LAW OF TREATIES

Treaties are an important and major source of international law. It is a convenient way by which the States deliberately  enter into agreements with other States. A  Treaty can be concluded between two states (bilateral) or more than two states (multilateral). The body of international law that governs their procedural and substantive aspects is referred to as the "law of treaties". A treaty is a main source for the States to have a comprehensive, certain and stable legal body governing an issue or area of concern and the parties to the treaties are, therefore, legally bound by it, thus creating certain rights and obligations under the international law which they have to adhere to.

There are no obligatory formal requirements which must be fulfilled before a treaty can come into existence. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 defines a treaty as:

"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".