LAW OF TREATIES

*United Kingdom v Iran(1950)-interpretation on who are the parties to a treaty

(It was held that the agreement was not a treaty, despite the involvement of the UK)

*United Kingdom v Iceland(1973)

For an agreement to be considered a treaty

States must be parties to an international organization for an agreement to be valid.

The agreement must be covered/governed by international law.

The agreement must be intended to create legal obligations.

Must be written(to ensure it is governed by the Vienna convention of treaties) .*Article 3 of the
Vienna Convention.

-There is no requirement as to the form/structure of a treaty .* Qatar v Baharain *Ethiopia v

South Africa.

Stages in the process of treaty making

Stage 1-Discussing objectives/subject of treaty

(main stage)Stage 2 –Negotiation

*Only persons with full powers are competent to negotiate a treaty on behalf of a state(for a
treaty to be bound).(Article 7 of the Vienna convention) Article 2 defines full powers.

*There are persons who are assumed to have full power e.g the head of state, head of
government(prime minister),Minister of foreign affairs, Ambassadors(negotiation limited to the
subject of the treaty)-these people can bind the state .

*Article 8 of the Vienna Convention –a person who does not have full powers cannot bind a state
unless the negotiation are confirmed by the state afterwards.

*Cameroon v Nigeria(2002)

Stage 3-Adoption of text/treaty

*Formal act whereby the form and content of the text of an intended treaty is agreed upon by the
parties. Article 9 of the Vienna convention

Exception-negotiation taking place within an international organization e.g within the UN or AU

*Adoption of text does not create any legal obligation.

Stage 4-Authentication of the text

*Final Agreement of the text(the treaty).

*Article 10 of the Vienna convention.

Stage 5-Expression of consent to be bound

*Article 11 of the Vienna Convention – a state can be bound through signature, ratification,
axetion(process by which that were not involved in the creation of a treaty express their consent
to be bound)

Reservation

*Was introduced to allow states to agree and disagree on aspects of the treaty.(allows states to
Agree with or Modify provisions).

Formalities of Reservations-

1.Reservations must be in writing and should indicate reasons as to why it is being made.(for
them to be effective) – Democratic Republic of Congo v Rwanda

2.Reservations must be communicated to states entitled to become parties within a period of

12hours. They can react to the reservation by rejecting it or accepting it.

At what stage should a reservation be made? Article 2(1) of the Vienna Convention.-*confirm it
at the time of ratification.(Where the treaty allows and where the treaty is silent)

Types of Reservations

1. Permissible Reservation-expressly permitted by the treaty and must be compatible with the
objects/purpose of the treaty.

2. Non-permissible Reservation-prohibited by the relevant treaty and not included in the list of
reservations expressly permitted by the treaty and incompatible with the objects of the treaty.

*Greece v Turkey(1977).

Legal effects of reservations

Legal effects of permissible reservations.