THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EXPRESSING CONSENT TO BE BOUND BY A TREATY IN THE DOCTRINE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE CONSIDERATION OF THE INVALIDITY OF A TREATY, TERMINATION AND SUSPENSION OF ITS OPERATION

Abstract

At this stage of the evolution of statehood, international treaties as the legal foundations of international relations serve to strengthen security and peace, expanding interstate relations in fulfilment of the goals and principles of the UN Charter. Hence, treaties maintain a prominent position in international law, the concept of the treaty, along with general concepts and principles of expressing the consent to be bound by a treaty should be defined in international law doctrine. For instance, international agreements concluded between States and/or international organizations could be accomplished in different forms, including “ratification”, “act of formal confirmation”, “acceptance”, “approval”, “succession” and “accession”. However, there isn’t any international instrument, unifying norms on the expression of the consent to be bound by a treaty. In particular, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties from 1969 does not identify the concept of “succession”, along with the “act of formal confirmation”. Besides, the Convention from 1896 is not yet in force. Thus, this thesis evaluates the possible solutions for the unification of the concepts and norms of expressing consent to be bound by a treaty in international law doctrine.