Under Article 102 of the United Nations Charter, every treaty and every international agreement entered into by any member of the United Nations must be registered as soon as possible with the Secretariat and published by it. The sanction for failing to do so is that any treaty that has not been registered cannot be invoked before an organ of the United Nations (such as the International Court of Justice). Hence, in practical terms, a non-registered treaty is unenforceable. Registration attempts to ensure that international agreements are public documents as opposed to secret treaties (such as some landmark treaties that preceded the World Wars of the 20th century).
Subjects: International Law.