The Reservation to Treaty

• Author: Jana Maftei - Vasilica Negrut - Varvara Coman
• Position: Associate Professor, PhD, 'Danubius' University of Galati, Faculty of Law, Romania - Professor, PhD, 'Danubius' University of Galati, Faculty of Law, Romania - Assistant Professor, PhD in progress, 'Danubius' University of Galati, Faculty of Law, Romania
• Pages: 161-165

Legal Sciences

161

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The Reservation to Treaty

Jana Maftei

1

, Vasilica Negru

2

, Varvara Licua Coman

3

Abstract: In this paper we aimed at analyzing the reservation to the treaty, a theme involving issues

related to one of the most important ar eas of public international law, namely the Law of Treaties. The

reservation to the treaty is regarded as one of the most controversial issues in the international law, which

has generated intense discussions a nd debates and it has been analyzed both by the doctrine a nd by the

international states and organizat ions. We aim at interpreting and explaining t he content of the articles of

the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties on the reservation to the Treat y in order to establish

the meaning and scope thereof, and a t identifying the relationship between the reservation to the treaty

and the states’ sovereignty. W e do not believe that our analysis is exhaustive regarding the reservation to

the Treaty, b ut we have highlighted the importance of this institution relative to the conduct of relations

between states respecting the principles of international law.

Keywords: multilateral treaties; states; treaty law; Vienna Convention 1969

1. Introduction

The Treaty represents today the main tool that confirms the cooperation of States within international

relations, “the major r oute” (Anghel, 2000, p. 72) of occurrence and development of law, it makes all

the other branches to be influenced, as the Law of Treaties “is intended to regulate absolutely all

relations that take place between entities that have international capacity.” (Ploeteanu et al., 2005, p.

32)

Schwartzenberger believed that the treaty allowed the parties to solve final, actual and potential

disputes, which allowed the parties to amend or supplement the customary international rules on the

path of principles and standards that may lead to the transformation of international society into one

that can be organized at the level of social integration. (Schwartzenberger, 1967, pp. 151-152)

Article 2, paragraph 1 of the 1969 Vienna Convention

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on the Law of Treaties defines international

treaty as “an agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law,

whether recorded in a single instrument document or twice in more related instruments, whichever

their particular denomination.”

The International treaty is concluded under the essential purpose of producing legal effects, namely to

create, modify or extinguish the rights and obligations towards international law involved subjects, as

a result of the consent they gave to the conclusion of the Treaty. Consensual nature of the Treaty

requires the existence of mutual consent of all states for the birth of conventional relationships, as an

indispensable condition for its validity. In terms of number of states participating in the treaty, we

1

Associate Professor, PhD, “Danubius” University of Galati, Faculty of Law, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Blvd, Galati,

Romania, tel: +40372 361 102, fax: +40372 361 290. Corresponding author: janamaftei@univ-danubius.ro.

2

Professor, PhD, “ Danubius” University of Galati, Faculty of Law, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Blvd, Galati, Romania, tel:

+40372 361 102, fax: +40372 361 290. Corresponding author: vasilicanegrut@univ-danubius.ro.

3

Assistant Professor, PhD in progress, “Danubius” University of Galati, Faculty of Law, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Blvd,

Galati, Romania, tel: +40372 361 102, fax: +40372 361 290. Corresponding author: varvaracoman@univ-danubius.ro.

4

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties was opened for signature in 1969 and entered into force on January 27, 1980