UNIVERSITY SULTAN ZAINAL ABIDIN

FACULTY OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

SEMESTER I SESSION 2019/2020

LLB 30303

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

(TREATY)

Explain why treaties today are the primary source of international law.

According to Article 38 of Statute of International Court of Justice, treaties are divided into
two types namely general treaties and particular treaties. The general treaties are intended to have
universal and general application, constitute a primary source of International Law.

Treaties which also known as agreement, conventions, exchanges of notes or protocols

between states or sometimes between states and international organizations. Treaties is not a source
of obligation under law. Treaties is only a written agreement that states willingly sign and such are
obliged to follow. However, the treaties only binding on those states that have signed and ratified the
particular treaty. The treaties are binding to those states involved in it as there is a rule of customary
international law which is pacta sunt servanda which requires all states to honour their treaties. Thus,
treaties are more accurately described as sources of obligation under law.

A treaty which is freely negotiated between large number of states is often regarded as writing
regarded as writing down what were previously unwritten rules of customary law which always the
case where the treaty intended to be codified the existing law. Treaty is merely an evidence of a
codified customary law which is the original sources of law. A good example is the Vienna Convention
on the Law of Treaties which the parties of the treaty is half of the states in the world but every court
has treated its main provisions as codifying customary law and applying them to all states whether
they are parties to the Convention or not.

Moreover, the treaty may be an innovation designed to change the rule which also can
become part of the customary law if it is accepted in practice. Also, a treaty prevails over customary
law as the parties to the treaty.
 In conclusion, the treaties are the primary source of international law as they are a willing
agreement and freely negotiated between states which all of the states are obliged to follow.

Describe and explain the categories according to which treaties can be classified.

Treaties are often classified as either ‘bilateral’ or ‘multilateral’. A bilateral treaty is defined as
an international agreement between two parties where both of the parties have capacity to make and
enter into treaty. In some situations, several States or organizations may have joined together to form
a party. An essential element of a bilateral treaty is that both parties have reached agreement.
Accordingly, reservations and declarations are generally inapplicable to bilateral agreements.

However, where the parties to a bilateral treaty have made reservations or declarations, or
agreed on some other interpretative document, the instrument must be registered together with the
treaty submitted for registration under Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations. Whereas a
multilateral treaty is concluded among more than two States those possesed treaty-making capacity.

Provide definition of a treaty? When is a state bound by a treaty?

Treaties which also known as agreement, conventions, exchanges of notes or protocols

between states or sometimes between states and international organizations. Treaties is not a source
of obligation under law. Treaties is only a written agreement that states willingly sign and such are
obliged to follow. Treaty is an agreement entered between two or more states which governed by
international law and intended to create legal obligations.

The treaties are bound on those states that have signed and ratified the particular treaty. The
treaties are binding to those states involved in it as there is a rule of customary international law which
is pacta sunt servanda which requires all states to honour their treaties.

Define reservation to a treaty AND explain the differences between reservation and understanding
or declaration to a treaty.

Reservations are defined by the Vienna Convention as unilateral statement, however phrased
or named, made by a State, when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty,
whereby it purports to exclude or to modify the legal effect of certain provisions of the treaty in their
application to that State. (Article 2 (1)(d)). Only specified reservations are permitted and they cannot
undermine the object and purpose of the Treaty. Declarations, unlike reservations, do not affect legal
obligations, but are often made when a State expresses its consent to be bound by a specific treaty.
The State uses the declaration to explain or clarify its understanding of particular aspects of the treaty
text.

Elaborate the grounds for termination of a treaty.

Treaties may include a provision regarding their termination. Article 42(2) of the Vienna
Convention 1969 states that a treaty may only be terminated as a result of the application of the
provisions of the treaty itself or of the Vienna Convention 1969 (e.g., articles 54, 56, 59-62 and 64). A
treaty can be terminated by a subsequent treaty to which all the parties of the former treaty are also
party.

Countries A, B and C concluded an international treaty. There is no explicit ban to make reservations.
Country D wishes to join but it wants to make a reservation. Country A accepted the reservation,
country B accepted D joining the treaty but does not accept the reservation; country C does not
accept such a reservation to the treaty. If D wants to enter the treaty it must withdraw the
reservation.

Discuss whether there is treaty between A and D, B and D, C and D, AND if ‘yes’, examine how the
reservation affect the relationship of parties in the treaty.

When a treaty is entered between countries A and D, the reservations advocated by country
D will encourage a wider participation in the treaty through practical compromise.

Article 22 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(CERD) states:

“Any dispute between two or more States Parties with respect to the interpretation or application
of this Convention, which is not settled by negotiation or by the procedures expressly provided for
in this Convention, shall, at the request of any of the parties to the dispute, be referred to the
International Court of Justice for decision, unless the disputants agree to another mode of
settlement”.

In the lights of the above Article and with reference to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaty
1969, analyse the modes of interpretation of treaty.
 The Convention treats interpretation as a two-stage process. In the first stage the factors
enumerated in Article 31 are examined in order to determine the ordinary meaning of the treaty terms
in question. The further aids to interpretation mentioned in Article 32 are employed at the second
stage of interpretation either to confirm an interpretation arrived at by an application of Article 31,
or, if application of Article 31 "leaves the meaning ambiguous or obscure", [5] or "leads to a result
which is manifestly absurd or unreasonable".[6] Thus the essence of the Convention approach is that
the factors relevant to interpretation are deemed to be either part of the "general rules of
interpretation" of Article 31 in which case they are always used, or "supplementary means of
interpretation" assigned to Article 32 for use in certain circumstances only.