Part II The Treaty-Makers, 7 Who Can Make Treaties? Other Subjects of International Law

Subject(s):

Corporations — Insurgents and insurrection — NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) — Sovereignty — Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

This chapter discuses treaty-making by ‘other subjects of international law’. These other subjects of international law may be divided into four categories. First, there are territories integral to a State — especially the units which constitute a federal State. Second, there are external territories, the foreign relations of which normally are the responsibility of a State albeit under a variety of relationships. Third, insurgent groups — entities which seek to displace an existing State in all or part of its territory and themselves to assume the functions of the State — have been said to enter into international agreements as well. Finally, private actors — including corporations, nongovernmental organizations and individuals — may be international law subjects for some purposes; the extent to which this is the case remains in flux.