The term “convention” can have both a generic and a specific meaning. 1. As a generic term: Article 38 (1) (a) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice refers to “international conventions, whether general or particular” as a source of law, apart from international customary rules and general principles of international law and -as a secondary source- judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists. This generic use of the term “convention” embraces all international agreements, in the same way as does the generic term “treaty”. The generic term “convention” is thus synonymous with the generic term “treaty”. 2. Convention as a specific term: whereas in the last century the term “convention” was regularly employed for bilateral agreements, it now is generally used for formal multilateral treaties with a broad number of parties. Conventions are normally open for participation by the international community as a whole, or by a large number of states. Usually, the instruments negotiated under the auspices of an international organization are entitled conventions (e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). (Source: treaties.un.org)