Interpretation or international treaties
Recommendations to legal researchers
In international law, States Parties to human rights treaties must identify and understand their legal obligations so that they can comply with those obligations. Legal researchers can support States Parties representatives to achieve greater understanding of treaty provisions. Treaty interpretation is a legal research methodology used to determining the meaning of treaty provisions. International law prescribes the rules and principles of treaty interpretation in Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). However, the applicability of Articles 31 and 32 vclt may be challenging for some legal researchers who require proper training in treaty interpretation. Based on a literature review, this article provides legal researchers with useful insights on the scope and applicability of Articles 31 and 32 vclt in practice. It also includes several examples of relevant case law illustrating the applicability of the rules and principles of treaty interpretation by domestic and international courts. The underlying purpose of this article is thus to provide legal researchers with valuable insights on treaty interpretation as a regulated and rigorous legal research method. Notably, treaty interpretation is not a mechanical process, but an active human reasoning process. The resulting interpretation establishes the legal basis for the assessment of compliance with certain obligations by States Parties to, interalia, human rights treaties.
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