The Spatial Dimension: Treaties and Territory

Abstract

This chapter elaborates on the spatial dimension of treaties - their operation in, and with regard to territory. It attempts to unpack the several overlapping concepts that can hide behind deceptively simple terms such as the territorial application or scope of treaties. It examines, inter alia, Article 29 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, territorial application in the sense of the physical location in which a state's party's obligations are to be performed, territorial application in the different sense of a treaty's binding effect with regard to a state's territorial sub-divisions, as well as the dedicated treaty clauses, reservations and unilateral declarations used by states to vary the territorial scope of application of treaties.

Keywords: treaties, territorial application, overseas territories, reservations