11/9/2023 0 Comments Vienna convention counsellor![]() Moreover, decolonisation was almost at its end by 1978, and, unless a successor State agrees otherwise, the 1978 Convention does not apply to a succession of States which occurs before its entry into force (6 November 1996). They also give undue prominence to the so-called “clean slate” principle, and not enough weight to the abundant State practice of concluding devolution agreements or, even more importantly, making declarations of succession. Consequently, those rules of the 1978 Convention which are concerned with newly independent States are excessively complex. When the Commission was developing its draft articles (in the relatively short space of seven years) the most recent State practice related to former colonies but was not consistent. As a result, the 1978 Convention contains much that is contentious progressive development of international law. The number of different theories of succession did not make the task of devising a text on the subject any easier. In particular, the situations in which new States are created vary enormously, and a “one-size fits all” approach was quite unsuitable. In addition, there was no general doctrine which resolved the problems of succession to treaties. As a consequence, some of the draft articles were adopted by separate votes. The so-called Cold War was still an important factor when the 1978 Convention was adopted. So, why has the 1978 Convention not been more successful? Today, the 1978 Convention has but twenty-two parties, the most recent being the Republic of Moldova. Aust, Modern Treaty Law and Practice, 2nd ed., Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. Yet, the former Soviet republics also had their own succession problems (on the particular treaty succession problems of Estonia, and Belarus and Ukraine, see A. ![]() Although Byelorussia (now Belarus) and Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union, as the result of a political deal involving also India (which became independent only in 1947) all three became founding Members of the United Nations. However, since it had been for fifty years de facto part of the Soviet Union, it had to resolve succession problems of some novelty. Estonia is included as a new State even though it resumed its previous statehood. ![]() Not surprisingly, as new States they presumably thought it would be useful to them. Entry into force only happened because, between 19, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine acceded or succeeded to the 1978 Convention. This was almost eighteen years after its adoption. The 1978 Convention did not enter into force until 1996 when it achieved the necessary fifteen expressions of consent to be bound. ![]() In 1973, Sir Francis Vallat succeeded Waldock for the last year of the Commission’s work on the subject. However, in appointing Sir Humphrey Waldock as the first Special Rapporteur (he had previously been its Special Rapporteur for the law of treaties), the Commission’s method of work would follow the pattern set by the elaboration of the draft articles on the law of treaties which eventually became the 1969 Convention. Instead, the Commission decided to deal with the subject as a question of succession. ![]() Given the subject matter, there was no question of the 1978 Convention being based on the very successful 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (‘the 1969 Convention’). The resumed session of the Conference, approved by General Assembly resolution 32/47 of 8 December 1981, was held at Vienna from 31 July to 23 August 1978 and resulted in the adoption of the 1978 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties (‘the 1978 Convention’). The Conference was held as scheduled but partly because the draft articles raised some controversial issues it recommended that the General Assembly decide to reconvene the Conference in the first half of 1978 for a final session. The General Assembly adopted resolutions 3496 (XXX) of 15 December 1975 and 31/18 of 24 November 1976 to this effect by which it accordingly decided that the draft articles should be considered by a United Nations Conference on Succession of States in respect of Treaties (‘the Conference’) to be held at Vienna from 4 April to. In 1974, the Commission submitted to the United Nations General Assembly a final set of draft articles on Succession of States in respect of Treaties with a recommendation that the Assembly should convene a conference of plenipotentiaries to study the draft articles and conclude a convention on the subject. In 1967, the International Law Commission (‘the Commission’) began work on the subject of succession of States in respect of treaties. ![]()
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