CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Tarasova, Anastasiia |
|---|---|
| Title | Interpretation Of Plurilingual Treaties: On Language And Law |
| Summary | The proposed research addresses the issue of the interpretation of the plurilingual treaties. The major focus is on the study of the Article 33 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), in its part on the role of language (s) in the interpretation of plurilingual treaties. In particular, the challenges of a difference of meaning between / among the texts of a treaty authenticated in two or more languages are addressed. The research aims at getting the insight into the interconnectedness of the language and the law domains, mainly whether interpretation rules under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) provide the mechanism / algorithm for the interpretation of the plurilingual treaties and how the language / linguistic theory can facilitate the process of the interpretation by offering the meaning that best reconciles the texts of a treaty in several languages. The research elaborates on the nature / character of the possible ambiguities / variations and means / ways of overcoming those ambiguities on the illustrative examples of the case studies from the State practice. On the one hand, ambiguities may be caused by the pure nature or ‘genius’ of the language, e.g., divergencies in the meaning of a term, lack of equivalent or, so called lacunas between / among various languages. On the other hand, interpretation of plurilingual treaties goes far beyond the linguistic / semantics domain. Analysis of the case studies has revealed that substantial elements in theory and practice of interpretation according to the international law on treaties appear to be: 1. The real / true will of the states / parties of international treaties. 2. The interest of States / parties laying behind the use of certain linguistic expressions. 3. The awareness of a lacuna arising out of a dissonance of different linguistic expressions. 4. The hidden ‘agreement of the parties not to agree’. 5. The express use of this diplomatic formula to overcome different and not solvable views and interests at the given time. 6. It remains not easy to interpret the actual content of the dissent and thereby the extent of how far the treaty is legally binding for a specific party. Is it possible that a multilingual treaty establishes different obligations of the parties or is it the presumption of unity strong enough to unify these differences? The methodology of the research is of qualitative character, employing componential analysis, textual and descriptive analysis of the texts of treaties in various languages, comparative analysis for finding out commonalities and differences among the texts / terms; case study analysis of the States’ practice; qualitative analysis of the approaches, methods, and techniques of interpretation of the texts of the treaties authenticated in two or more authentic languages. The case study research of the State practice of the interpretation of the plurilingual treaties is used to reveal / demonstrate the use of rules of interpretation of plurilingual treaties in part of Article 33 (4) of VCLT in practice. |
| Supervisor | Boldizsár Nagy |
| Department | School of Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/tarasova_anastasiia.pdf |
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