Vienna treaty on treaties

By Karl Zemanek
Emeritus Professor, University of Vienna
Vice-Chairman of the Austrian Delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties

By the middle of the twentieth century the customary international law of treaties had grown to a fairly comprehensive body of rules. In view of that, the International Law Commission placed it at its first session, in 1949, among the topics suitable for codification and appointed James Brierly as Special Rapporteur. He resigned in 1952 and two of his successors, Sir Hersch Lauterpacht and Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice, each of whom had started the work anew, the second moreover with a different approach, were elected to the International Court of Justice before they could finish their work. The last Special Rapporteur, Sir Humphrey Waldock, appointed in 1961, oriented the work again towards the preparation of draft articles capable of serving as a basis for an international convention. His six reports enabled the Commission in 1966 to submit a final draft to the General Assembly and to recommend that the Assembly convene an international conference to conclude a convention on the subject. By resolution 2166 (XXI) of 5 December 1966, the General Assembly endorsed the recommendation in principle and in the following year decided to convene the first session of the conference in 1968 and the second session in 1969, in Vienna.

Significant Points in the Negotiating History

The United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties was the last great codification conference that successfully used voting as its working method and could adopt the draft articles by substantial majorities. The final text of the convention was accepted by 79 votes to 1, with 19 abstentions. This achievement was helped by two circumstances. On the one hand, the customary law covering the more technical side of treaty-making was, except for minor details, practically undisputed. In respect of the potentially more controversial chapter concerning the termination of treaties, on the other hand, many States had achieved a moderate position by balancing, in view of unknown future eventualities, the wish to escape a treaty obligation against the wish to have it kept.

Summary of Key Provisions

Article 1 restricts the application of the Convention to (written) treaties between States, excluding treaties concluded by international organizations. In other respects, the first four parts of the Convention codify previously existing customary law with a few modifications due to progressive development.

A conspicuous example of the latter is reservations. The Convention follows the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on Reservations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (I.C. J. Reports 1951, p. 15) and prohibits reservations which are incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty to which they relate (article 19 (c)). But the provision does not clarify the status of a reservation that infringes the prohibition, which gives rise to conflicting interpretations of the effect of objections made to such reservations. A related problem arises from the definition of a reservation (article 2, paragraph 1 (d)) which seems to imply that reservations must indicate the provision or provisions to which they relate (“…to exclude or to modify the legal effect of certain provisions”, emphasis added), which raises doubts about the admissibility of so-called “across-the-board-reservations” (i.e. reservations which make the implementation of treaty obligations subject to their compatibility with domestic or some religious law) without providing a conclusive answer. Both controversial issues are now under study by the International Law Commission under the topic “Reservations to treaties”.

Another result of progressive development is the rule of interpretation in article 31, which establishes, inter alia, the object and purpose of a treaty and the latter’s context as guidelines of interpretation. These are teleological elements which militate against a narrow literal construction of treaty texts. It is noteworthy that the International Court of Justice stated in the Judgment on the Arbitral Award of 31 July 1989 that “…[a]rticles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties…may in many respects be considered as a codification of existing customary international law…” (I.C.J. Reports 1991, pp. 69-70, para. 48). Yet, it is not clear whether the Court was of the opinion that the custom had existed before the Vienna Convention and had been codified in it, or that it had been generated by it and was by now “existing”.

Part V of the Convention deals with the invalidity, termination and suspension of the operation of treaties. It is the key part of the Convention. The relevant customary rules had evolved from isolated instances of State practice or unconnected arbitral or judicial pronouncements. It was the International Law Commission that gave this incoherent material a systematic structure.

The grounds of invalidity of treaties or termination are either taken from among the general principles of law (error, fraud), or adapt these to situations particular to international law, like the corruption of a representative (article 50), or the coercion of a representative (article 51), or of a State by the threat or use of force (article 52). The most far-reaching development of the law was the introduction of the concept of jus cogens into positive international law in articles 53 and 64. It has become relevant outside the scope of the law of treaties as a major element in the construction of modern international law.

