Outskirts Press, INC.

Treaty Ratification in Developing Countries… The Way Forward.

Art. 2(1)(a) of The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, defines a treaty as “an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation.” This vital source of international law plays a fundamental role in fostering peaceful cooperation among nations and functions as a useful tool for dispute resolution.

Generally, the path to treaty ratification and implementation is a long and cumbersome process laden with obstacles and difficulties. However, these obstacles rise to a higher level of complexity and difficulty in developing countries. The book offers a wide-ranging analysis of the challenges ranging from economic, social, and political, to corruption and lack of adequate leadership and structure in most developing countries. Examples of existing treaties are used to capture the feelings and sentiments of developing countries concerning treaty ratification and implementation.

The author offers a compelling conclusion that even though there appears to be an urgency on the part of developing countries to sign treaties unless something serious and concerted is done on the part of most developing countries, it would amount to foolhardy to conceive that developing countries will play any significant role in the ratification and implementation of some treaties.