Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

 

SECTION 4. PROCEDURE

Article 65
Procedure to be followed with respect to invalidity, termination,
withdrawal from or suspension of the operation of a treaty

1. A party which, under the provisions of the present Convention, invokes
either a defect in its consent to be bound by a treaty or a ground for
impeaching the validity of a treaty, terminating it, withdrawing from it or
suspending its operation, must notify the other parties of its claim. The
notification shall indicate the measure proposed to be taken with respect
to the treaty and the reasons therefor.

2. If, after the expiry of a period which, except in cases of special
urgency, shall not be less than three months after the receipt of the
notification, no party has raised any objection, the party making the
notification may carry out in the manner provided in article 67 the measure
which it has proposed.

3. If, however, objection has been raised by any other party, the parties
shall seek a solution through the means indicated in article 33 of the
Charter of the United Nations.

4. Nothing in the foregoing paragraphs shall affect the rights or
obligations of the parties under any provisions in force binding the
parties with regard to the settlement of disputes.

5. Without prejudice to article 45, the fact that a State has not
previously made the notification prescribed in paragraph 1 shall not
prevent it from making such notification in answer to another party
claiming performance of the treaty or alleging its violation.

Article 66
Procedures for judicial settlement, arbitration and conciliation

If, under paragraph 3 of article 65, no solution has been reached within a
period of 12 months following the date on which the objection was raised,
the following procedures shall be followed:

(a) any one of the parties to a dispute concerning the application or the
interpretation of articles 53 or 64 may, by a written application,
submit it to the International Court of Justice for a decision unless
the parties by common consent agree to submit the dispute to
arbitration;
(b) any one of the parties to a dispute concerning the application or the
interpretation of any of the other articles in Part V of the present
Convention may set in motion the procedure specified in the Annexe to
the Convention by submitting a request to that effect to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article 67
Instruments for declaring invalid, terminating, withdrawing from or
suspending the operation of a treaty

1. The notification provided for under article 65 paragraph 1 must be made
in writing.

2. Any act declaring invalid, terminating, withdrawing from or suspending
the operation of a treaty pursuant to the provisions of the treaty or of
paragraphs 2 or 3 of article 65 shall be carried out through an instrument
communicated to the other parties. If the instrument is not signed by the
Head of State, Head of Government or Minister for Foreign Affairs, the
representative of the State communicating it may be called upon to produce
full powers.

Article 68
Revocation of notifications and instruments provided
for in articles 65 and 67

A notification or instrument provided for in articles 65 or 67 may be
revoked at any time before it takes effect.

SECTION 5. CONSEQUENCES OF THE INVALIDITY,
TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF THE
OPERATION OF A TREATY

Article 69
Consequences of the invalidity of a treaty

1. A treaty the invalidity of which is established under the present
Convention is void. The provisions of a void treaty have no legal force.

2. If acts have nevertheless been performed in reliance on such a treaty:

(a) each party may require any other party to establish as far as
possible in their mutual relations the position that would have
existed if the acts had not been performed;
(b) acts performed in good faith before the invalidity was invoked are
not rendered unlawful by reason only of the invalidity of the treaty.

3. In cases falling under articles 49, 50, 51 or 52, paragraph 2 does not
apply with respect to the party to which the fraud, the act of corruption
or the coercion is imputable.

4. In the case of the invalidity of a particular State’s consent to be
bound by a multilateral treaty, the foregoing rules apply in the relations
between that State and the parties to the treaty.

Article 70
Consequences of the termination of a treaty

1. Unless the treaty otherwise provides or the parties otherwise agree, the
termination of a treaty under its provisions or in accordance with the
present Convention:

(a) releases the parties from any obligation further to perform the
treaty;
(b) does not affect any right, obligation or legal situation of the
parties created through the execution of the treaty prior to its
termination.

2. If a State denounces or withdraws from a multilateral treaty, paragraph
1 applies in the relations between that State and each of the other parties
to the treaty from the date when such denunciation or withdrawal takes
effect.

Article 71
Consequences of the invalidity of a treaty which conflicts with a
peremptory norm of general international law

1. In the case of a treaty which is void under article 53 the parties
shall:

(a) eliminate as far as possible the consequences of any act performed in
reliance on any provision which conflicts with the peremptory norm of
general international law; and
(b) bring their mutual relations into conformity with the peremptory norm
of general international law.

2. In the case of a treaty which becomes void and terminates under article
64, the termination of the treaty:

(a) releases the parties from any obligation further to perform the
treaty;
(b) does not affect any right, obligation or legal situation of the
parties created through the execution of the treaty prior to its
termination; provided that those rights, obligations or situations
may thereafter be maintained only to the extent that their
maintenance is not in itself in conflict with the new peremptory norm
of general international law.

Article 72
Consequences of the suspension of the operation of a treaty

1. Unless the treaty otherwise provides or the parties otherwise agree, the
suspension of the operation of a treaty under its provisions or in
accordance with the present Convention:

(a) releases the parties between which the operation of the treaty is
suspended from the obligation to perform the treaty in their mutual
relations during the period of the suspension;
(b) does not otherwise affect the legal relations between the parties
established by the treaty.

2. During the period of the suspension the parties shall refrain from acts
tending to obstruct the resumption of the operation of the treaty.

PART VI

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Article 73
Cases of State succession, State responsibility and
outbreak of hostilities

The provisions of the present Convention shall not prejudge any question
that may arise in regard to a treaty from a succession of States or from
the international responsibility of a State or from the outbreak of
hostilities between States.

Article 74
Diplomatic and consular relations and the conclusion of treaties

The severance or absence of diplomatic or consular relations between two or
more States does not prevent the conclusion of treaties between those
States. The conclusion of a treaty does not in itself affect the situation
in regard to diplomatic or consular relations.

Article 75
Case of an aggressor State

The provisions of the present Convention are without prejudice to any
obligation in relation to a treaty which may arise for an aggressor State
in consequence of measures taken in conformity with the Charter of the
United Nations with reference to that State’s aggression.

 

Author: international