Agreements Of International Organizations And The Vienna Convention On The Law Of Treaties

Papers prepared as a result of research conducted at the 1969 session of the Center for Studies and Research, Hague Academy of International Law.

Treaties form a basis for the daily conduct of international relations, and thus it is vital to see how they are made, amended, interpreted, and enforced. This volume presents insights into how the law of treaties has worked over the past 40 years, since the 1969 Vienna Convention was adopted as the comprehensive treaty to regulate the law of international agreements. The book capitalizes on 40 years of international experience, with a group of expert contributors describing and analyzing the subject. Multiple issues of the Convention are covered, including the aspects of conclusion, interpretation, reservation, amendment and modification, validity, and other issues.

The Commentary on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provides an in-depth article-by-article analysis of all of the Vienna Convention’s provisions. Each provision’s analysis consists of (I) Purpose and Function of the Article, (II) Historical Background with Negotiating History, (III) Elements of the Article and finally (IV) Treaties of International Organizations. In short, the present Commentary contains a comprehensive legal analysis of all aspects of the international law of treaties. Furthermore, where the law of treaties reaches into other fields of international law, e.g. the law of state responsibility, the relevant interfaces are discussed and contextualized. With its focus on international practice, the Commentary is an invaluable reference for both academia and practitioners of international law.

Whether or not a certain norm is legally binding upon international actors may often depend on whether or not the instrument which contains the norm is to be regarded as a treaty. In this study, the author argues that instruments which contain commitments are, "ex" "hypothesi," treaties. In doing so, he challenges popular notions proclaiming the existence of morally and politically binding agreements and so-called soft law'. Such notions, Klabbers argues, are internally inconsistent and founded upon untenable presumptions. Moreover, they find little support in the pertinent decisions of municipal and international courts and tribunals. The book addresses issues of importance not only for academics working in international law, constitutional law and political science, but also for practitioners involved in the making, implementation and enforcement of international agreements.

Mter an international organization is established, if it is necessary for it to acquire certain rights or assume duties or new functions not provided in its constitution, there are four techniques to achieve that 1 end. The first is to amend the constitution of the organization. If the organization has only a limited number of members, then this technique is not too cumbersome. But, the procedure for amending a constitution is usually complicated and requires a substantial period of time. Thus this technique has at least the disadvantage of delay. 2 The second technique is to conclude a treaty among the member States of the organization. The organization is not a party to that treaty, but it can acquire some rights, assume some duties, or new functions under the treaty. 3 The disadvantage of this technique is similar to the first one, i. e. , the conclusion of a multilateral treaty may mean delay since the procedure involved is so complicated and cumber some. 1 E. g. , the Constitution of the ILO, Cmd. No. 393 (T. S. No. 4 of 1919), [1919] 13 Foreign ReI. U. S. : Paris Conf. 695 (1947), was amended on October 9, 1946,62 Stat. 3485, T. I. A. S. No. 1868, 15 U. N. T. S.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the law of treaties based on the interplay between the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and customary international law. Written by a team of renowned international lawyers, it offers new insight into the basic concepts and methodology of the law of treaties and its problems.

Revised and updated, this handbook by the Treaty Section of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs is intended as a contribution to UN efforts to assist States in becoming parties to the international treaty framework. It is written in simple language and, with the aid of diagrams and step-by-step instructions, touches upon many aspects of treaty law and practice. This handbook is designed for use by States, international organizations and other relevant entities. In particular, it is intended to provide some degree of assistance to States that may have scarce resources and limited technical proficiency in treaty law and practice to participate fully in the multilateral treaty framework.