Principle of Law

Principles of International Law (LAWS8182) Assignment #1

1) Procedural issue: Applicable Law to the Case

a) The State of Borogove (“B”) is an original party to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 (“VCLT”) and Slithytove (“S”) acceded to the VCLT on 24 December 1970. Article 4 Jabberwork Treaty 1970 (“JT”) stipulates that the Treaty “enters into force upon exchange by the two parties of their instruments of ratification”. This took place on the morning of 3 December 1970. Could the VCLT apply by virtue of the Bandersnatch Republic? No, state succession does not mean that the treaty applies. Both B and S became members of the United Nations in 1971.

2) Substantive Issue #1

An error [Article 48]

Article 48(1): Mistake as to fact, unilateral error

Article 48(2): State responsibility not to contribute:

Is the state responsible for ensuring that a memorandum of understanding is issued in case of uncertainty?

“It is an established rule of law that the plea of error cannot be allowed as an element vitiating consent in the party advancing it contributed by its own conduct to the error, or could have avoided it, or if the circumstances were such as to put the party on notice of a possible error”. Temple Case 1962, p26

Article 48(3): an error relating only to the wording of the text of the treaty does not affect its validity; article 79 then applies.

Since the sole source of this claim is the wording of the treaty in article 1, it is necessary to interpret the meaning of the provision.

Interpretative approach:

The new interpretation is an interpretation which would have a result obviously contrary to the language of the Treaty.

A treaty should be interpreted in good faith

Subsequent practice, such as the Borogove mining operation and lack of Borogove rollerladers on the streets of Jubjub, should have eluded the state of S to the true meaning of the Treaty. Stupidity is unlikely to be a reasonable defence....