Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Encyclopedia
The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (or VCLT) is a treaty
concerning the international law on treaties between states. It was adopted on 22 May 1969 and opened for signature on 23 May 1969. The Convention entered into force on 27 January 1980. The VCLT has been ratified by 111 states
as of November 2010. Some countries that have not ratified the Convention recognize it as a restatement of customary law and binding upon them as such.
(ILC) of the United Nations
, which began work on the Convention in 1949. During the twenty years of preparation, several draft versions of the convention and commentaries were prepared by special rapporteur
s of the ILC. James Brierly, Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
, Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice and Sir Humphrey Waldock
were the four special rapporteurs. In 1966, the ILC adopted 75 draft articles which formed the basis for the final work. Over two sessions in 1968 and 1969, the Vienna Conference completed the Convention, which was adopted on 22 May 1969 and opened for signature the following day.
s or between international organizations themselves, though if any of its rules are independently binding on such organizations, they remain so. It does apply, however, to treaties between states within an intergovernmental organization. Agreements between states and international organizations, or between international organizations themselves, will be governed by the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or Between International Organizations if it ever enters into force. Also, in treaties between states and international organizations, the terms of the Convention still apply between the state members. The Convention does not apply to agreements not in written form.
, Bolivia
, Cambodia
, El Salvador
, Ethiopia
, Ghana
, Iran
, Ivory Coast, Kenya
, Madagascar
, Nepal
, Pakistan
, Trinidad and Tobago
, United States
, Zambia
.
only and so a wording like "this treaty is open for signature to States willing to accept its provisions" is used (the so-called "All States formula").
When a treaty is open to "States", for the depositary authority
it is difficult or impossible to determine which entities are States. If the treaty is restricted to Members of the United Nations or Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, there is no ambiguity. However, a difficulty has occurred as to possible participation in treaties when entities which appeared otherwise to be States could not be admitted to the United Nations, nor become Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice owing to the opposition, for political reasons, of a permanent member of the Security Council or haven't applied for ICJ or UN membership. Since that difficulty did not arise as concerns membership in the specialized agencies, where there is no "veto" procedure, a number of those States became members of specialized agencies, and as such were in essence recognized as States by the international community
. Accordingly, and in order to allow for as wide a participation as possible, a number of conventions then provided that they were also open for participation to States members of specialized agencies. The type of entry-into-force clause utilized in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties was later called the "Vienna formula" and its wording was utilized by various treaties, conventions and organizations.
Some treaties that utilize it include provisions that in addition to these States any other State invited by a specified authority or organization (commonly the UNGA
or an institution created by the treaty in question) can also participate, thus making the scope of potential signatories even broader.
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
concerning the international law on treaties between states. It was adopted on 22 May 1969 and opened for signature on 23 May 1969. The Convention entered into force on 27 January 1980. The VCLT has been ratified by 111 states
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
as of November 2010. Some countries that have not ratified the Convention recognize it as a restatement of customary law and binding upon them as such.
History
The VCLT was drafted by the International Law CommissionInternational Law Commission
The International Law Commission was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 for the "promotion of the progressive development of international law and its codification."It holds an annual session at the United Nations Office at Geneva....
(ILC) of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, which began work on the Convention in 1949. During the twenty years of preparation, several draft versions of the convention and commentaries were prepared by special rapporteur
Special Rapporteur
Special Rapporteur is a title given to individuals working on behalf of the United Nations within the scope of "Special Procedures" mechanisms who bear a specific mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council....
s of the ILC. James Brierly, Sir Hersch Lauterpacht
Hersch Lauterpacht
Sir Hersch Lauterpacht was a member of the United Nations' International Law Commission from 1952 to 1954 and a Judge of the International Court of Justice from 1955 to 1960. In the words of former ICJ President Stephen M...
, Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice and Sir Humphrey Waldock
Humphrey Waldock
Sir Humphrey Meredith Waldock was a British jurist and international lawyer. Humphrey Waldock served as the British judge in the European Court of Human Rights from 1966 until 1974 and in the International Court of Justice from 1973 until 1981. He was also the president of the ICJ between 1979...
were the four special rapporteurs. In 1966, the ILC adopted 75 draft articles which formed the basis for the final work. Over two sessions in 1968 and 1969, the Vienna Conference completed the Convention, which was adopted on 22 May 1969 and opened for signature the following day.
Content and effects
The Convention codifies several bedrocks of contemporary international law. It defines a treaty as "an international agreement concluded between states in written form and governed by international law," as well as affirming that "every state possesses the capacity to conclude treaties." Most nations, whether they are party to it or not, recognize it as the preeminent "Treaty of Treaties"; it is widely recognized as the authoritative guide vis-à-vis the formation and effects of treaties.Scope
The scope of the Convention is limited. It applies only to treaties concluded between states, so it does not cover agreements between states and international organizationInternational organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...
s or between international organizations themselves, though if any of its rules are independently binding on such organizations, they remain so. It does apply, however, to treaties between states within an intergovernmental organization. Agreements between states and international organizations, or between international organizations themselves, will be governed by the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or Between International Organizations if it ever enters into force. Also, in treaties between states and international organizations, the terms of the Convention still apply between the state members. The Convention does not apply to agreements not in written form.
State parties to the convention
There are 111 state parties that have ratified the convention, and 15 states have signed but have not yet ratified the convention. These countries are: AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Ivory Coast, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
.
Vienna formula
International treaties and conventions contain rules about what entities could sign, ratify or accede to them. Some treaties are restricted to states members of the UN or parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice. In rare cases there is an explicit list of the entities that the treaty is restricted to. More commonly the aim of the founding signatories is that the treaty is not restricted to particular statesSovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
only and so a wording like "this treaty is open for signature to States willing to accept its provisions" is used (the so-called "All States formula").
When a treaty is open to "States", for the depositary authority
Legal deposit
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The requirement is mostly limited to books and periodicals. The number of copies varies and can range from one to 19 . Typically, the national library is one of the...
it is difficult or impossible to determine which entities are States. If the treaty is restricted to Members of the United Nations or Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, there is no ambiguity. However, a difficulty has occurred as to possible participation in treaties when entities which appeared otherwise to be States could not be admitted to the United Nations, nor become Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice owing to the opposition, for political reasons, of a permanent member of the Security Council or haven't applied for ICJ or UN membership. Since that difficulty did not arise as concerns membership in the specialized agencies, where there is no "veto" procedure, a number of those States became members of specialized agencies, and as such were in essence recognized as States by the international community
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
. Accordingly, and in order to allow for as wide a participation as possible, a number of conventions then provided that they were also open for participation to States members of specialized agencies. The type of entry-into-force clause utilized in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties was later called the "Vienna formula" and its wording was utilized by various treaties, conventions and organizations.
Some treaties that utilize it include provisions that in addition to these States any other State invited by a specified authority or organization (commonly the UNGA
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
or an institution created by the treaty in question) can also participate, thus making the scope of potential signatories even broader.
See also
- Vienna Convention on Diplomatic RelationsVienna Convention on Diplomatic RelationsThe Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries. It specifies the privileges of a diplomatic mission that enable diplomats to perform their function without fear of coercion or...
(1961) - Vienna Convention on Consular RelationsVienna Convention on Consular RelationsThe Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 is an international treaty that defines a framework for consular relations between independent countries...
(1963) - List of Vienna conventionsVienna ConventionVienna Convention can mean any of a number of treaties signed in Vienna. Notable are:* several treaties and conventions resulted from the Congress of Vienna which redrew the map of Europe, only partially restoring the pre-Napoleonic situation, and drafted new rules for international relations*...