Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
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The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (or VCLT), adopted on May 22, 1969 and opened for signature on May 23, 1969, codified the pre-existing customary international law on treaties, with some necessary gap-filling and clarifications. The Convention entered into force on January 27, 1980.
The draft has been elaborated by the International Law Commission (ILC) of the United Nations which began work on the Vienna Convention in 1949 and finished in 1969 with two sessions of a plenipotentiary conference of states held by the UN in Vienna, Austria.
During the twenty years of preparation, several draft versions of the convention and commentaries were prepared by special rapporteurs of the ILC. James Brierly, Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice and Sir Humphrey Waldock were the four special rapporteurs.
105 states have ratified the VCLT. However, even those that have not may still recognize it as binding upon them in as much as it is a restatement of customary law. The United States is among these.
The scope of the Convention is limited. It applies only to treaties concluded between states (Article 1), excluding treaties between states and international organizations or between international organizations themselves. These are governed by the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or Between International Organizations. Additionally, the Convention only applies to written agreements, but does not limit the application of oral agreements (Article 3).
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[edit] Sources
- Damrosch, Henkin, et al, International Law, West Group 2001.
