Law of Treaties & Conventions and International Law
“Treaty” means an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation.
Object
of Treaty: The object of treaties is to impose binding obligations on the states who
are parties to it once a state has bound itself by agreement in a treaty;
it is not entitled to withdraw
from its obligations without the consent of other states.
An agreement between two or more States will
not be a treaty unless those
countries intend the document to be binding at international law.
Types
of international treaties: There
are two types of treaties-
i.
Bilateral treaties (between two States) are agreements made
by two countries.
ii.
Multilateral treaties
(between three or more States) are agreements made
by three or more countries. As chief executive of the United States, the
President has the authority to create international agreements with
other nations without Senate approval.
A treaty is an agreement under
international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign
states and international organizations. A treaty may also be
known as an (international) agreement, protocol,
covenant, convention, pact, or exchange of letters, among other terms.
Treaties
& Domestic (Indian) Law: Treaties do not become part of municipal law and courts in India cannot
interpret them unless Parliament enacts a legislation by exercising power
conferred under Article 253 of the Constitution read with Entry 14 of the List I of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution in order to make it part of domestic law. As per the existing norms, a treaty is enforceable only when it is ratified by India after completing the constitutional procedure.
Constitutional
procedure: The instruments of ratification or accession
are prepared by the Legal and Treaties Division and
put up for the President's signature. In case of a bilateral treaty, the
Instruments of Ratification become
effective only after they are exchanged, which may be done through the
concerned Territorial Division.
In
India, international treaties are ratified by-
i.
Parliament.
ii.
President.
iii.
Prime
Minister.
iv.
The Union
Cabinet.
Sources of international law can be classified into
the following categories:
i.
International treaties
ii.
International customs
iii.
General
principles of law recognised by civilised nations
iv.
Decision of judicial or
arbitral tribunals
v.
Juristic works
vi.
Decisions or determination
of the organs of international institutions
International
treaties are most frequent means of creating international rules or
standards that States and other actors of international community are
supposed to abide by. Their importance has been
highly increased in the context of modern international law.
Types of treaties: There are two types of treaties-
1. Lawmaking Treaties- According to
Slomanson, lawmaking treaties are treaties that set up a
new rule in international law. A
multilateral treaty that purports
to codify generally applicable, substantive rules of international law, and which is designed to attract as many parties as
possible.
2. Contractual Treaties- Contractual treaties are treaties by which the
parties agree to exchange pieces of territory or settle a dispute or
claims—that is, by which they deal with a particular kind of business. These
two parties can be two states, or two international organizations, or one state
and one international organization. Similar to a contract, it is also called
a contractual treaty. An example is the Camp
David Accords between Egypt and Israel, signed in September 1978.
Theories
as to the Law of Nature: According
to the exponents of this
theory, international law is part of the law of nature.
States follow international law because it is a part of the law of nature which is a higher law. In their view, it
is the natural law which has conferred binding force on international law.
Modus
Vivendi is an instrument recording
an international agreement
of a temporary or provisional nature intended
to be replaced by an arrangement of a more permanent
and detailed character. It is usually made in most informal way.