Talk:Public International Law/Sources of International Law/Treaty Law

Review; May 24th, 2023
Dear Marko and Tax, ⁣

Thank you for being part of the team and for contributing this immensely important chapter. Like my co-editors, I have also added a few comments and my main feedback is also that the chapter needs a bit more depth, both in the sense that the doctrinal aspects should be elaborated in a bit more detail and that the law of treaties needs to be placed in its historical and theoretical context. Please try to pick up issues raised in the chapters on consent, positivism, TWAIL, feminism and queer theory, and decolonization (the ones that aren't finished yet will hopefully be available within the next few days), as well as to the chapters on the other sources (What is the relationship between treaty law and customary law?), subjects and actors (What is the role of NGOs, international organisations, cities, indigenous peoples, corporations etc.). Maybe skim some of the chapters on specialized fields and look for issues covered there that are essentially treaty law issues, on which you could give a more general introduction.

What I would love to see, in addition, is touching at least briefly on the role that the form of international treaties has played in legitimizing colonialism, as this passage from Antony Anghies' article in Third World Quarterly illustrates: "imperial powers claimed that native chiefs had entered into treaties which gave those powers sovereignty over non-European territories and peoples. The ability of natives to enter into such treaties was paradoxical, given that they were characterised as entirely lacking in legal status. What is clear from an examination of the treaties, however, is that international lawyers granted the natives such status, quasi-sovereignty, for the purposes of enabling them to transfer rights, property and sovereignty. The right of the native to dispose of himself or his resources was in effect upheld by these treaties, just as in Vitoria native personality is established so that it may be bound by international law." (p. 745) You could link this to a general discussion of 'treaties and time', and consider the legal status of these treaties both at the time of their conclusion and retroactively (Mieke van der Linden examines this in great detail in her monograph on 'The Acquisition of Africa'). The 'treaties and time' theme could also be used to explore more doctrinal aspects like the ILC's work on

These are just some ideas and you don't have to cover all of it and definitely not in great depth, but it would be great if there was more material that makes students really curious and excited to learn more about treaty law and international law more generally by providing a good overview of topics that invite further reflection.

Please let me and the other editors know if we can assist you in any way.

Warm regards, Sué

Sué González Hauck (discuss • contribs) 16:48, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

Review: May 17th, 2023
Dear Marko and Tax,

Thanks for this rich chapter. We added some comments that you can see when logged in and using the editing mode. Here some general feedback:

I think you managed successfully to give an overview of the law of treaties. Since this topic is somewhat technical, I wonder whether it would be possible at the beginning to add some links to broader debates and questions.

- Right ab the beginning, in the introductory section, consider adding that treaties are the most important source of IL. It could be interesting adding an estimate number about how many treaties today are registered with the UNTS just to give the students a feeling about the number and importance. Furthermore, you could add here already a reference to some broader current debates: the crisis of classic treaty making/bilateralism and multilateralism etc., the fact that not many new treaties are being concluded.

- Furthermore, consider adding a reference to the concepts of consent (and link to chapter in first part of book) and pacta sent servant that are embodied in the concept of treaty law

- An example here or there could make the topic a bit less technical.

- Finally, it could be useful in the first paragraph to give an overview of the aim of the legal area of the law of treaties more broadly, in the sense of a short roadmap of what you will be discussing in chapter. How are treaties made, what are the rules on reservations and treaty interpretation, how can treaties be terminated and suspended. Who has the power to adopt a treaty for a state? What are the grounds for invalidity, termination and suspension of a treaty.

Best, Raffaela --Raffaela Kunz (discuss • contribs) 09:32, 17 May 2023 (UTC)

Review: May 12, 2023
Your chapter on international treaty law provides a comprehensive overview of the subject matter, covering all the key points in a clear and concise manner. The language used in the chapter is simple and easy to understand, making it accessible to students who are new to the subject.

There are some areas where the writing is overly wordy and could benefit from more precision. By tightening up some of the language, the chapter could be made even more effective at conveying complex legal concepts.

One issue that I noticed with the chapter is the lack of footnotes. While the text is well-researched and informative, it would be helpful to have more references and citations to back up the claims being made. Please use OSCOLA as your citation style and make sure you provide full and accurate references for all sources cited. It is important to take the time to ensure that all footnotes are correctly formatted according to the Wikibooks style and numbered in sequence.

You will also find some comments in your chapter in which I elaborate on something more specifically. To view these comments, just open you chapter page and click on "Edit" in the top-right toolbox.

It would be great if you could finish the chapter by the end of June at the latest. The sooner you finish, the better we can review your chapter and the more time you have to use our comments to improve the chapter.

Note also that the following parts are still missing: required knowledge and learning objectives.

You could add some links to other chapters of the textbook.

Note that I have made some linguistic improvements to the text.

Max Milas (discuss • contribs) 16:42, 12 May 2023 (UTC)