International law is law agreed by two or more states and is applicable tothose states and in most cases their nationals. It is laid down in rulesreferred to as Treaties, Conventions, Regulations and Declarations. Moststates around the world have signed up to several thousand of these rules,each state being referred to as a Contracting State of this Treaty or thatConvention. The effects of signing a Treaty or Convention can vary. Statesthat sign a Treaty or Convention agree to be bound by its rules. Sometimesstates reserve the right to determine at a later date to what extent a treatyor convention will affect the state or its nationals.