The procedure for asserting one of the grounds of invalidity or termination has gained recognition in practice beyond the Convention since this part of customary law had been most lacking in precision. The International Court of Justice observed in the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project case in this respect: “…[a]rticles 65 to 67 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, if not codifying customary law, at least generally reflect customary international law and contain certain procedural principles which are based on an obligation to act in good faith” ( I.C.J. Reports 1997, p. 66, para. 109).

Article 66, which provides for the judicial settlement, arbitration or conciliation of disputes arising from the application of the rules in Part V of the Convention, establishes in subparagraph (a) the mandatory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in disputes involving jus cogens, unless the parties agree to submit the dispute to arbitration. This unique feature, which was not proposed by the International Law Commission but originated in the Conference, is motivated by the intention to concentrate the jurisdiction over such disputes in a single organ in order to avoid the fragmentation of jus cogens by competing jurisdictions. The adoption of the “package deal” (A/CONF. 39/L. 47/Rev.1), which contained, inter alia, the jurisdictional clause, by 61 votes against 20, with 26 abstentions in plenary was, nonetheless, only secured by the great prestige of the leader of the Nigerian delegation to the Conference and Chairman of its Committee of the Whole, Taslim O. Elias (later Judge and President of the International Court of Justice), who was the moving spirit behind the package deal. The package deal also included a declaration inviting the General Assembly of the United Nations to consider issuing invitations under article 81 of the Vienna Convention to States not members of the United Nations, the specialized agencies or parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice to become parties to the Convention so as to ensure the widest possible participation. The declaration was an attempt to satisfy the socialist States which, at the time, tried to obtain admission to international conferences and multilateral treaties for the (then) German Democratic Republic, and had pursued that aim unsuccessfully throughout the Vienna Conference against the opposition of the Federal Republic of Germany, backed by the West. Although the attempt to insert a formula providing for universal participation in the Convention was not successful, and the socialist States had voted also against the package deal because they objected to its other part, the jurisdictional clause, the declaration may nevertheless have allowed them to abstain from voting against the adoption of the Convention as a whole and thus secured a convincing majority (many abstaining States have in the meantime acceded to the Vienna Convention, among them the Russian Federation on 29 April 1986).

However, as might be expected, article 66, or at least its subparagraph (a) became the subject of reservations, mainly by (former) socialist States, some of which have in the meantime been withdrawn. Other States objected to such reservations and excluded in response the application of articles of the Convention which were inextricably linked to the jurisdictional clause (i.e., provisions in Part V to which the procedural provisions relate) in relations between them and the reserving States. Determining the applicable provisions and the appropriate jurisdiction in a relevant case may thus be rather complicated, and it should be noted that until now no case involving a treaty that allegedly conflicted with a peremptory norm of international law has been brought before the International Court of Justice.

Influence of the Instrument on Subsequent Developments

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties is in force since 27 January 1980 and has 108 parties (as of 15 December 2008). The International Court of Justice has in several cases referred to it without examining whether the litigants were parties to the Convention. In the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project case the Court observed: “[The Court] needs only to be mindful of the fact that it has several times had occasion to hold that some of the rules laid down in that Convention might be considered as a codification of existing customary law” (I.C.J. Reports 1997, p. 38, para. 46). The Court’s opinion, together with the relatively high number of parties to the Convention, suggests that the instrument states the current general international law of treaties. This is also confirmed by the fact that its substantive provisions were by consensus copied into the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or between International Organizations.

Related Materials

A. Jurisprudence

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its first session, 12 April 1949 (A/CN.4/12 and Corr. 1-3, reproduced in Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1949, vol. I, Part One, Chapter II).

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its eighteenth session, 4 May - 19 July 1966 (A/CN.4/191, reproduced in Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1966, vol. I, Part One, Chapter II).

General Assembly resolution 2166 (XXI) of 5 December 1966 (International conference of plenipotentiaries on the law of treaties).

Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Sudan, Tunisia and the United Republic of Tanzania: draft declaration, proposed new article and draft resolution (A/CONF. 39/L. 47/Rev.1, reproduced in United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties, First and second sessions, Vienna, 26 March-24 May 1968 and 9 April-22 May 1969, Official Records, Documents of the Conference, p. 272).

