Fisher, Shireen Avis;
(2014)
A Tale of Two Treaties: The Uneasy Convergence of International Law and Domestic Interpretation.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Abstract
The Abduction Convention is in trouble and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties may be able to rescue it. The Abduction Convention is classified by the Hague Conference on Private International Law as a child welfare treaty, adopted as part of its mandate to facilitate the progressive unification of private international law. In 1980 it was hailed by the Conference as a blow struck for social justice. The Interpretive provisions of the VCLT (Articles 31-33) incorporate the principles of international treaty interpretation developed though international practice, which note and accommodate the unique differences and goals of treaty-based law, and prescribe the method for its interpretation. The Abduction Convention has failed to deliver on its promise of social justice because it has been neither progressive nor unified in its application. This paper postulates that application of the VCLT Interpretive rules can ‘correct’ Abduction Convention jurisprudence by identifying appropriate ‘evidence’ for interpretation and suggesting a process by which a progressive application can include developing legal concepts on children’s and family rights as well as emerging information on social and family dynamics. This paper undertakes to use the VCLT Interpretive Rules in their entirety to discover the object and purpose of the Abduction Convention in light of which its disputed terms may be interpreted, and in so doing provides a template for interpretation of other treaties, and the process and evidence for further interpretation of the Abduction Convention itself. It concludes that harmonization of interpretation through the uniform use of the international rules and principles can lead to a progressive application of the Abduction Convention that may allow it to recover its former potential.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | A Tale of Two Treaties: The Uneasy Convergence of International Law and Domestic Interpretation |
| Language: | English |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1458534 |
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