on 5th august, 2011bill no xxv of 2011 the consultation and ratification of treaties bill, 2011 a billto establish a procedure for the ratification by parliament of treaties entered into by thecentral government  and  to  ensure  accountability  and  democratic  consultation in respect of power of the union to enter into a treaty and for other matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-second year of the republic of  india as follows:— chapter i preliminary1 (1) this act may be called the consultation and ratification of treaties act, 2011(2) it shall extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu and kashmirshort title, extent and commencement(3) it shall be deemed to have come into force on the 18th day of july, 2005definitions2  in this act unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "binding", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, meansthe creation of enforceable rights and liabilities arising from a treaty that has obtained the ratification of parliament;(b) "enter into",  with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means the signing of a treaty by the central government, on behalf of india, with the intention that such treaty be binding in respect of india;5(c) "ratification" means the approval of a treaty by resolution of both the houses of parliament in the manner prescribed under this act;(d) "state legislature" means the legislature of a state and also includes, for purposes of this act, the primary legislative body of a union territory;10(e)  "treaty" means an international agreement in writing that is intended to have binding effect between its signatories, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular title, designation or form, concluded between the central government and the government or governments of any other foreign country or countries, as the case may be, or any international organization or international organizations, as the case may be chapter ii15 prohibition in respect of treaty making power3  no treaty shall be entered into by the central government, or ratified by the parliament, save in accordance with the provisions of this act or any rules made thereunder chapter iii public to be consulted204 (1) the central government shall, in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed inform the public of the content, nature, effect and scope of any treaty that it is negotiating or intends to negotiatecentral government to enter into treaties in accordance with the provisions of this act public to be consulted on treaty before it is entered into(2) the central government shall, at least ninety days before entering into a treaty,25(a) publish the draft provisions of such treaty that it intends to enter into in the official gazette;(b) disseminate, or cause the dissemination of, the draft provisions of such treaty that it intends to enter into, along with an explanation as to its nature, scope and effect, for discussion by the public;30(c) invite, facilitate, receive and consider views and suggestions regarding the draft provisions of such treaty that it intends to enter into, from the public (3) every treaty entered into by the central government shall, within fifteen days of the date of it being entered into, be circulated for discussion by the public chapter iv circulation to state legislatures355 (1) the central government shall, at least ninety days before entering into any treaty, circulate, or cause the circulation of, such treaty that it intends to enter into to each state legislature in such form and in such manner as may be prescribedtreaties to be circulated to state legislatures40(2) each state legislature to which a treaty has been circulated under sub-section (1)of this section may, if it thinks fit, make responses or objections upon such treaty in such form, manner and time as may be prescribed chapter v parliament to ratify certain treaties6  (1) no treaty entered into by the central government shall be binding in respect to india unless it has obtained the ratification of parliament45no treaty binding unless ratified by parliament(2) parliament may, by resolution to that effect passed by each house, exclude from the operation of this section, any treaty or treaties or class or classes of treaties, as the case may betreaties to be laid beforeparliament7 (1)  subject to sub-section (2) of section 6, every treaty entered into by the central government shall be laid, within fifteen days of the date of it being entered into, before each house of parliament in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed:5provided that where a treaty has been entered into at a time when either house of parliament is not in session or has been dissolved, the period of fifteen days shall be reckoned from the date on which both houses of parliament are reassembled, and if the houses of parliament are summoned to reassemble on different dates, the period aforesaid shall be reckoned from the later of those dates for the purposes of this section10(2) each house of parliament may, within a period of ninety days, which may be comprised in one session or in two or more consecutive sessions, of a treaty being laid before it under sub-section (1) of this section, pass a resolution to approve, disapprove, modify, or make reservations to, the said treaty:provided that each house of parliament may extend the period of ninety days for such further periods as it thinks fit to facilitate discussion by the public15(3) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2) of this section, parliament may, by resolution, indicate the treaties or classes of treaties that have to be ratified by resolution of both houses of parliament(4) a treaty that has been approved by resolutions of both houses of parliament under sub-section (2) of section 7 shall be deemed to have obtained the ratification of parliament:20provided that where parliament makes a