The termination and revision of treaties in the light of new customary international law / Nancy Kontou.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kontou, Nancy.

Series:

Oxford monographs in international law

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Treaties--Termination.

Treaties.

Customary law, International.

Physical Description:

xvii, 169 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford [England] : Clarendon Press ; Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1994.

Summary:

This highly original and challenging study offers an examination of the tensions which exist between the two most important sources of international law: Treaty and Custom. Through detailed analysis of state practice and key decisions of international tribunals, the author considers the circumstances by which new customary law may abrogate the obligations of a prior treaty, and argues that there is a special category of situations which supports the right of a state to renegotiate a treaty by an appeal to new customary law. Scholarly and thought-provoking, this is an original and, at times, controversial study which will become essential reading for all those interested in the sources of international law and the observance and enforcement of treaty obligations.

Contents:

1.3. Importance of the Issue 10

2. An Overview of the Literature 16

2.1. Treaty Interpretation in the Light of New Custom 16

2.2. Priority between Inconsistent Obligations 19

2.3. Treaty Termination or Revision Following the Development of New Custom 22

3. State Practice: The Impact of the New Law of the Sea on Prior Fisheries Agreements 37

3.1. The Evolution of the General Law on Fisheries Jurisdiction 37

3.2. Fisheries in the North Pacific (Russia-Japan) 40

3.3. Fisheries off the Faeroe Islands (United Kingdom-Denmark) 43

3.4. Fisheries in the North Atlantic and the 1964 London Fisheries Convention 46

3.5. The Renegotiation of Fishing Rights in Canadian Waters 50

3.6. US Participation in International Fishery Commissions 57

3.7. Spanish Fishing Rights in European Community Waters 64

3.8. The Fisheries Dispute between Morocco and Spain 68

4. State Practice: Other Examples 72

4.1. The Extradition Regime in the East Indies 72

4.2. The Treaty on the Panama Canal 74

4.3. The Abolition of the Capitulations 78

4.4. The Impact of New Custom on the Vienna Classification of Diplomatic Agents 85

4.5. The Termination of the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of Alliance 90

4.6. The Impact of the Concept of Human Rights on the Minorities Treaties 91

4.7. The Abrogation of an 'Unequal' Treaty by China 96

4.8. Treaties on International Watercourses 98

4.9. The Shatt-al-Arab Boundary Dispute 103

4.10. The Antarctic Treaty Regime 104

4.11. Removal of Installations on the Continental Shelf and the 1958 Geneva Convention 107

5. Decisions of International Tribunals 109

5.1. The Fisheries Jurisdiction Case (United Kingdom v. Iceland) 109

5.2. The United Kingdom-France Continental Shelf Arbitration 115

5.3. The Spanish Fishermen's Cases before the European Court of Justice 118

5.4. The La Bretagne Arbitration 122

5.5. The Namibia Advisory Opinion 124

5.6. The Guinea-Bissau/Senegal Maritime Boundary Arbitration 125

5.7. The Iran-US Claims Tribunal 127

6. Some Criticisms 135

6.1. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties: The Significance of an Omission 135

6.2. Opinio juris 140

6.3. The Treaty as lex specialis 141

7. Conclusions: Supervening Custom as a Ground of Treaty Termination or Revision 145

7.1. Conditions of Application 146

7.2. Supervening Custom as a Fundamental Change of Circumstances 149

7.3. Effect of Supervening Custom on the Treaty Relationship 150.

Notes:

Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral--University of Cambridge, England), 1990.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0198258429

OCLC:

30437208