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How To Defeat A Treaty's Object And Purpose Pending Entry Into Force: Toward Manifest Intent, Jan Klabbers

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Under Article 18 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, states that have signed or ratified a treaty are supposed to refrain from acts which might defeat the object and purpose of the treaty pending its entry into force. After noting that international lawyers and academics have recognized various types of treaties, the Article begins by observing that traditionally the interim obligation operates well in contractual situations but not in normative situations. Furthermore, the Author argues that where treaties are normative, the traditional conception of the interim obligation is insufficient.

While the interim obligation has been recognized …