Interpretation of treaties by subsequent conduct to the States Parties

Abstract

The subsequent conduct  of states parties is one of the  means of interpretation of international treaties stipulated in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969. This method is mentioned as a basic means of interpretation in Article (31) and also as a complementary means of interpretation in Article (32) when the general means of interpretation do not lead to Clarify the ambiguity of the text or resulted in vague and incomprehensible interpretations and phrases. This method is the best expression of what the parties want in terms of the meanings within the treaty document in which the dispute was raised, even if the dispute over the interpretation of an ambiguous text contained in a treaty is presented to the international judiciary in case the general rules are not reached. In interpretation to clarify this ambiguity, the international judiciary often resorted to the behavior of the states parties after the conclusion of the treaty to determine the way in which the parties implemented the articles of the treaty as the best expression of the intention of the parties to conclude the treaty. This method may extend beyond that when this behavior acquires a reciprocal and repetitive character that may later give rise to a binding international custom that represents the behavior of the states parties to the country and represents its material corner.