Document Type : Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student in International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Allameh Tabataba’I ‎University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Prof., Department of Public and International Law,‎‏ ‏Faculty of Law, Farabi College, ‎University of Tehran, Qom. Iran‎

Abstract

The interpretation of treaties is one of the very important and practical topics in international law, and the rules regarding treaty interpretation are provided in Articles 31 to 33 of the 1969 Vienna Convention. Article 31 addresses the general rule of interpretation, while Article 32 outlines supplementary means of interpretation. Sometimes, the general rule of interpretation may not be sufficient for interpreting a treaty or may yield an uncertain result; therefore, it is necessary for the interpreter to refer to supplementary means of interpretation. Many questions still arise regarding these supplementary means; thus, this research aims to examine and analyze the role of supplementary means of interpretation in the process of treaty interpretation based on the rules of the 1969 Vienna Convention and international judicial practice. The research concludes that international judicial practice regarding the use of supplementary means of interpretation to confirm the meaning derived from the application of the general rule of interpretation has not been uniform. On the other hand, it can be said that the majority of the interpretative provisions of the Vienna Convention essentially codify the practice of the International Court of Justice.

Keywords

Main Subjects

  1. English

    1. A) Books
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    3. Crawford, J. (2012). Brownlie's Principles of Public International Law. London:Oxford University Press, 8th
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    1. B) Articles
    2. Gardiner, R. (2018). Characteristics of the Vienna Convention Rules on Treaty Interpretation, in: Micheal j. Bowman and Dino Kritsiotis (eds.). Conceptual and Contextual Perspectives on the Modern Law of Treaties, Cambridge University Press, 335-362.
    3. Klabbers, J. (2010). Virtuous Interpretation, in: Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Olufemi Elias and Panos Merkouris (eds). treaty interpretation and the Vienna convention on the law of treatiea: 30 years on, Netherlands, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 17-38.
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    1. C) Documents
    2. International Law Commission, A/CN.4/167 and Add.1-3, Third Report on the Law of Treaties, by Sir Humphrey Waldock, Special Rapporteur, Extract from the Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1964, vol. II.
    3. International Law Commission, Yearbook of the ILC, A/CN.4/SER. A/1966/Add. 1, Vol. II, p. 223.
    4. Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
    5. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Vienna, (Adopted 23 May 1969, Entered into force, 27 January 1980).

     

    1. D) Cases
    2. Anglo-Iranian Oil co. case, (Jurisdiction), (United Kingdom v. Iran), Judgment of July 22nd, 1952: I.C.J. Reports 1952, p. 93.
    3. Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, (Qatar v. United Arab Emirates), preliminary objections, Judgment I.C.J. Reports 2021, p. 71.
    4. Application of the International Convection on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (Georgia v. Russian federation), Preliminary Objections, I.C.J Reports 2011, p. 70.
    5. Cf WTO Appellate Body EC – Chicken Cuts WT/DS269/AB/R, (2005).
    6. Admission of a State to the United Nations (Charter, Art. 4), Advisory Opinion: I.C.J. Reports 1948, p. 57.
    7. Fisheries Jurisdiction, (Spain v. Canada), Jurisdiction of the Court, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1998, p. 432.
    8. LaGrand (Germany v. United States of America), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2001, p. 466.
    9. Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1996, p. 226.
    10. Oil Platforms (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America), Preliminary Objection, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1996, p. 803.
    11. Territorial Dispute (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. Chad), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1994, p. 6.
    12. The Canadian Cattlemen for Fair Trade (CCFT) v. the United States of America, UNCITRAL, Award on Jurisdiction of 28 January 2008.
    13. The Case of the S.S. “Lotus”, (France v. Turkey), Judgment No. 9, PCIJ, Series A. No. 10, September 7th, 1927.
    14. WTO Appellate Body US – Gambling WT/DS285/AB/R, (2005).
    15. WTO Panel Chile – Price Band System WT/DS207/R, (2002).

     

    References In Persian:

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    2. Falsafi, H. (2016). International Law of Treaties. Tehran: Farhang Nashrenow, 5th Ed (In Persian).
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    1. B) Articles
    2. Mohebi, M,, & Rezadoust, V. (2016). Evolutive Interpretation of Treaties in International Law in the Light of Disbute Regarding Navigational and Related Rights Case (CostaRica v. Nicaragua), International Law Review, (53), 9-30 (In Persian).
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