PRESS RELEASE 014

Reform that allows international treaties to be registered in Spanish comes into force

The reform of the Regulations on the Registration and Publication of United Nations Treaties will allow international treaties to be registered in Spanish as from 1 February.

February 6, 2022

As from 1 February, States and international organisations may add a courtesy translation in one of the four official languages of the United Nations (Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese) to the official versions in English and French when a treaty is registered. The official register of United Nations treaties had only previously used the English and French languages.

This reform was adopted by consensus at the General Assembly on 9 December by means of Resolution 76/120, after months of negotiations and upon a proposal from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries.

The registration of treaties is a flagship activity of the organisation, a legacy of the League of Nations, which seeks international relations based on the law and transparency, distancing itself from secret diplomacy. As a result of this reform, Spanish and the other official languages of the United Nations will contribute to the prevalence of the law in international relations.

Spain and Spanish-speaking States, which make up the Group of Friends of Spanish at the United Nations, will continue to work so that the Register of Treaties includes Spanish among its official languages in the future.

-NON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION-