CEVAP:

Ratification is the international act whereby “a State establishes on the international plane its consent to be bound by a treaty” (Art. 2(1)/b, Vienna Convention). Ratification is an act of government to approve the treaty in question. Treaty becomes binding on the state after ratification. 

Ratification presupposes signing of a treaty by the duly appointed plenipotentiary (person having full powers). Generally, there is no prescribed time limit for ratification and states usually take many years before ratifying the treaty.