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Article 7. Full powers

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Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

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Abstract

Art 7 deals with the power to represent a State in treaty making. Its function is to regulate the appropriate level of representation, as the practice of States may vary in this respect. Its formulation “being one partly of counsel and partly an exposition of a legal freedom”, Art 7 creates guidance and legal certainty for the negotiating States. Once it is established that the participating negotiators have proper representational powers, there is no room for subsequent contestation of the legal significance of their acts. In short, Art 7 serves both the practical and legal purpose of facilitating the treaty-making process.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    D Hutchinson The Judicial Nature of Article 7 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1996) 17 AYIL 187, 207.

  2. 2.

    H Blix Treaty-Making Power (1960) 4.

  3. 3.

    H Grotius De jure belli ac pacis (1625) book 2 ch XV § III 1 (FW Kelsey translation (1925) 987–988 (emphasis added)).

  4. 4.

    P Kovács in Corten/Klein Art 7 MN 3–4.

  5. 5.

    GE do Nascimento e Silva Full Powers (1995) 2 EPIL 494, 495 noting that full powers in the 15th and 16th centuries were “extremely specific”.

  6. 6.

    See the Preamble of the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 between the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of France and their respective allies, mentioning the names of their respective plenipotentiary ambassadors sent to the negotiations held at Münster and Osnabrück 1 CTS 271.

  7. 7.

    JM Jones Full Powers and Ratification (1946) 6 et seq; Sinclair 30.

  8. 8.

    Jones (n 7) 39.

  9. 9.

    Blix (n 2) 7–11.

  10. 10.

    Ibid 49–50.

  11. 11.

    Waldock I 38 et seq.

  12. 12.

    [1962-II] YbILC 157, 165 et seq.

  13. 13.

    Waldock IV 18–20.

  14. 14.

    Final Draft, Commentary to Art 6, 192 para 1.

  15. 15.

    Final Draft, Commentary to Art 6, 192–193 para 2.

  16. 16.

    Villiger Art 7 MN 2.

  17. 17.

    Reuter 7.

  18. 18.

    Elias 20.

  19. 19.

    Final Draft, Commentary to Art 6, 193 para 3.

  20. 20.

    A Watts The Legal Position in International Law of Heads of States, Heads of Governments, Foreign Ministers (1994) 247 RdC 19, 29.

  21. 21.

    Reproduced from Appendix I of Aust 498. Older examples can be found in Blix/Emerson 37–41. Cf also UN Treaty Handbook (2007) 7.

  22. 22.

    Observations of the UN representative [1981-II] YbILC 200.

  23. 23.

    See eg Preamble para 11 of the 1957 Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community 298 UNTS 3: “who have exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form”.

  24. 24.

    Cf Art 4 para 6 lit b of the 1962 ILC Draft [1962-II] YbILC 157, 165.

  25. 25.

    Director-General, Note, Acceptance of GATT Legal Instruments – Powers of Plenipotentiaries, 1 May 1967, GATT Document L/2785.

  26. 26.

    See examples reproduced in Blix/Emerson 37–41.

  27. 27.

    Aust 75.

  28. 28.

    P Kovács in Corten/Klein Art 7 MN 20, noting that in French practice “full powers” are issued by the President, whereas the Foreign Minister can only issue “powers”.

  29. 29.

    UN Treaty Section, 1999 Summary of Practice of the Secretary-General as Depositary of Multilateral Treaties, UN Doc ST/LEG/7/Rev.1, para 103.

  30. 30.

    Aust 77.

  31. 31.

    Final Draft, Commentary to Art 6, 193 para 3.

  32. 32.

    Blix (n 2) 50–52.

  33. 33.

    F Hamzeh Agreements in Simplified Form – Modern Perspective (1968–1969) 43 BYIL 179, 188.

  34. 34.

    Aust 77.

  35. 35.

    Sinclair 30.

  36. 36.

    Note by the Director-General (n 16).

  37. 37.

    Final Draft, Commentary to Art 6, 193 para 4.

