The documents by which States express their consent to be bound by a treaty (instruments of ratification, acceptance etc.) are kept by an organ designated by the respective treaties, the "depositary". His tasks are enumerated in in Article 77 of the
Vienna Convention and can be compared to those of notary public in the context of civil law.
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or the
Secretary General of the United Nations are examples of such organs who act, inter alia, as depositaries of various conventions; since 1945 more than 500 multilateral treaties have been deposited with the latter. Nevertheless, this task can also be conferred upon a government as in the case of the Swiss Federal Council which acts as depositary for approximately 60 international conventions. The functions of the depositary of a treaty are international in character and the depositary is under an obligation to act impartially in their performance (Article 76 (2)).
According to Article 102 of the
Charter of the United Nations no party to an international agreement which has not been registered it with the
Secretariat of the United Nations may invoke that agreement before any organ of the United Nations and in particular not before the
International Court of Justice.
