International Law and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

This chapter deals with two separate but related matters: First, it gives an overview of international law, a significant part of which is concerned with treaties; and second, it looks at the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

1) International Law

International law is important both to the areas that give rise to supranational disputes (territorial and maritime boundary disputes and investor-State disputes) and to the supranational bodies that deal with these disputes.

Systems of law can be divided into three types:

i) municipal law;

ii) private international law;

iii) public international law.

i) Municipal Law

Municipal law, or national law, is the domestic system of law that operates within a State. This law regulates the relationships between the State and its citizens and between citizen and citizen within that State.

English law, for example, comprises a complex and extensive framework of law based on both the Common Law and Statute. This framework covers criminal and civil matters. In the civil field, for example, statutes such as the Sale of Goods Act govern the relationships between buyers and sellers. In the field of dispute resolution, the Arbitration Act 1996 deals primarily with arbitration in the domestic sphere but in addition contains provisions dealing with the recognition and enforcement of "certain foreign awards" - namely, Geneva Convention awards and New York Convention awards.5

Written law in England dates back to the Anglo-Saxons (see Box 2). The Laws of King Alfred the Great (about AD 886) contained a series of 77 laws. While including the 'tariff' of compensation payable for wrongs and injuries caused, his laws also included other provisions: for example, provisions dealing with traders. The first of King Alfred's list of Laws is of particular interest:

"First we ...

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