An Overview of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and Its Principles

Abstract

Treaties nowadays are the foundations for the creation of all relations between subjects of international law and their role in international law has increased progressively recently. In its first meeting in 1946, the General Assembly of UN established a Committee for Progressive Development of International Law. The 1966 Vienna Convention entered into force on 27 January 1980 and has 114 member states. It has created an elastic system, which has found the equilibrium among domestic interests and a common international regulation. This Convention ensures sufficient freedom for states to adhere to treaties, but at the same time guarantees respect for the common standards in treaty-drafting. The reciprocity principle is central to every legal relation, but its importance is more noticeable when it comes to treaties, because it is a guiding principle for each treaty. The Vienna Convention does not contain the reciprocity principle explicitly; however, it derives from the principle of equality of parties. The latter means that parties have equal rights and obligations in a treaty, which is a direct outcome of the principle of equality of sovereignty.