Commentary on the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Contents......Page 10
Preface......Page 20
Acknowledgments......Page 22
Foreword......Page 24
Abbreviations......Page 28
How to employ this commentary......Page 34
Issues of customary international law......Page 36
History of the Convention......Page 63
Preamble......Page 74
PART I INTRODUCTION......Page 88
Article 1 Scope of the present Convention......Page 90
Resolution relating to Article 1......Page 97
Article 2 Use of terms......Page 100
Article 3 International agreements not within the scope of the present Convention......Page 133
Article 4 Non-retroactivity of the Convention......Page 142
Article 5 Treaties constituting international organisations and treaties adopted within international organisations......Page 150
Section 1. Conclusion of Treaties......Page 158
Article 6 Capacity of States to conclude treaties......Page 160
Article 7 Full Powers......Page 167
Article 8 Subsequent confi rmation of an act performed without authorisation......Page 182
Article 9 Adoption of the text......Page 189
Article 10 Authentication of the text......Page 200
Article 11 Means of expressing consent to be bound by a treaty......Page 207
Article 12 Consent to be bound by a treaty expressed by signature......Page 216
Article 13 Consent to be bound by a treaty expressed by an exchange of instruments constituting a treaty......Page 230
Article 14 Consent to be bound by a treaty expressed by ratifi cation, acceptance or approval......Page 238
Article 15 Consent to be bound by a treaty expressed by accession......Page 249
Declaration on universal participation in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties......Page 259
Article 16 Exchange or deposit of instruments of ratifi cation, acceptance, approval or acceptance......Page 264
Article 17 Consent to be bound by part of a treaty and choice of diff ering provisions......Page 270
Article 18 Obligation not to defeat the object and purpose of a treaty prior to its entry into force......Page 277
Section 2. Reservations......Page 290
Article 19 Formulation of reservations......Page 292
Article 20 Acceptance of and objections to reservations......Page 311
Article 21 Legal eff ects of reservations and of objections to reservations......Page 330
Article 22 Withdrawal of reservations and of objections to reservations......Page 339
Article 23 Procedure regarding reservations......Page 348
Articles 19–23—Subsequent developments......Page 355
Section 3. Entry into Force and Provisional Application of Treaties......Page 372
Article 24 Entry into force......Page 374
Article 25 Provisional application......Page 384
Section 1. Observance of Treaties......Page 394
Article 26 Pacta sunt servanda......Page 396
Article 27 Internal law and observance of treaties......Page 404
Section 2. Application of Treaties......Page 412
Article 28 Non-retroactivity of treaties......Page 414
Article 29 Territorial scope of treaties......Page 422
Article 30 Application of successive treaties relating to the same subject-matter......Page 430
Section 3. Interpretation of Treaties......Page 448
Article 31 General rule of interpretation......Page 450
Article 32 Supplementary means of interpretation......Page 477
Article 33 Interpretation of treaties authenticated in two or more languages......Page 485
Section 4. Treaties and Third States......Page 498
Article 34 General rule regarding third States......Page 500
Article 35 Treaties providing for obligations for third States......Page 509
Article 36 Treaties providing for rights for third States......Page 516
Article 37 Revocation or modifi cation of obligations or rights of third States......Page 524
Article 38 Rules in a treaty becoming binding on third States through international custom......Page 532
PART IV AMENDMENT AND MODIFICATION OF TREATIES......Page 540
Article 39 General rule regarding the amendment of treaties......Page 542
Article 41 Agreements to modify multilateral treaties between certain of the parties only......Page 563
Article 40 Amendment of multilateral treaties......Page 552
Section 1. General Provisions......Page 574
Article 42 Validity and continuance in force of treaties......Page 576
Article 43 Obligations imposed by international law independently of a treaty......Page 585
Article 44 Separability of treaty provisions......Page 591
Article 45 Loss of a right to invoke a ground for invalidating, terminating, withdrawing from or suspending the operation of a treaty......Page 607