C. Doctrine

A. Aust, Modern Treaty Law and Practice, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

E. Castrén, “La Convention de Vienne sur le droit des traités”, in: R. Marcic et al. (eds.), Internationale Festschrift für Alfred Verdross zum 80. Geburtstag, München/Salzburg, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1971, pp. 71-83.

T. O. Elias, The Modern Law of Treaties, New York, Oceana-Sijthoff, 1974.

A. McNair, Law of Treaties, 2nd ed., Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1961.

P. Reuter, La Convention de Vienne du 23 mai 1969 sur le droit des traités, Paris, Armand Collin, 1970.

P. Reuter, Introduction au droit des traités, Paris, Armand Collin, 1972 ; réédition Presses Universitaires de France 1985.

S. Rosenne, The Law of treaties, Leyden, Sijthoff, 1970.

I . Sinclair, The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 2nd ed. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1984.

E. Vierdag, “The International Court of Justice and the Law of Treaties”, in: V. Lowe & M Fitzmaurice (eds.), Fifty Years of the International Court of Justice, 1996, pp. 145-196.

M. E. Villiger, Commentary on the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Netherlands, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2009.

R.G. Wetzel & D. Rauschning, The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Travaux Preparatoires, Frankfurt am Main, Alfred Metzner Verlag, 1978.

At its first session, in 1949, the International Law Commission selected the law of treaties as a topic for codification to which it gave priority. The Commission appointed J. L. Brierly, Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice and Sir Humphrey Waldock as the successive Special Rapporteurs for the topic at its first, fourth, seventh and thirteenth sessions, in 1949, 1952, 1955 and 1961, respectively. It considered the topic at its second, third, eighth, eleventh and thirteenth to eighteenth sessions, in 1950, 1951, 1956, 1959 and from 1961 to 1966, respectively. In connection with its work on the topic, the Commission had before it the reports of the Special Rapporteurs, information provided by Governments as well as documents prepared by the United Nations Secretariat (references are provided in the “Documents” section).

The Commission had originally envisaged its work on the law of treaties as taking the form of “a code of a general character”, rather than of one or more international conventions (see report of the Commission on the work of its eleventh session, A/4169). At its thirteenth session, in 1961, the Commission changed the scheme of its work to the preparation of draft articles capable of serving as a basis for an international convention. This decision was further explained by the Commission in its report on its fourteenth session, in 1962 (A/5209).

The General Assembly, in resolution 1765 (XVII) of 20 November 1962, recommended that the Commission continue the work on the law of treaties, taking into account the views expressed in the Assembly and the written comments submitted by Governments. At its fourteenth to sixteenth sessions, from 1962 to 1964, the Commission proceeded with the first reading of the draft articles and submitted the provisionally adopted draft articles to Governments for comment. The Commission completed the first reading of the draft articles at its sixteenth session, in 1964.

At its seventeenth session, in 1965, the Commission began the second reading of the draft articles in the light of the comments of Governments. It re-examined the question of the form ultimately to be given to the draft articles, and adhered to the views it had expressed in 1961 and 1962 in favour of a convention. The Commission noted that, at the General Assembly’s seventeenth session, in 1962, the Sixth Committee had stated in its report that the great majority of representatives had approved the Commission’s decision to give the codification of the law of treaties the form of a convention.

At its eighteenth session, in 1966, the Commission completed the second reading of the draft articles and adopted its final report on the law of treaties, setting forth seventy-five draft articles together with their commentaries (A/6309/Rev.1). In submitting the final report to the General Assembly, the Commission recommended that the Assembly should convene an international conference of plenipotentiaries to study the Commission’s draft articles on the law of treaties and to conclude a convention on the subject.

Following the discussion in the Sixth Committee on the report of the Commission on the work of its eighteenth session, the General Assembly, by resolution 2166 (XXI) of 5 December 1966, decided to convene an international conference of plenipotentiaries to consider the law of treaties and to embody the results of its work in an international convention and such other instruments as it may deem appropriate. It requested the Secretary-General to convoke the first session of the conference early in 1968 and the second session early in 1969. By the same resolution, the Assembly invited Member States, the Secretary-General and the Directors-General of those specialized agencies which act as depositaries of treaties to submit their written comments and observations on the draft articles. The International Atomic Energy Agency also submitted written comments and observations.

