Evolutionary Interpretation and Other Developments of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Evolutionary Interpretation and Other Developments of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Author: Laura Sophie Thimm-Braun
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Total Pages: 8
Release: 2019-04-11
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3668922292

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: 1,0, University of Vienna (Institut für Europa- und Völkerrecht), language: English, abstract: This essay is concerned with the ramifications of the interpretation of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, from now on referred to as VCLT, constitutes the "bible" of international practitioners. Like the United Nations Charter, the widespread clarity and intelligence of its drafting have enabled States to comply with the rules and adapt their practice without distorting or departing from the VCLT. The rules provide an important framework which is flexible enough for States to accommodate alternatives, variations and even developments in their state practice. The provisions of the VCLT leave the states room for individual concretisation. Some commentators say the VCLT has had its day and is incapable of dealing with the challenges of the 21st century. However, the VCLT has proved itself to be a most adaptable tool, as it was able to deal with challenges of the past decades. In order to do so, the provisions of the VCLT were clarified, modified, developed, or amended. This paper aims at discussing the development of several selected provisions of the VCLT as well as analysing the new types of interpretation, such as the evolutionary interpretation. The difference between the original provisions and the present state of the law will be outlined in this paper.

The Evolutionary Interpretation of Treaties

The Evolutionary Interpretation of Treaties
Author: Eirik Bjorge
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2014-07-17
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0191025763

If an old treaty regulating 'commerce' or forbidding 'degrading treatment of persons' is to be interpreted decades after its conclusion, does 'commerce' or 'degrading treatment of persons' have the same meaning at the time of interpretation as they had when the treaty was concluded? The evolutionary interpretation of treaties has proven one of the most controversial topics in the practice of international law. Indeed, it has been seen as going against the very grain of the law of treaties, and has been argued to be contrary to the intention of the parties, breaching the principle of consent. This book asks what the place of evolutionary interpretation is within the understanding of treaties, at a time when many important international legal instruments are over five decades old. It sets out to place the evolutionary interpretation of treaties on a firm footing within the Vienna rules of interpretation, as codified in Articles 3133 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The book demonstrates that the evolutionary interpretation of treatiesin common with all other types of interpretationis in fact based upon an objective understanding of the intention of the parties. In order to marry intention and evolution, the book argues that, on the one hand, evolutionary interpretation is the product of the correct application of Articles 3133 and, on the other, that Articles 3133 are geared towards the objective establishment of the intention of the parties. The evolutionary interpretation of treaties is therefore shown to represent an intended evolution.

Evolutionary Interpretation and International Law

Evolutionary Interpretation and International Law
Author: Georges Abi-Saab
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2019-09-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1509929908

This unique book brings together leading experts from diverse areas of public international law to offer a comprehensive overview of the approaches to evolutionary interpretation in different international legal regimes. It begins by asking what interpretation is, offering the views of expert authors on the question, its components and definitions. It then comments on situations that have called for evolutionary interpretation in different international legal regimes, including general international law, environmental law, human rights law, EU law, investment law, international trade law, and how domestic courts have, on occasions, interpreted treaties and other international legal instruments in an evolutionary manner. This timely, authoritative compendium offers an in-depth understanding of the processes at work in evolutionary interpretation as well as a prime selection of the current trends and future challenges.

The Law of Treaties Beyond the Vienna Convention

The Law of Treaties Beyond the Vienna Convention
Author: Mahnoush H. Arsanjani
Publisher: American Chemical Society
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2011-02-17
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0199588910

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.

Static and Evolutive Treaty Interpretation

Static and Evolutive Treaty Interpretation
Author: Christian Djeffal
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2016
Genre: Law
ISBN: 110711831X

How should international treaties be interpreted over time? This book addresses what evolutive interpretation looks like in reality.

