
Contents
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Introduction Introduction
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I. Interpretation of Constitutive Treaties I. Interpretation of Constitutive Treaties
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A. Constitutive treaties as a separate category A. Constitutive treaties as a separate category
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B. Specialized rules of interpretation B. Specialized rules of interpretation
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1. The telos of the treaty and the organization’s function as an interpretive tool 1. The telos of the treaty and the organization’s function as an interpretive tool
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2. Practice of the organization as an interpretive tool 2. Practice of the organization as an interpretive tool
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C. Constitutive treaties (in general) C. Constitutive treaties (in general)
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D. Interpretations of IO secondary law D. Interpretations of IO secondary law
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II. Interpreters of IO Law II. Interpreters of IO Law
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A. Organizations as interpreters A. Organizations as interpreters
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B. (Semi-)Judicial interpretation B. (Semi-)Judicial interpretation
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Concluding Remarks: A Layered Exercise in Interpretation Concluding Remarks: A Layered Exercise in Interpretation
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Recommended Reading Recommended Reading
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20 Specialized Rules of Treaty Interpretation: International Organizations
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Published:July 2012
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Extract
Introduction
International law has generally treated questions of the legal personality and legal powers of international organizations (IOs) as a distinct subject—international institutional law.1 But IOs, whatever their form or function, will also regularly trigger questions of treaty law and practice.2 Most (but not all3) IOs are created by treaty, and that ‘constituent instrument’ provides the necessary starting point for delimiting the IO’s functions and competences. This chapter addresses treaty interpretation in the IO context, with particular attention to interpreting the founding or constitutive treaties of international organizations.
The choice of topic for this chapter is premised on the idea that not all interpretive rules are the same for all treaties. This is a well-tried proposition. As early as 1930 Arnold McNair recommended that ‘we free ourselves from the traditional notion that the instrument known as the treaty is governed by a single set of rules’,4 distinguishing for instance treaties of a category that would now be called ‘objective regimes’5 from ‘treaties creating constitutional international law’ (comprising the Covenant of the League of Nations and the Statute of the PCIJ) from ‘treaties akin to charters of incorporation’ (instruments creating the non-political Unions, Institutes and Commissions of the time). More recently, Joseph Weiler called for a ‘re-examination of treaty interpretation’ in particular, and proposed identifying and applying different hermeneutics to different treaty regimes.6
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