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 1969 and 1986 Vienna Conventions on the Law of Treaties are essential components of the international legal order. This is the first Commentary on their provisions, containing thorough and well-structured analyses of each of their Articles. It draws on preparatory works and practice and is written by a large collection of experts from the field

Presenting up-to-date case law and a freshly updated bibliography, this second edition of The Law of Treaties is a valuable addition to contemporary international law scholarship. It offers much-needed clarity on complicated legal cases and questions while maintaining a highly readable style.

The Commentary on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provides an in-depth article-by-article analysis of all provisions of the Vienna Convention. The texts are uniformly structured: (I) Purpose and Function of the Article, (II) Historical Background and Negotiating History, and (III) Elements of the Article. The Vienna Convention on Treaties between States and IOs and between IOs is taken into account where appropriate. In sum, the present Commentary contains a comprehensive legal analysis of all aspects of the international law of treaties. 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 addressed to academia, as well as to practitioners of international law.

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.

This series features works on substantial topics in international law which provide authoritative statements of the chosen areas. Taken together they map out the whole of international law in a set of scholarly reference works and treatises intended to be of use to scholars, practitioners, and students. This book provides a guide to interpreting treaties properly in accordance with the modern rules for treaty interpretation which are codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. These rules now apply to virtually all treaties both in an international context and within many national legal systems where treaties have an impact on a large and growing range of matters. Lawyers, administrators, diplomats, and officials at international organisations are increasingly likely to encounter issues of treaty interpretation which require not only knowledge of the relevant rules but also how these rules have been, and are to be, applied in practice. There is now a considerable body of case law on application of the codified rules. This case law, combined with the history and analysis of the rules, provides a basis for understanding this most important task in the application of treaties internationally and within national systems of law. Any lawyer who ever has to consider international matters, and increasingly any lawyer whose work involves domestic legislation with any international connection, is at risk nowadays of encountering a treaty provision which requires interpretation, whether the treaty provision is explicitly in issue or is the source of the relevant legislation. This expanded edition includes consideration of a range of recent cases, takes account of relevant work of the International Law Commission, and has new material addressing matters raised in the growing body of literature on treaty interpretation.

In the international law of the 21st century, more and more regulation comes in the form of post-treaty rules. Developed in environmental law, this trend increasingly spreads to areas ranging from tobacco regulation to arms trade. This book offers the first systematic examination of these decisions, resolutions and recommendations adopted by treaty bodies, to assess their effectiveness. The study shows that the authority of such rules is in question as, in practice, treaty parties retain almost complete discretion when it comes to their implementation. This conclusion gives rise to two key questions. To what extent does this ambiguous authority affect adherence to procedural principles like legal certainty, non-arbitrariness and the duty to state reasons? And can the legitimacy of the process and content of post-treaty rules fill the gaps in their authority? In assessing these questions, the study shines a light on this crucial but neglected area in international law scholarship and forms a starting point for improvements and reform.

The Oxford Guide to Treaties is the authoritative reference point for anyone studying or involved in the creation or interpretation of treaties and other forms of international agreement. For centuries, treaties have regulated relations among nation states. Today, they are the dominant source of international law. From trade relations to greenhouse gases, from shipwrecks to cybercrime, treaties structure the rights and obligations of states, international organizations, and individuals. Being adept with treaties and international agreements is thus an indispensable skill for anyone engaged in international relations, including international lawyers, diplomats, international organization officials, and representatives of non-governmental organizations. This second edition of the award-winning volume from Professor Duncan B. Hollis provides a comprehensive guide to treaties, shedding light on the rules and practices surrounding the making, interpretation, and operation of these instruments. Foundational issues are covered, from defining treaties and their alternatives, to examining current theorizations about the treaty in international law. Chapters review specific stages in the treaty's life-cycle, including formation, application, interpretation, and exit. Special issues associated with treaties involving the European Union and other international organizations are also included. A section sampling over four hundred actual treaty clauses complements these scholarly treatments. These real examples help illustrate different approaches treaty-makers can take on topics such as entry into force, languages, reservations, and amendments.

In The Iran-UAE Gulf Islands Dispute, Charles Buderi and Luciana Ricart take the reader on a journey through centuries of Gulf history and evolving principles of international law on territorial disputes to reach conclusions over the rightful sovereign of three Gulf islands – Abu Musa and the Tunbs – claimed by both Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Drawing on a wide range of scholarly works and archival documents from sources as diverse as the Dutch East India Company, the Ottoman Empire and the British Government, Buderi and Ricart analyze historical events from antiquity up to modern times. Ultimately, the authors reach conclusions on the ownership of the islands under international law which challenge the positions of both parties.

While treaties can be notoriously difficult to amend by formal means, they must nevertheless be adapted over time in order to remain useful. Herein lies the role of subsequent practice as a key tool for treaty change. Subsequent practice-a well-established means of treaty interpretation-sometimes diverges from the original treaty provision to such an extent that it can no longer be said to constitute an act of interpretation or application. Rather, it becomes, in effect, one of treaty modification. The modification of treaties by subsequent practice extends to all fields of international law, from the law of the sea, environmental law, and investment law, to human rights and humanitarian law. Such modifications can have significant practical consequences, from revising or creating new rights and obligations, to establishing new institutional mechanisms. Determining when and how treaty modification by subsequent practice occurs poses difficulty to legal scholars and dispute settlement bodies alike, and impacts States' expectations as to their treaty obligations. This significant yet underexplored process is the focus of this book. Modification of Treaties by Subsequent Practice proves that subsequent practice can-under carefully defined conditions that ensure strict accordance with the will of the treaty parties-alter, supplement, and terminate treaty provisions or even entire treaty frameworks. It can also generate customary law and fuel regime interaction. Ultimately, this book demonstrates the relevance and dynamism of the process of treaty modification by subsequent practice, emphasizing the need to deal with the issue head on, and explains-on a theoretical and practical level-how it can be identified and dealt with more consistently in the future. The book thus contributes to a deeper understanding of the process of treaty modification by subsequent practice and its continued role in striking the judicious balance between the stability of treaties on the one hand, and the organic evolution of the law on the other.