Treaties

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Treaties

• The lifecycle of a treaty

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Treaties

• The fundamental treaty on treaties 1969 Vienna
  Convention on the Law of Treaties
• VCLT is codification of customary international
  law.
• Nothing in the VCLT is jus cogens, which means
  states can provide differently from case to case.
• But if they did not provide differently, then the
  VCLT is the default.

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TreatiesSteps in the Life of Treaty

• Negotiation Drafting
• Adoption
• Ratification
• Reservations and Declarations
• Entry into force
• Accession and Withdrawal
• Protocols

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TreatiesSteps in the Life of Treaty

• Negotiation Drafting
• Plenipotentiaries negotiate treaties. Full
  powers. Without full powers treaty bull, unless
• Negotiations take place in rounds and can last
  forever
• Square brackets
• Deadlines

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TreatiesSteps in the Life of Treaty

• Adoption
• This is the moment when delegates sign the
  treaty. Signature per se does not make the treaty
  binding.
• Adoption ends negotiations and fixes text.
• Duty to behave in such a way as not to undermine
  the treaty
• Unsigning of Rome Statute by US

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TreatiesSteps in the Life of Treaty

• Ratification
• Process of ratification changes from country to
  country according to constitutions
• US Senate ratifies. President submits.

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TreatiesSteps in the Life of Treaty

• Reservations and Declarations
• Upon ratification states may append declarations
  and reservations (unilateral act)
• Reservation aims to modify legal consequences
• Declaration has no legal effect
• Treaties can forbid reservations
• Reservations must be compatible with the
  objective of the treaty
• A reservation to produce results need not be
  accepted by the other parties

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TreatiesSteps in the Life of Treaty

• Entry into force
• Treaties enter into force upon reaching a state
  minimum number of ratifications. Usually there is
  a time delay (60, 90 days) between the threshold
  is reached and full entry into force. From this
  moment on the treaty is binding.

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TreatiesSteps in the Life of Treaty

• Accession and Withdrawal
• A State accedes to a treaty when it ratifies it
  after the entry into force or the end of the
  grace period.
• Withdrawal. States can anytime withdraw from
  treaties. Withdrawal takes place after XXX days
  from notification to depository.

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TreatiesSteps in the Life of Treaty

• Protocols
• A protocol is a treaty purporting to modify or
  supplement the provisions of another treaty (i.e.
  the treaty).
• Ratification of the treaty does not require
  ratification of the protocol(s). Protocols are
  optional.
• Protocols are useful to overcome some states
  objections during the negotiating phase. The
  treaty is the minimum common denominator.