Tams, Christian J.; Tzanakopoulos, Antonios; Zimmermann, Andreas --- "Introduction" [2014] ELECD 735; in Tams, J. Christian; Tzanakopoulos, Antonios; Zimmermann, Andreas (eds), "Research Handbook on the Law of Treaties" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014) x

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Law of Treaties

Editor(s): Tams, J. Christian; Tzanakopoulos, Antonios; Zimmermann, Andreas

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857934772

Section Title: Introduction

Author(s): Tams, Christian J.; Tzanakopoulos, Antonios; Zimmermann, Andreas

Number of pages: 7

Extract:

Introduction
Christian J. Tams, Antonios Tzanakopoulos and
Andreas Zimmermann



Without treaties, international law and international relations are difficult
to imagine. From the dramatic to the mundane, so much activity today is
regulated by treaties. Where war is waged, we argue about the scope of
the Geneva Conventions, human rights treaties and of course the UN
Charter. When States make peace or draw boundaries, they do so by
treaty. Where individuals suffer, international agreements provide us with
a language and a benchmark to characterise atrocities as `crimes' or
`human rights violations'. When we are about to board a flight, we make
use, usually unconsciously, of international rules on standardised pass-
ports derived from treaties, and we benefit from international conventions
on civil aviation. Some treaties reflect the international community's
hope for a more just world order, others entrench grave injustices.
Treaties are ubiquitous: since the end of World War I, around 56,500
have been registered with the United Nations and its predecessor, as
envisaged in Article 18 of the League's Covenant and Article 102 of the
UN Charter.1 This figure, however, does not reflect the total number of
treaties concluded: it includes neither oral agreements nor treaties
between non-UN members; and of course it does not capture the
considerable number of treaties that, contrary to Article 102, have not
been registered. International law is difficult to imagine without treaties
indeed.
The contemporary dominance of treaties as the principal instrument for
ordering international relations owes a lot ...