Conclusion and Publication of International Treaties in Antiquity

Abstract

1. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 has defined in its art. 2 the international treaty as an international agreement between states concluded in written form. Only in art. 3 the said Convention makes clear that other international agreements might be valid, too. The United Nations Charter art. 102 ensures that international treaties concluded by the member states are registered and published by the Secretariat of the United Nations. These rules and the practice of our actual Law of Nations are the results of a complicated development which has its origins in antiquity. From the early beginnings in the third millenium B.C. until the 16th century A.D. we can observe that international treaties, in spite of their being reported, registered and passed on in written form, are concluded not through written instruments, but through declarations of the treaty-making parties, solemnly confirmed by mutual oaths. We shall not delve into the history of medieval and modern international law but limit our observations to the legal history of preclassical and classical antiquity, which Reuven Yaron has enriched by so many important contributions.