reservation or reservations to a treaty that has been laid before it, the treaty shall be deemed to be ratified subject to such reservation or reservations, as the case may be:provided further that where a treaty has been modified, by resolution of either house of parliament, the treaty shall not be deemed to be ratified and may be referred to the central government for further negotiation25 chapter vi miscellaneoustreaties to be published308  (1) notwithstanding any resolution of parliament under sub-section (2) of the section 6 or any other provisions of this act, every treaty entered into by the central government shall be published, within seven days of such entrance into, in the official gazette(2) every treaty that has obtained the ratification of parliament shall be published, with seven days from the date of such ratification, in the official gazettepower to make rules9  (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette make rules to carry out the purposes of this act35(2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters namely—(a) the dissemination of treaties to the public under section 4; (b) the circulation of treaties to the state legislatures under section 5;40(c) the commentary on treaties by the state legislature under section 5; (d) the laying of treaties before parliament under section 7; (e) the effective implementation of this act; (f) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, specified by rules45(3) every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made before each house of parliament while it is in session for a period of thirty days which may5be comprised in one session or in two consecutive sessions and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule, or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule10  the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in forceact to have overriding effect statement  of  objects  and  reasons parliament is empowered to make laws in respect of entering into treaties and agreements, and implementing conventions, with foreign countries under entry 14, list  i, seventh schedule read with article 246 of the constitution of india however, in the absence of relevant legislation, the central government has been entering into treaties and agreements with foreign countries in exercise of its executive power that is coterminous with the legislative power of parliament by virtue of article 73 of the constitution2 the treaty making power of the union may sometimes be exercised in relation to matters that are within the competence of the states the report of the national commission to review the working of the constitution recommended: "that for reducing tension or friction between states and the union and fore expeditious decision making on important issues involving states, the desirability of prior consultation by the union government with the inter-state council may be considered before signing any treat vitally affecting the interests of the states regarding matters in the state list"3 india has entered into bilateral and multilateral treaties that are capable of international enforcement irrespective of their specific incorporation into indian law these treaties raise issues of fundamental importance to the governance of india it is in the interests of democracy and accountability to ensure that the people, parliament and the legislatures of the states be consulted in matters of treaty making and their ratification4 the consultation and ratification of treaties bill, 2011 aims at estalishing a procedure for the ratification by parliament of treaties entered into by the central governement and to ensure accountability and democratic consultation in respect of the treaty making power of the union and for other matters connected therewith or incidental thereto the bill, inter alia, provides for the following matters, namely:—(i) no traty shall be entered into by the central government save in accordance withthe provisions of this act;(ii) the central government shall consult the public during negotiations to treaty,after entering into it and before it has been ratified by parliament;(iii) no treaty entered into by the central government shall be binding in respect ofindia unless it has obtained the ratification of parliament;(iv) every treaty entered into by the central government shall be laid before eachhouse of parliament, within fifteen days of its signature by the central government, for a period of ninety days, and each house of parliament may, within such period, by resolution, approve or disapprove such treaty;(v) a treaty shall have obtained the ratification of parliament if, within the period ofninety days from its laying before each house of parliament, it has been approved by resolution by such houses of parliament, or, if, on the expiry of the period of ninety days, it has not been disapproved by resolution by either house of parliament;(vi) every treaty entered into by the central government shall be circulated to eachstate legislature and such state legislature or state legislatures may make comments upon such treaty;(vii) every treaty entered into by the central government shall be disseminated to thepublic for discussion;(viii) the central government shall have the power to make rules for the purpose ofcarrying out the objects of the bill5 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectives memorandum   regarding  delegated   legislationclause 9 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to the matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto establish a procedure for the ratification by parliament of treaties entered into by thecentral government  and  to  ensure  accountability  and  democratic  consultation in respect of power of the union to enter into a treaty and for other matters connected therewith and incidental thereto————(shri prakash javadekar, mp)gmgipmrnd—948rs(s3)—05-082011