Part III Observance and Application of Treaties, 12 Beyond the Vienna Convention: Conflicting Treaty Provisions

Subject(s):

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties — Lex specialis

This chapter discusses the notion of treaty conflict and the various suggestions that have been made to solve them. It goes into the drafting of the Vienna Convention and explains treaty conflict along more or less systemic lines, resulting from the Vienna Convention's drafters' choice to concentrate on form rather than substance in conjunction with the circumstance that in a horizontal legal order, a treaty is res inter alios acta. It is argued that the unsolvable nature of some treaty conflicts need not necessarily be considered overly problematic, but that much will depend on the attitude of those charged with the task of applying treaties and settling disputes: a virtuous approach is called for.