Abstract
Treaties form the basis of most parts of modern international law. They serve to satisfy a fundamental need of States to regulate by consent issues of common concern, and thus to bring stability into their mutual relations. As an instrument for ensuring stability, reliability and order in international relations, treaties are one of the most important elements of international peace and security. This is why, from the earliest days in the history of international law, treaties have always been the primary source of legal relations between entities today known as States. The Preamble of the VCLT itself emphasizes the fundamental role of treaties in the history of international relations and especially the importance of treaties for developing peaceful co-operation among nations. This fundamental importance of treaties proved to be a continuum, while the rules and procedures of treaty-making, as well as the contents of international agreements, changed through the centuries.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
Grewe (1995), pp. 18–23; Harvard Draft 666, citing a treaty of 1272 BC.
- 4.
Ziegler (2007), § 2 II 1.
- 5.
Grewe (2000), p. 89.
- 6.
Kolb (2016), p. 2.
- 7.
Ziegler (2007), § 18 I 2.
- 8.
Grewe (2000), p. 90.
- 9.
Ibid.
- 10.
Ibid.
- 11.
Mitteis (1957), p. 579.
- 12.
Ziegler (2007), § 30 I 1 b).
- 13.
Ibid.
- 14.
Grewe (2000), p. 196.
- 15.
Ibid.
- 16.
For example “perpetua oblivio et amnestia”, agreed to in Art II of the Peace of Westphalia (Treaty of Osnabrück between the Emperor and Sweden), reprinted in Grewe WE (ed) (1988) Fontes Historiae Iuris Gentium, Vol II. De Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 188, 190.
- 17.
Ziegler (2007), § 30 I 3.
- 18.
Ziegler (2007), § 36 I 1.
- 19.
Grewe (2000), p. 360.
- 20.
Grewe (2000), p. 361.
- 21.
Tietje (1999), p. 31.
- 22.
1859 Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law, reprinted in Ronzitti N (ed) (1998) The Law of Naval Warfare. Nijhoff, Dordrecht, p. 61 et seq.
- 23.
See eg Triepel (1899), p. 27 et seq.
- 24.
Grewe (2000), p. 514.
- 25.
Ziegler (2007), § 42 I 2.
- 26.
Nussbaum (1954), pp. 196–197.
- 27.
Tietje (1999), p. 32.
- 28.
Tietje (1999), p. 34.
- 29.
Ziegler (2007), § 46 VI 1.
- 30.
Harvard Draft 666 (Introductory Comment).
- 31.
Grewe (2000), p. 608, who refers to the famous resolution of the LoN Council after the conference of Stresa (17 April 1935), (1935) 16 LNOJ 551.
- 32.
Examples given, eg, by Wehberg (1959), pp. 782–784.
- 33.
Quoted by Wehberg (1959), p. 783.
- 34.
Harvard Draft 667 (Introductory Comment).
- 35.
League of Nations Document C.196.M.70.1927.V, 105, quoted in Harvard Draft 669.
- 36.
Harvard Draft 670 (Introductory Comment).
- 37.
Harvard Draft 670 (Introductory Comment); Text of the Convention in (1928) AJIL 22 Supp, 138.
- 38.
[1949-II] YbILC 281.
- 39.
Villiger (2009), History of the Convention MN 13.
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Dörr, O. (2018). Introduction: On the Role of Treaties in the Development of International Law. In: Dörr, O., Schmalenbach, K. (eds) Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55160-8_1
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