The following year, on the recommendation of the Sixth Committee, the General Assembly, by resolution 2287 (XXII) of 6 December 1967, decided to convene the first session of the United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties at Vienna in March 1968.

The first session of the United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties was accordingly held at Vienna from 26 March to 24 May 1968 and was attended by representatives of 103 countries and observers from thirteen specialized and intergovernmental agencies. The second session was held from 9 April to 22 May 1969, also at Vienna, and was attended by representatives of 110 countries and observers from fourteen specialized and intergovernmental agencies. The first session of the Conference was devoted primarily to consideration by a Committee of the Whole and by a Drafting Committee of the set of draft articles adopted by the International Law Commission. The first part of the second session was devoted to meetings of the Committee of the Whole and of the Drafting Committee, completing their consideration of articles reserved from the previous session. The remainder of the second session was devoted to thirty plenary meetings which considered the articles adopted by the Committee of the Whole and reviewed by the Drafting Committee.

The Conference adopted the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties on 22 May 1969. The Convention was opened for signature on 23 May 1969. It remained open for signature until 30 November 1969 at the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Austria and, subsequently, until 30 April 1970, at United Nations Headquarters. It entered into force on 27 January 1980. In addition to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the Conference adopted two declarations (the Declaration on the Prohibition of Military, Political or Economic Coercion in the Conclusion of Treaties and the Declaration on Universal Participation in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties) and five resolutions which were annexed to the Final Act of the Conference (A/CONF.39/26).

Selected preparatory documents
(in chronological order)

International Law Commission, Summary record of the 33rd plenary meeting, held on 3 June 1949 (A/CN.4/SR.33)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its first session, 12 April to 19 June 1949 (A/CN.4/13 and Corr.1-3)

Replies from Governments to Questionnaires of the International Law Commission, Second session of the International Law Commission (A/CN.4/19, 23 March 1950)

International Law Commission, Report on the Law of Treaties, by James L. Brierly, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/23, 14 April 1950)

International Law Commission, Summary records of 49th to 53rd meetings, held from 19 to 23 June 1950 (A/CN.4/SR.49-53)

International Law Commission, Bibliography on the Law of Treaties prepared by the Secretariat (A/CN.4/31, 27 June 1950)

International Law Commission, Memorandum on the Soviet Doctrine and Practice with Respect to the Law of Treaties, prepared by the Secretariat (A/CN.4/37)

International Law Commission, Working paper prepared by the Secretariat, “Law of treaties” (A/CN.4/L.55)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its second session, 5 June to 29 July 1950 (A/1316)

International Law Commission, Second Report on the Law of Treaties: Revised articles of the draft convention, by Mr. James L. Brierly, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/43, 10 April 1951)

Text of articles tentatively adopted by the International Law Commission at its third session (A/CN.4/L.28, 1951)

International Law Commission, Second Report on the Law of Treaties - Redraft of articles suggested by the Special Rapporteur (James L. Brierly) in the light of the discussions and decisions of the Commission (A/CN.4/L.4, 1951), reproduced in the footnotes to the summary record of the 88th plenary meeting of the International Law Commission (A/CN/4/SR.88)

International Law Commission, Draft article prepared by Dr. Yuen-li Yang at the request of Mr. James L. Brierly, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/L.16, 1951)

Text of articles tentatively adopted by the International Law Commission at its 88th plenary meeting, held on 24 May 1951 (A/CN.4/L.5)

International Law Commission, Draft Convention on the Law of treaties contained in the first report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/L.17, 8 June 1951)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 84th to 88th plenary meetings, held from 18 to 24 May 1951 (A/CN.4/SR.84-88), and of the 98th to 100th and 102nd to 106th meetings, held from 7 to 19 June 1951 (A/CN.4/SR.98-100 and 102-106)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its third session, 16 May to 27 July 1951 (A/1858)

