The Abiding Relevance of Treaty Interpretation

As we come to the end of our discussion of Richard Gardiner’s book and the subject of Treaty Interpretation more generally, I wanted to thank our guest bloggers and, of course, Richard, for what has proven a sophisticated (and hopefully useful) discussion.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the examination Isabelle, Malgosia, Jan and Richard brought to bear on issues about the New Haven School’s continued salience, dynamic treaty interpretation, prepatory work, the VCLT as rules or standards, etc.  My only regret is that there were many more topics we could have addressed but did not — e.g., the role of unilateral statements under Article 32; questions on whether our method of interpretation should shift depending on the function it serves (whether articulating national or international law or perhaps enabling conduct versus restricting it), and the problems multiple languages pose.  In any event, I hope that we’ll have future opportunities for such dialogue, and that our readers will feel free to weigh in with further views and comments of their own.