5 Treaties

By the law of the United Kingdom the conclusion of a treaty at all its stages is a matter of the prerogative, so that the Executive alone, that is Her Majesty the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, a Minister of the Crown, an Ambassador, or other officials have the power to conclude, that is to sign and ratify it, and thus to bind the United Kingdom in the sense of international law, though by the so-called Ponsonby rule, as a matter of constitutional convention, the Executive will not normally ratify a treaty until twenty-one parliamentary days after the treaty has been laid before both Houses of Parliament. In order to be unquestionably cognizable by an English court a treaty has to be the object of the established legislative process, that is to say, it has to have the sanction of a statute passed by Parliament.