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in Investor-State Disputes

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in Investor-State Disputes
Author: Esmé Shirlow
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 744
Release: 2022-08-25
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9403526610

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) – as the ‘treaty on treaties’ – has achieved a rich and nuanced track record of use in international law. It has now been over fifty years since the VCLT was opened for signature in 1969, and over forty years since it entered into force in 1980. As of 2022, the VCLT has been ratified by 116 States and signed by 45 others, with some non-ratifying States also recognising parts as reflective of customary international law. In the intervening decades, the VCLT has had a profound influence on the interpretation, application and development of international investment law, including in the context of investment treaty arbitration. This book presents the first consolidated analysis of how the VCLT has informed the practice of international investment law and the resolution of investor-State disputes, and the role that the VCLT may play in shaping the future of this field. The diverse contributors to this book are scholars and practitioners from around the world, who offer a variety of perspectives on the nexus between the VCLT, international investment law and investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS). Each chapter demonstrates how approaches to key issues of treaty law in investment treaty arbitration diverge or converge from the VCLT and approaches of other international courts, as well as the lessons that investment treaty arbitration could derive – or even offer – for the interpretation and application of the VCLT rules in other settings. Their insights and analyses consider aspects such as the role of the VCLT for: interpretation of more specific approaches to treaty law drafted by treaty negotiators; treaty application in circumstances of contested State territory or succession challenges; temporal challenges arising in treaty interpretation; the status of bilateral investment treaties between European Union Member States and related termination endeavours; questions concerning the validity, termination and amendment of investment treaties, including as part of ongoing ISDS reform processes; current multilateral reform proposals, including the possibility of an appellate mechanism or a multilateral investment court; grappling with the challenge of fragmentation in international investment law, including the role of prior decisions in treaty interpretation, the challenges introduced by treaty conflict and the multitude of approaches that may be taken by national courts when implementing treaties like the New York Convention; and treaty interpretation and drafting as aided by emerging technologies, such as data analytics, machine learning, smart contracts and blockchain. The book’s appendix provides a highly valuable tabular summary of ISDS arbitral practice relating to the VCLT, collating key references from over 350 different procedural orders, decisions and awards. By revisiting the role that the VCLT has played in the development of this field of law, this invaluable book unlocks insights into how the VCLT might be used to support its ongoing development and the resolution of the next generation of investor-State disputes. This book is essential reading for a variety of stakeholders, including arbitrators, counsel, scholars and government officials, who will benefit from its in-depth and practical analysis of the VCLT’s relevance to and impact on investment law and investor-State arbitration and its role in shaping where this field of public international law might be headed in the decades to come.

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Author: Oliver Dörr
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 1546
Release: 2018-01-15
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3662551608

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.

Treaty Interpretation

Treaty Interpretation
Author: Richard K. Gardiner
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 577
Release: 2015
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0199669236

The rules of treaty interpretation codified in the 'Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties' now apply to virtually all treaties, in an international context as well as within national legal systems, where treaties have an impact on a large and growing range of matters. The rules of treaty interpretation differ somewhat from typical rules for interpreting legal instruments and legislation within national legal systems. 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 of interpretation, but also how these rules have been, and are to be, applied in practice. Since the codified rules of treaty interpretation came into decree, there is a considerable body of case-law on their application. This case-law, combined with the history and analysis of the rules of treaty interpretation, 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 domestic legislation. This fully updated new edition features case law from a broader range of jurisdictions, and an account of the work of the International Law Commission in its relation to interpretative declarations. This book provides a guide to interpreting treaties properly in accordance with the modern rules.

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Author: Oliver Dörr
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 1414
Release: 2011-11-22
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3642192912

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.

Commentary on the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Commentary on the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Author: Mark Eugen Villiger
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 1093
Release: 2009
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9004168044

The 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, regulating treaties between States, lies at the heart of international law. This commentary interprets the Conventiona (TM)s 85 articles clearly and precisely. It covers such major topics as reservations to treaties, their interpretation and the grounds for terminating a treaty, for instance breach. Emphasis is placed on the practice of States and tribunals and on academic writings. It contains further sections on customary international law and the Conventiona (TM)s history while providing up-to-date information on ratifications and reservations. This commentary is a must for practitioners and academics wishing to establish the meaning and scope of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.