International Law Commission, Third Report on the Law of Treaties - Articles tentatively adopted by the commission at the third session with commentary thereon, by Mr. J.L. Brierly, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/54 and Corr.1, 10 April 1952)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 178th and 179th plenary meetings, held on 1 and 4 August 1952 (A/CN.4/SR.178-179)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fourth session, 4 June to 8 August 1952 (A/2456)

International Law Commission, Report on the Law of Treaties, by Mr. H. Lauterpacht, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/63, 24 March 1953)

International Law Commission, Summary record of the 227th plenary meeting (A/CN.4/SR.227, 30 July 1953)

International Law Commission, Memorandum submitted by Mr. M. J. M. Yepes (A/CN.4/L. 46, 13 August 1953)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifth session, 1 June to 14 August 1953 (A/2456)

International Law Commission, Second Report on the Law of Treaties, by Mr. H. Lauterpacht, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/87 and Corr.1, 8 July 1954)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixth session, 3 June to 28 July 1954 (A/2693)

International Law Commission, Working paper prepared by the Secretariat (A/CN.4/L.55, 1955)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventh session, 2 May to 8 July 1955 (A/2934)

International Law Commission, Report on the Law of Treaties, by Mr. G.G. Fitzmaurice, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/101, 14 March 1956)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 368th to 370th plenary meetings, held from 15 to 19 June 1956 (A/CN.4/SR.368-370)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its eighth session, 23 April to 4 July 1956 (A/3159)

International Law Commission, Second Report on the Law of Treaties, by Mr. G.G. Fitzmaurice, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/107, 15 March 1957)

Report of the International Law Commission covering the work of its ninth session, 23 April to 28 June 1957 (A/3623)

International Law Commission, Third Report on the Law of Treaties by Mr. G.G. Fitzmaurice, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/115 and Corr.1, 18 March 1958)

Report of the International Law Commission covering the work of its tenth session, 28 April to 4 July 1958 (A/3859)

International Law Commission, Fourth Report on the Law of Treaties, by Mr. G.G. Fitzmaurice, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/120, 17 March 1959)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 480th to 496th plenary meetings held from 21 April to 19 May 1959 (A/CN.4/SR.480-496), of the 500th to 504th plenary meetings, held from 25 to 29 May 1959 (A/CN.4/SR.500-504)

International Law Commission, Note by the Secretariat, “Practice of the United Nations Secretariat in relation to certain questions raised in connexion with the articles on the law of treaties” (A/CN.4/121, 23 June 1959)

Report of the International Law Commission covering the work of its eleventh session, 20 April to 26 June 1959 (A/4169)

International Law Commission, Fifth Report on the Law of Treaties, by Mr. G.G. Fitzmaurice, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/130, 21 March 1960)

International Law Commission, Summary record of the 620th meeting, held on 28 June 1961 (A/CN.4/SR.620)

International Law Commission, Summary record of the 621st meeting, held on 29 June 1961 (A/CN.4/SR.621)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its thirteenth session, 1 May to 7 July 1961 (A/4843)

International Law Commission, First Report on the Law of Treaties, by Sir Humphrey Waldock, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/144 and Add.1, 26 March 1962)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 637th to 672nd plenary meetings, held from 7 May to 29 June 1962 (A/CN.4/SR.637-672)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fourteenth session, 24 April to 29 June 1962 (A/5209)

General Assembly resolution 1765 (XVII) of 20 November 1962 (Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fourteenth session)

International Law Commission, Memorandum prepared by the Secretariat, “Resolutions of the General Assembly concerning the law of treaties” (A/CN.4/154, 14 February 1963)

International Law Commission, Second report on the law of treaties, by Sir Humphrey Waldock, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/156 and Add.1-3, 20 March, 10 April, 30 April and 5 June 1963)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 673rd to 685th plenary meetings, held from 6 to 22 May 1963 (A/CN.4/SR.673-685), of the 687th to 711th plenary meetings, held from 27 May to 1 July 1963 (A/CN.4/SR.687-711), of the 714th plenary meeting, held on 4 July 1963 (A/CN.4/SR.714), and of the 716th to 718th plenary meetings, held from 8 to 10 July 1963 (A/CN.4/SR.716-718)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifteenth session, 6 May-12 July 1963 (A/5509)

