Pacific Islands Treaty Series

PITS Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the Pacific Island Treaties Series (PITS)
• What is a Treaty?
• What is a PITS treaty?
• Helpful Information concerning PITS

What is the Pacific Island Treaties Series (PITS) ?

The Pacific Islands Treaty Series, otherwise affectionately known as "PITS", aims to be a comprehensive treaty database for the Pacific Islands region publishing bilateral and multilateral treaties which Pacific Island states have entered into amongst themselves, as well as with nations and organisations external to the region. In addition, some treaties are included in the PITS database if they are relevant to the Pacific Island states and territories that are the focus of the PITS site even if they do not have any Pacific Island state parties.
The PITS website publishes full text treaties, and if possible, their corresponding status reports. These status reports, where possible, list the domesticating legislation that gives effect to the treaties at national or domestic level. The domesticating legislation is an extended feature unique to the PITS database which inter alia indicates the commitment of the Pacific Island states to their rights and obligations at international law.

What is a Treaty?

A treaty, for the purposes of the PITS, is any instrument of agreement that falls within the definition of a Treaty under the Vienna Convention Art. 2 (1) (a), being “an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation.” ( Vienna Convention Art. 2 (1) (a)).

Common designations include conventions, agreements, agreement by exchange of notes, memorandum of understanding as well as charters, codes, framework conventions, outline convention etc. All these legal instruments are represented in the Pacific Islands Treaty Series.

What is a PITS treaty?

The PITS database however is narrowed down to only include the bilateral and multilateral treaties pertaining to the 22 Pacific Island countries and territories listed above. A treaty is included in the Pacific Islands Treaty Series because of three possible reasons:

1. the treaty is an international treaty and one or more Pacific Island country or territory has consented to be a party to that treaty;
2. the treaty is a Pacific Islands Regional Treaty. That is, a bilateral or multilateral treaty that is contracted to or on behalf of the Pacific Island state(s); OR
3. the treaty is relevant to the Pacific Island countries and territories even if none of them are parties to the treaty.

Helpful Information concerning PITS

In addition there are also helpful information pages on the site such as the Glossary for definitions of treaty terms for the purposes of the PITS, Country Information on the political status history of Pacific Island countries and territories, Information on Treaty Making and Domestication Practices of the Pacific Island States and territories, Links to other useful treaty sites as well as a Help Page which gives a basic guide on how to navigate the PITS website.