, the United States decide to adopt the practice of registering international agreements concluded by it with the Secretariat, the position would be as follows: a) Such registration would not involve acquiescence by the United States in the stipUlation of Article 18 of the Covenant that no instrument shall be binding until registration. b) Such registration would result in publication of treaties and executive agreements between the United States and Members of the League and likewise between the United States and other States