Public Law Studies Quarterly

The role of subsequent practice of states in the interpretation of treaties: The judgment of the International Court of Justice in the “Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995” Case

Author

Seyed Ali Sadat Akhavi

Assistant Professor, International Relations Department, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2015.53719
Abstract
Under the Vienna Convention on the law of treaties, when interpreting a treaty, there shall be taken into account any subsequent practice in the application of the treaty which establishes the agreement of the Parties regarding its interpretation.  A large number of treaties have reached a certain age and they need to be adapted to the current situation. One way to this end is to interpret the treaties by means of the subsequent practice of the parties. Over the recent years, International Law Commission has paid particular attention to this topic and various international tribunals have resorted to the subsequent practice in order to interpret the treaties. In its Judgment of 5 December of 2011 in the “Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995” case, the International Court of Justice addressed the question of subsequent practice and its role in the interpretation of treaties. The present article examines the compatibility of the above judgment with both the 1969 Vienna Convention and the previous case-law of the Court.

Keywords

1969 Vienna Convention
International Court of Justice
interpretation of treaties
Law of Treaties
subsequent practice of states

 

Aust, Anthoney (2007). Modern Treaty Law and Practice, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Feldman, Alexander M. (2009). Evolving Treaty Obligations: A Proposal for Analyzing Subsequent Practice Derived from WTO Dispute Settlement, International Law and Politics, 41, 655-703.
Villiger, Mark E. (2009). Commentary on the 1969 Vienna convention on the Law of Treaties, Leiden/Boston, MartinusNijhoff.
ICJ Case-Law:
Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia v. Greece, Judgment of 5 December 2011.
Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995, Counter-Memorial,Vol. I, 19 January 2010
Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995, Rejoinder of Greece, Vol. I, 27 October 2010.
Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995, Dissenting Opinion of Judge ad hoc Roucounas.
Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995, Separate Opinion of Judge Simma.
Case Concerning Sovereignty over Kasikili/Sedutu Island, Botswana v. Namibia, Judgment of 13 December 1999.
Case Concerning Sovereignty over PulauLitigan and PulauSipadan, Indonasiav. Malaysia, Judgment of 17 December 2002.
International Law Commission Documents:
Nolte, Georg (2008) , Treaties over Time, in Particular: Subsequent Agreement and Practice, in Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Sixtieth Session, A/63/10, Annex A.
Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Sixty-First Session 2009, A/64/10.
Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Sixty-Second Session 2010, A/65/10.
Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Sixty-Third Session 2011, A/66/10.
Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Sixty-Fourth Session 2012, A/67/10.
Statement by the Chairman of the Study Group on Treaties over Time (Oral Report), 8 August 2011.
United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties, First Session, Vienna, 26 March-24 May 1968, Official Records, New York 1969.
United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties, Second Session, Vienna, 9 April-22 may 1969, Official Records, New York 1970.
Yearbook of the International Law Commission (1966). Vol. II.

  • Receive Date 01 November 2014
  • Revise Date 02 June 2015
  • Accept Date 07 February 2015

Home

Journal Process Ethics

Peer Review Process

Submission

Indexing and Abstracting

Contact Us