A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It most often is used in cases where parties do not intend to imply a legal commitment. It is a more formal alternative to a gentlemen's agreement. However, in some cases, depending on the exact wording, MoUs can have the binding power of a contract. It is important to note that, as a matter of well-established law, a contract does not have to be labeled "contract," to be legally binding; it could be labeled "Christmas Carol" (pick your whimsy) and still be enforceable in a court of law. Whether or not a document constitutes a binding contract depends only on the presence or absence of well-defined legal elements in the text proper of the document (the so-called "four corners"). For example, a binding contract typically must contain mutual consideration - a legally enforceable obligations of the parties, and its formation must take place free of the so-called real defenses to contract formation (fraud, duress, lack of age or mental capacity, etc.). Be advised, therefore, that a document titled "Memorandum of Understanding" can constitute a legally binding contract, depending on e.g. the wording and general intent of the parties. Bilateralism is a term referring to trade or political relations between two states. ... Multilateralism is an international relations term that refers to multiple countries working in concert. ... Look up Agreement in Wiktionary, the free dictionary An agreement may be an agreement in beliefs, rules, practices (policies), or conduct. ... A Gentlemens agreement is an informal agreement between two or more parties. ... A contract is a legally binding exchange of promises or agreement between parties that the law will enforce. ...

In private law

In private U.S. law, MoU is a common synonym for a letter of intent (LoI). One example is the MoU between Bush and Kerry for the 2004 debates. A Letter of Intent (LOI) is an agreement about future business between two business partners / companies (mostly supplier and customer) without engagement. ... The presidential debates memorandum of understanding for the 2004 U.S. presidential election debates is a memorandum of understanding between the Bush 2004 campaign and the Kerry 2004 campaign covering in minute detail all aspects of the presidential candidate debates held between the two candidates. ...

Inside a company or government agency

Many companies and government agencies use MoUs to define a relationship between departments, agencies or closely held companies. These branches of the organization fall under similar control structures but need to ensure smooth operations where there are shared resources or workflows. These could include areas such as service level agreements (SLAs), intra-organization connectivity, intra-organization communications and intra-organization escalations and response patterns. Like the MoU in law, it creates a platform for a clear understanding of each party's commitments/purpose and sets out expectations for a series of pre-determined responses should certain criteria be met that shows that there is either intentional or unintentional breach of the MoU's original commitments/purpose. Service Level Agreement (SLA) is that part of a service contract where the level of service is formally defined. ...

In public international law

In international relations, MoUs do generally not fall under the broad category of treaties. For this reason, MoUs may in theory be kept confidential, although the United Nations Legal Section indicates that MoUs should be registered in the Treaty Database to avoid 'secret diplomacy'. However, as a matter of law, the title of MoU does not necessarily mean the document is not binding under international law. To determine whether or not the MoU in question is meant to be a legally binding document (treaty), one needs to examine the intent of the parties. This can be deduced from the wording used. The International Court of Justice has provided some insight into the determination of the legal status of a document in the landmark case of Qatar v. Bahrain, 1 July 1994. One advantage of MoUs over more formal instruments is that, because no obligations under international law are created, they can be put into effect in most countries without requiring parliamentary approval. MoUs are often used to modify and adapt existing treaties - in which case the title of MoU obviously distracts from the factual treaty status of the document. The decision concerning ratification, however, is determined by the parties' internal law and depends to a large degree on the subject agreed upon. An obvious disadvantage of MoUs is that they cannot be enforced, as no obligations under international law have been created. If the intent of states is to create reciprocal obligations and rights, MoUs are not the most apt instrument; if it does in fact represent an agreement to be bound under international law, it is a treaty rather than an MoU, in spite of its title. As was obvious in the Qatar v. Bahrain case, disputes may arise concerning the status of the document once one of the parties seeks to enforce its provisions. The first two pages of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, in (left to right) German, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Ottoman Turkish and Russian A treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely states and international organizations. ... This article is about the property of being confidential. For the magazine of the same name, see Confidential (magazine). ...

Although MOUs in the multilateral field are seldomly seen, the transnational aviation agreements are actually MoUs. Multilateralism is an international relations term that refers to multiple countries working in concert. ... Aviation encompasses all the activities relating to airborne devices created by human ingenuity, generally known as aircraft. ...

Examples include:

• The Memorandum of Understanding Relating to the Treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems on May 26, 1972 signed by US President Richard Nixon and the USSR Successor States updating the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty^[1]
• The Memorandum of Understanding on Hijacking of Aircraft and Vessels and Other Offenses between the US and Cuba, meant to criminalize hijacking in both countries (February 3, 1973)
• The Agreed Framework between the U.S. and North Korea over nuclear weaponry on October 21, 1994
• The Oil for Food program, for which Iraq signed an MoU in 1996
• The agreement between the government of Indonesia and the GAM in the Aceh peace process, 15 August, 2005.
• The agreement between the UK and Jordan, Libya and Lebanon regarding potential extradition of suspects (commonly terrorists suspects) who if they are to be tried, must be tried fairly and in a manner similar to the European Convention on Human Rights, for example withholding from using evidence obtained through the use of torture(Article 3). Such an understanding has been criticised for its inability to be legally enforced. This has been highlighted in the current deportation process of the suspected terrorist Abu Qatada, who is wanted by Jordan in connection with a terrorist attack. However, at present, the Court of Appeal have rejected the UK Government's appeal based on their concern at Jordan obtaining evidence potentially incriminating Qatada through the use of torture.

Nixon redirects here. ... Post-Soviet states in alphabetical order: 1. ... The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM treaty or ABMT) was a treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons. ... The Agreed Framework was signed on October 21, 1994 between North Korea and the United States. ... The Oil-for-Food Programme was established by the United Nations in 1996 to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine and the like. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... ASNLF Flag The Free Aceh Movement (Indonesian: Gerakan Aceh Merdeka or simply GAM), also known as the Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF), is an armed separatist group seeking independence for the Aceh region on Sumatra from Indonesia. ... Aceh (pronounced , generally Anglicized as IPA: ) is a special territory (daerah istimewa) of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. ... Terrorism refers to the use of violence for the purpose of achieving a political, religious, or ideological goal. ... “ECHR” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ... Abu Qatada al-Filistini (Arabic: ), sometimes called Abu Omar (ابو عمر) is a mujahid (extremist Muslim) who has been accused of terrorist activities by a number of governments[1]. Under the name Omar Mahmoud Othman (عمر محمود عثمان), he is under worldwide embargo by the United Nations Security Council Committee 1267[2] for his affiliation...

References

... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Aceh MoU detail