Section 2. Invalidity of Treaties......Page 616
Article 46 Provisions of internal law regarding competence to conclude treaties......Page 618
Article 47 Specifi c restrictions on authority to express the consent of a State......Page 630
Article 48 Error......Page 638
Article 49 Fraud......Page 648
Article 50 Corruption of a representative of a State......Page 656
Article 51 Coercion of a representative of a State......Page 664
Article 52 Coercion of a State by the threat or use of force......Page 673
Declaration on the prohibition of military, political or economic coercion in the conclusion of treaties......Page 686
Resolution relating to the Declaration on the prohibition of military, political or economic coercion in the conclusion of treaties......Page 693
Article 53 Treaties confl icting with a peremptory norm of general international law ( jus cogens)......Page 696
Section 3. Termination and Suspension of the Operation of Treaties......Page 714
Article 54 Termination of or withdrawal from a treaty under its provisions or by consent of the parties......Page 716
Article 55 Reduction of the parties to a multilateral treaty below the number necessary for its entry into force......Page 725
Article 56 Denunciation of or withdrawal from a treaty containing no provision regarding termination, denunciation or withdrawal......Page 730
Article 57 Suspension of the operation of a treaty under its provisions or by consent of the parties......Page 742
Article 58 Suspension of the operation of a multilateral treaty by agreement between certain of the parties only......Page 747
Article 59 Termination or suspension of the operation of a treaty implied by conclusion of a later treaty......Page 755
Article 60 Termination or suspension of the operation of a treaty as a consequence of its breach......Page 765
Article 61 Supervening impossibility of performance......Page 787
Article 62 Fundamental change of circumstances......Page 797
Article 63 Severance of diplomatic or consular relations......Page 817
Article 64 Emergence of a new peremptory norm of general international law (jus cogens)......Page 825
Article 65 Procedure to be followed with respect to invalidity, termination, withdrawal from or suspension of the operation of a treaty......Page 834
Article 66 Procedures for judicial settlement, arbitration and conciliation......Page 851
Annex to Article 66......Page 859
Resolution relating to Article 66 and the Annex......Page 870
Article 67 Instruments for declaring invalid, terminating, withdrawing from or suspending the operation of a treaty......Page 872
Article 68 Revocation of notifi cations and instruments provided for in Articles 65 and 67......Page 880
Section 5. Consequences of the Invalidity, Termination or Suspension of the Operation of a Treaty......Page 886
Article 69 Consequences of the invalidity of a treaty......Page 888
Article 70 Consequences of the termination of a treaty......Page 900
Article 71 Consequences of the invalidity of a treaty which confl icts with a peremptory norm of general international law......Page 911
Article 72 Consequences of the suspension of the operation of a treaty......Page 918
PART VI MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS......Page 928
Article 73 Cases of State succession, State responsibility and outbreak of hostilities......Page 930
Article 74 Diplomatic and consular relations and the conclusion of treaties......Page 940
Article 75 Case of an aggressor State......Page 946
PART VII DEPOSITARIES, NOTIFICATIONS, CORRECTIONS AND REGISTRATION......Page 954
Article 76 Depositaries of treaties......Page 956
Article 77 Functions of depositaries......Page 969
Article 78 Notifi cations and communications......Page 982
Article 80 Registration and publication of treaties......Page 1005
Article 79 Correction of errors in texts or in certifi ed copies of treaties......Page 990
PART VIII FINAL PROVISIONS......Page 1012
Article 81 Signature......Page 1014
Article 82 Ratifi cation......Page 1020
Article 83 Accession......Page 1022
Article 84 Entry into force......Page 1025
Article 85 Authentic texts......Page 1029
Final Act of the United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties......Page 1034
Status of the Convention......Page 1038
Reservations and declarations to the Convention and objections thereto......Page 1042
Bibliography......Page 1062
Table of cases......Page 1070
Submissions by States......Page 1074
Index......Page 1078