Considering the fundamental role of treaties in the history of international relations,
Recognizing the ever-increasing importance of treaties as a source of international law and as a means of developing peaceful co-operation among nations, whatever their constitutional and social systems,
Noting that the principles of free consent and of good faith and the pacta sunt servanda rule are universally recognized,
Affirming that disputes concerning treaties, like other international disputes, should be settled by peaceful means and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law,
Recalling the determination of the peoples of the United Nations to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties can be maintained,
Having in mind the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, such as the principles of the equal rights and self-determination of peoples, of the sovereign equality and independence of all States, of non-interference in the domestic affairs of States, of the prohibition of the threat or use of force and of universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all,
Believing that the codification and progressive development of the law of treaties achieved in the present Convention will promote the purposes of the United Nations set forth in the Charter, namely, the maintenance of international peace and security, the development of friendly relations and the achievement of co-operation among nations,
Affirming that the rules of customary international law will continue to govern questions not regulated by the provisions of the present Convention,
Have agreed as follows:
PART I INTRODUCTION
Article 1 Scope of the present Convention
The present Convention applies to treaties between States.
Article 2 Use of terms
1. For the purposes of the present Convention:
(a) "treaty" means an international agreement concluded
between States in written form and governed by
international law, whether embodied in a single
instrument or in two or more related instruments and
whatever its particular designation;
(b) "ratification", "acceptance", "approval" and "accession"
mean in each case the international act so named
whereby a State establishes on the international plane its
consent to be bound by a treaty;
(c) "full powers" means a document emanating from the
competent authority of a State designating a person or
persons to represent the State for negotiating, adopting
or authenticating the text of a treaty, for expressing the
consent of the State to be bound by a treaty, or for
accomplishing any other act with respect to a treaty;
(d) "reservation" means a unilateral statement, however
phrased or named, made by a State, when signing,
ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty,
whereby it purports to exclude or to modify the legal
effect of certain provisions of the treaty in their
application to that State;
(e) "negotiating State" means a State which took part in the
drawing up and adoption of the text of the treaty;
(f) "contracting State" means a State which has consented
to be bound by the treaty, whether or not the treaty has
entered into force;
(g) "party" means a State which has consented to be
bound by the treaty and for which the treaty is in force;
(h) "third State" means a State not a party to the treaty;
(i) "international organization" means an intergovernmental
organization.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 regarding the use of terms in the present Convention are without prejudice to the use of those terms or to the meanings which may be given to them in the internal law of any State.
