The Vienna Conventions on the Law of Treaties

The 1969 and 1986 Vienna Conventions on the Law of Treaties are essential components of the contemporary international legal order. Codifying to a significant extent the customary rules that pre-existed in the field, they aim at regulating what has become the main source of public international law and a crucial tool in inter-state relations.

This fully updated second edition provides both international and national lawyers with an in-depth analysis of each provision of both Conventions, taking into account the substantial developments of the last decade. The structure of each commentary is essentially uniform: the first part is dedicated to the exposition of that provision's object and purpose and to the assessment of its customary status, while the second part focuses on the main issues of interpretation raised by the provision in question. Extensive reference is made to the travaux preparatoires of both Conventions, including the work of the UN International Law Commission and the proceedings of the 1969 and 1986 diplomatic conferences, and to practice both prior to and following the adoption of the Conventions.

The volume contains contributions from over 120 authors from over thirty different countries, including some of the most renowned experts in international law. Not only does this ensure the high quality of the analysis, but it also provides the reader with a reflection of the wide range of perspectives existing in the international scholarship on the law of treaties.