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If we get down to taking an Overview of International Agreements and Treaties, we come to understand that it is a part of what makes up international law. It is an agreement as understood by the pillars of international law. The bodies which are a party to it are the various states and international organizations. The 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties or the Vienna Convention as it is popularly known as codified the pre-existing customary international law on treaties. It did this with some necessary gap- filling and clarifications as well. The Convention became functional and recognized from the date January 27, 1980.
Not less than 108 states have ratified the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. This ratification took place in the May of the year 2007. The states which are yet to ratify it may find themselves soon in the line to do so. Since after all the Vienna Convention redefines customary law. It is bes the states become a party to it in their best interests.
The VCLT was drafted by the International Law Commission Of the United Nations. It started functioning from the year 1949. It took it to two decades to achieve its mission. Once, this was accomplished, a diplomatic conference followed. It was organized by the United Nations. The venue for this all important conference was Vienna at Austria. The ideals of the Convention were adopted in the May of the year 1969. The day left open for the putting in the signature of acceptance was just the date which followed the 22 May 1969.
It took not less than two decades to accomplish the mammoth task involving the codification of the customary and already existing international laws on treaties. It involved several years of draft revisions accompanied with commentaries. This significant task was especially entrusted to the special
rapporteurs of the International Law Commission. One of the important organizations of the United Nations.
Some of the main terms of the treaty which were formulated were as such. They would consider the fundamental role of treaties in the history of international relations. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, would recognize the ever -increasing importance of treaties. This is because these treaties help to create the ideals of international law. Furthermore, treaties also help in developing peaceful co-operation amongst nations. This whatever their constitutional and social systems be.
The Vienna Convention also chose to explain and remove all ambiguities from certain terms. Few examples of these were the implications of the term “Treaty”. According to the Vienna Convention treaty means an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation.
Vienna Convention believed that the codification as well as development of the law of treaties achieved in the Convention will also help in the promotion of the ideals mentioned in the United Nations Charter as well.
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