Written by Rafał Mańko.
Sovereign states, as the primary subjects of public international law, voluntarily enter into treaties (international agreements) creating international organisations, as the secondary subjects of public international law. According to a long-standing and well-established principle of public international law, known by the Latin maxim of pacta sunt servanda, states are obliged to abide by the agreements to which they commit. This principle is enshrined in Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (‘Vienna Convention’). It also applies, as a matter of course, to the multilateral treaties establishing international organisations. Such treaties may specify duties incumbent upon state parties, such as periodic payment of membership fees or agreement to abide by the decisions of organs of the organisation, as well as a set of values or principles to which state parties to the founding treaties have voluntarily committed, as in Article 3 of the Statute of the Council of Europe.
If a state violates a provision of a multilateral treaty that is essential to the accomplishment of its object or purpose, under Article 60 of the Vienna Convention, such breach is considered material. In such case, the other parties may, by unanimous agreement, suspend the operation of the treaty in whole or in part, or terminate it either in the relations between themselves and the defaulting state, or between all the parties to the treaty. Some experts claim that Article 60 of the Vienna Convention could be invoked to terminate a treaty establishing an international organisation, and thereby serve as a means for suspension or expulsion of a recalcitrant member.
Read the complete briefing on ‘Suspension and expulsion of states from international organisations: Analysis of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and of the practice at the United Nations and the Council of Europe‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
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