  38. 38.

    Watts (n 20) 27, 100.

  39. 39.

    ICJ Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria (Cameroon v Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea intervening) [2002] ICJ Rep 303, para 265.

  40. 40.

    ICJ Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v Yugoslavia) (Preliminary Objections) [1996] ICJ Rep 595, para 44.

  41. 41.

    Villiger Art 7 MN 15.

  42. 42.

    Watts (n 20) 100.

  43. 43.

    PCIJ Legal Status of Eastern Greenland PCIJ Ser A/B No 53, 71 (1933).

  44. 44.

    Blix (n 2) 36–37, arguing that the Ihlen declaration was made in reply to a Danish request, which resembled treaty-making in simplified form.

  45. 45.

    ICJ Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v Belgium) [2002] ICJ Rep 3, para 53.

  46. 46.

    Watts (n 20) 29–30.

  47. 47.

    ICJ Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar v Bahrain) (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) [1994] ICJ Rep 112, para 26.

  48. 48.

    Ibid para 27.

  49. 49.

    Ibid para 30

  50. 50.

    ICJ Cameroon v Nigeria (n 39) para 258.

  51. 51.

    Ibid para 265.

  52. 52.

    Final Draft, Commentary to Art 6, 193 para 5.

  53. 53.

    Cf Rule 27 UNGA Rules of Procedure, September 2007, UN Doc A/520/Rev.16/Corr.1. For a regional integration organization, the UN requires the issuance of credentials by “the competent authority” (UN Office of Legal Affairs, Memorandum to the Coordinator, Ozone Secretariat UN Environmental Programme, 28 September 1993, [1993] UNJYB,427, UN Doc ST/LEG/SER.C/31).

  54. 54.

    Opinion of the Legal Counsel of the UN Secretary-General, 25 February 1964 [1964] UNJYB 226.

  55. 55.

    P Kovács in Corten/Klein Art 7 MN 40.

  56. 56.

    R Sabel Procedures at International Conferences (2006) 65–66.

  57. 57.

    UNGA Res 3237 (XXIX), 22 November 1974, UN Doc A/RES/3237 (XXIX). See E Klein Zur Beschränkung von Mitgliedsrechten in den Vereinten Nationen – Eine Untersuchung zum Südafrika-Beschluss der Generalversammlung vom 12. November 1974 [1975] VN 51.

  58. 58.

    K-D Stadler Die Europäische Gemeinschaft in den Vereinten Nationen: Die Rolle der EG im Entscheidungsprozeß der UN-Hauptorgane am Beispiel der Generalversammlung (1993) 288.

  59. 59.

    UNTS 241.

  60. 60.

    Aust 78.

Selected Bibliography

  • H Blix Treaty-Making Power (1960).

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  • GE do Nascimento e Silva Full Powers (1995) 2 EPIL 494–497.

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  • JM Jones Full Powers and Ratification: A Study in the Development of Treaty-Making Procedure (1946).

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  • R Sabel Procedures at International Conferences (2006).

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  • A Watts The Legal Position in International Law of Heads of States, Heads of Governments, Foreign Ministers (1994) 247 RdC 19–130.

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Legal Studies Institute, University of Osnabrück, 49069, Osnabrück, Germany

    Professor Dr. Oliver Dörr LL.M. (Lond.)

  2. Faculty of Law Department of Public Law/International Law, University of Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria

    Professor Dr. Kirsten Schmalenbach

Authors
  1. Professor Dr. Oliver Dörr LL.M. (Lond.)
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  2. Professor Dr. Kirsten Schmalenbach
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Correspondence to Oliver Dörr LL.M. (Lond.) .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , European Legal Studies Institute, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, 49069, Germany

    Oliver Dörr

  2. , Law Faculty, University of Salzburg, Churfürst Strasse 1, Salzburg, 5020, Austria

    Kirsten Schmalenbach

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Dörr, O., Schmalenbach, K. (2012). Article 7. Full powers. In: Dörr, O., Schmalenbach, K. (eds) Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19291-3_9

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