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Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law [MPEPIL]

Preamble

Makane Moïse Mbengue

From: Oxford Public International Law (http://opil.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 10 November 2024

Subject(s):
Customary international law — Treaties, interpretation — Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties — Treaties, conclusion — Treaties, entry into force — Object & purpose (treaty interpretation and)

Published under the auspices of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law under the direction of Professor Anne Peters (2021–) and Professor Rüdiger Wolfrum (2004–2020). 

1 Both bilateral and multilateral treaties may contain a preamble enumerating the contracting States involved in their conclusion. A treaty’s preamble defines, in general terms, the purposes and considerations that led the parties to conclude the treaty. Generally a preamble consists of a sequence of secondary clauses (considérants) that commence with words such as ‘Recognizing’, ‘Recalling’, ‘Mindful’, ‘Emphasizing’, ‘Conscious of’, etc. The preamble may also incorporate the parties’ motivations for concluding the treaty by describing the foundation of their...
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