1978 – The 1978 Vienna Convention, the Clean Slate Doctrine and the Decolonization of Sources

Abstract

On 23 August 1978, the Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of Treaties (VCSST) was adopted in Vienna. It was the result of a codification conference that started in 1977 and preceded by decades of work of the International Law Commission (ILC). The VCSST arguably constitutes the most earnest attempt to resolve the myriad of legal issues connected with treaty succession, while – as a child of its time – also accommodating the unique perspective of states that became independent during the decolonization period of the 1960s and 1970s. However, even more broadly, the VCSST may be understood as the culmination point of century-long doctrinal debates on matters of state succession, which are usually considered as oscillating between the two poles of universal succession or a clean slate (tabula rasa). Although attempting this balance, the VCSST may also be characterized by its failure to bring about a definite resolution to those questions. With currently only 23 state parties, the convention is far from the (quasi-)universal status of some of its Viennese namesakes. Moreover, the broader question underlying the negotiations to the VCSST, namely the role of newly independent states within international law-making, still has relevance today and goes beyond the broader question underlying the negotiations to the VCSST, namely the role of newly independent states within international law-making, still has relevance today and goes beyond treaty law alone. Indeed, scholars associated with Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) have long posited that colonialist patterns persist within the international legal system to this day. This contribution seeks to highlight some of the associated issues.