The Object and Purpose of a Treaty: Three Interpretive Methods
![handle is hein.journals/vantl43 and id is 571 raw text is: VANDERBILT JOURNAL
of TRANSNATIONAL LAW
VOLUME 43 MAY 2010 NUMBER 3
The Object and Purpose of a
Treaty: Three Interpretive
Methods
David S. Jonas*
Thomas N. Saunders'
ABSTRACT
This Article examines the three most prominent uses of the
term object and purpose within the Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties and, in each instance, offers a new method for
applying the term. First, the rule that a treaty be interpreted in
light of its object and purpose requires a process of
interpretation that oscillates between a treaty's individual
provisions and the logic of all its provisions as a whole. Second,
for reservations, the term exists to preserve rule coherence[,] as
that term has been developed by Professor Thomas Franck.
Lastly, states are required upon signature not to defeat the
* General Counsel, National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of
Energy; Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center. B.A., Denison
University; J.D., Wake Forest University School of Law; LL.M., The Judge Advocate
General's School, U.S. Army; LL.M., Georgetown University Law Center. The Author
previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps, concluding his service with the Joint
Chiefs of Staff as nuclear nonproliferation planner. The views expressed herein are his
own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the National Nuclear
Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy, or the U.S. Government.
** J.D., Georgetown University Law Center 2009. Clinical Teaching Fellow and
Fulbright grantee at Seoul National University School of Law, Korea. Former clerk at
the Department of State's Office of the Legal Adviser. The Co-author thanks
Georgetown University Law Center for funding a portion of his research for this
Article. For their valuable comments and insights into earlier drafts, both Authors
express deepest gratitude to Barry Carter, David Koplow, Aaron Lawrence, Colleen
Maring, and Ari Weisbard.
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The Object and Purpose of a Treaty: Three Interpretive Methods
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