Article 46: Provisions Of Internal Law Regarding Competence To Conclude Treaties
In: Commentary on the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of TreatiesSearch for other papers by M.E. Villiger in
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Abstract
Article 46 states to what extent constitutional limitations on the power of the executive to conclude a treaty may affect the validity in international law of consent to a treaty given by a State representative apparently authorised to give that consent. In essence, if a State representative who is competent under international law expresses the consent of the State to a treaty, that State is bound to its international obligations under the treaty. It is concerned with whether this consent has been expressed in violation of a provision of its internal law regarding competence to conclude treaties. Internal law on the competence to conclude treaties embraces written and unwritten constitutional law and practice, subordinate legal and administrative provisions, and obligations in internal law derived from treaties which that State has concluded with other States.