Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword to the first edition by Sir Arthur Watts
- Preface to the second edition
- Articles of the Convention cited in the text
- Table of treaties
- Table of MOUs
- Table of cases
- Glossary of legal terms
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969
- 2 What is a treaty?
- 3 MOUs
- 4 Capacity to conclude treaties
- 5 Full powers
- 6 Adoption and authentication
- 7 Consent to be bound
- 8 Reservations
- 9 Entry into force
- 10 Treaties and domestic law
- 11 Territorial application
- 12 Successive treaties
- 13 Interpretation
- 14 Third states
- 15 Amendment
- 16 Duration and termination
- 17 Invalidity
- 18 The depositary
- 19 Registration and publication
- 20 Dispute settlement and remedies
- 21 Succession to treaties
- 22 International Organisations
- 23 Drafting and final clauses
- Appendices
- Index
2 - What is a treaty?
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword to the first edition by Sir Arthur Watts
- Preface to the second edition
- Articles of the Convention cited in the text
- Table of treaties
- Table of MOUs
- Table of cases
- Glossary of legal terms
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969
- 2 What is a treaty?
- 3 MOUs
- 4 Capacity to conclude treaties
- 5 Full powers
- 6 Adoption and authentication
- 7 Consent to be bound
- 8 Reservations
- 9 Entry into force
- 10 Treaties and domestic law
- 11 Territorial application
- 12 Successive treaties
- 13 Interpretation
- 14 Third states
- 15 Amendment
- 16 Duration and termination
- 17 Invalidity
- 18 The depositary
- 19 Registration and publication
- 20 Dispute settlement and remedies
- 21 Succession to treaties
- 22 International Organisations
- 23 Drafting and final clauses
- Appendices
- Index
Summary
the intolerable wrestle with words and meanings.
Like the Vienna Convention, this book is concerned primarily with treaties between states. Article 2(1)(a) defines a ‘treaty’ as:
an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation.
As with most of the Convention, although the definition is expressed to be for the purposes of that Convention, and is limited to treaties between states, its elements now represent customary international law (see previous chapter). As with so many legal questions, the difficulty is not the definition itself, but whether a particular instrument or transaction falls within it. An examination of the elements of the definition illustrates some of the key principles underlying the law of treaties.
But, first a warning. The law of treaties is extremely flexible and can accommodate departures from normal practice. That is its strength. But most treaties are drafted according to standard forms and processed according to long-established procedures. One should therefore think very carefully before departing from them. But, provided there is a good reason for a departure, and one knows exactly what one is doing and any legal implications, there should be no problem. Difficulties can arise when there is an honest, but misguided, wish to speed up the process; the initiative often coming from the state promoting the negotiation of a multilateral treaty.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Modern Treaty Law and Practice , pp. 16 - 31Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007