Law of Treaties - Conclusion, Capacity, Consent, and Reservations

The International Criminal Court

On Friday we will continue the discussion of the law of treaties, looking in particular at the issues of concluding a treaty, capacity to enter into treaty,  methods of expressing consent, and reservations. Some points to think about as you review the material:

- What was the significance of the Bush Administration famously "un-signing" the ICC Rome Statute? What explanation can you find in the VCLT for the US government having done so?

- What are the pros and cons of permitting reservations? Does the rationale differ if the treaty is a human rights treaty as opposed to, say, a regional trade treaty? If so, why?

- Consider, for purposes of discussion, the U.S. reservations to the ICCPR (reservation to Art. 20(2)), and the Genocide Convention (general reservation), and the ICJ's opinion on the matter of reservations, and the Human Rights Committee's views on reservations to the ICCPR.