International Law Commission, Third report on the law of treaties, by Sir Humphrey Waldock, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/167 and Add.1-3, 3 March, 9 June, 12 June and 7 July 1964)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 726th to 755th plenary meetings, held from 19 May to 30 June 1964 (A/CN.4/SR.726-755), of the 759th and 760th plenary meetings, held on 6 and 7 July 1964 (A/CN.4/SR.759-760), of the 764th to 767th plenary meetings, held from 13 to 16 July 1964 (A/CN.4/SR.764-767), and of the 769th and 770th meetings, held on 17 and 20 July 1964 (A/CN.4/SR.769-770)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixteenth session, 11 May-24 July 1964 (A/5809)

International Law Commission, Comments by Governments on Parts I, II and III of the Draft Articles on the Law of Treaties drawn up by the Commission at its fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth sessions, seventeenth and eighteenth sessions (A/CN.4/175/Add.1-5, 3 March 1965)

International Law Commission, Fourth report on the law of treaties, by Sir Humphrey Waldock, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/177 and Add.1-2, 19 March, 25 March and 17 June 1965)

International Law Commission, Addition to article 29 or new article 29 bis, proposed by Mr. S. Rosenne (A/CN.4/L.108, 1965, 13 May 1965)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 776th to 803rd meetings, held from 4 May to 16 June 1965 (A/CN.4/SR.776-803), of the 810th to 816th meetings, held from 24 June to 2 July 1965 (A/CN.4/SR.810-816), and of the 820th meeting, held on 8 July 1965 (A/CN.4/SR.820)

Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventeenth session, 3 May to 9 July 1965 (A/6009)

Report by the Secretary-General submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution 1452 B (XIV) (A/5687, 1965)

International Law Commission, Fifth report on the law of treaties, by Sir Humphrey Waldock, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/183 and Add.1-4, respectively 15 November 1965, 4 December 1965, 20 December 1965, 3 January 1966 and 18 January 1966)

International Law Commission, Comments by Governments on the draft articles on the law of treaties drawn up by the Commission at its fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth session (A/CN.4/182 and Corr.1&2 and Add.1, 2/Rev.1 & 3, 1966)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 822nd to 843rd meetings, held from 3 to 28 January 1966 (A/CN.4/SR.822-843)

International Law Commission, Memorandum by the Secretariat, “Preparation of Multilingual Treaties” (A/CN.4/187, 3 May 1966)

International Law Commission, Sixth report on the law of treaties, by Sir Humphrey Waldock, Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/186 and Add.1, 2/Rev.1, 3-7, respectively 11 March, 25 March, 12 April, 11 May, 17 May, 24 May, 1 June and 14 June 1966)

International Law Commission, Summary records of the 845th to 876th plenary meetings, held from 5 May to 23 June 1966 (A/CN.4/SR.845-876), of the 879th and 880th plenary meetings, held on 28 and 29 June 1966 (A/CN.4/SR.879-880), and of the 883rd to 887th plenary meetings, held from 4 to 11 July 1966 (A/CN.4/SR.883-887)

Reports of the International Law Commission on the second part of its seventeenth session, 3 to 28 January 1966, and on its eighteenth session 4 May to 19 July 1966. Adoption of the draft articles, with commentaries (A/6309/Rev.1)

International Law Commission, Revised draft articles (A/CN.4/L.117 and Add.1, 13 and 14 July 1966)

General Assembly resolution 2166 (XXI) of 5 December 1966 (International conference of plenipotentiaries on the law of treaties)

General Assembly resolution 2287(XXII) of 6 December 1967 (United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties)

Official Records of the United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties, First and Second Sessions, Documents of the Conference (A/CONF.39/26)

General Assembly resolution 3233 (XXIX) of 12 November 1974 (Participation in the Convention on Special Missions, its Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties)

The Convention entered into force on 27 January 1980. For the current participation status of the Convention, as well as information and relevant texts of related treaty actions, such as reservations, declarations, objections, denunciations and notifications, see:

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