Part II The Treaty-Makers, 5 Who Can Make Treaties? International Organizations

Subject(s):

International organizations — Treaties, amendments and modification — Treaties, application — Treaties, interpretation

International organizations (IOs) are subjects of international law typically created by agreement between States, usually through treaties, for the achievement or furtherance of a common objective of the IO’s creators. However, IOs also play a direct role in treaty-making. They have the capacity to become parties to treaties in their own right, within the scope of their competencies and where other parties are willing to enter into treaty relations with them. This chapter focuses on this direct role. It begins with an overview of the early practice regarding IOs as parties to treaties. Part II reviews the main issues in the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), including the ways in which it differs from the 1969 VCLT. Part III considers who is bound when an IO is a party to a treaty and Part IV reviews the types of treaties to which IOs are parties.