Dörr, Oliver, Schmalenbach, Kirsten (Eds.),
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 2nd edition, 2018, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Hardback, 1535 pp., Price: £199.99 ISBN: 978-3-662-55159-2
Treaties play a central role in international law. Whether they concern the protection of human rights, criminal law on corruption, family law or the protection of minors, treaties remain an indispensable source of regulation of inter-state relations and, subsequently, of national legislation. Indeed treaties “represent the main instrument at the disposal of the international community to regulate relations between its members and to develop that international cooperation which represents one of the salient features of contemporary international law” (G. Strozzi, The Law of Treaties, Turin, 1999, page 3). It is also worth recalling the role that treaties have had (and continue to have) in the development and maintenance of peaceful relations between States.
Treaties are themselves subject to international rules that regulate, among various aspects, the conditions of their validity, effectiveness and interpretation. The Vienna Convention, which was adopted on 22 June 1969 and entered into force on 27 January 1980, represents the first extensive codification of international treaty law.
Edited by Oliver Dörr, a professor at the University of Osnabrück, and Kirsten Schmalenbach, a professor at the University of Salzburg, the volume in review, now in the second edition, is a thorough commentary on the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The commentary is already established as one of the leading texts on the subject.
The volume offers not only an analytical commentary of the 85 articles of the Vienna Convention, but also provides a systematic account of it, helped by the limited number of authors (only 12 including the two editors) for a work of this size (almost 1500 pages of text), which made it possible to maintain a certain homogeneity and continuity between the comments. Four annexes are included in the volume: the Final Act of the United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties and annexes to it; its status; the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations; and its status.
The volume opens with an introductory essay by Dörr who, after having evoked the role that the treaties have had in the development of international law, offers a brief but informative overview of the history of international treaties, from those dating back to the time of ancient Egypt (1280-1270 BC) to those of the modern age. Dörr recalls the role that treaties have played in the development of international organizations, and, in this sense, mentions the action carried out by the League of Nations in the first decades of the last century to affirm the strength of treaties.
The volume continues with the analysis of the individual articles of the Vienna Convention. Regarding the structure of the individual comments, they follow a common pattern. Each comment contains a first section dedicated to the objectives and functions of the provision; an overview of the previous practice and the events related to the negotiation of each single provision, and then a detailed analysis of the regulatory provision comprising the main features of the article and a legal analysis of its content and effects.
In conclusion, the book is certainly a well-edited text, rich in doctrinal and jurisprudential references and analysis. It will certainly be of interest to lawyers, scholars and diplomats dealing with the law of treaties.
Riccardo Sciaudone
Head
Reviewed July 2018