Legal regulation of obligations in international agreements

Abstract

The law of international treaties is one of the key branches of international law. It is international agreements, as a source of international law, that govern states, since the contractual regulation of international activity is able to ensure civilized interstate cooperation, such as: trade, investment, create appropriate conditions for the development of the economies of the contracting parties, and guarantee security processes in the country. The obligations of states assumed during the conclusion of international agreements, their proper formulation, agreement and compliance are the primary basis of quality international relations. Accordingly, this paper is devoted to the analysis of the normatively determined characteristics of an international agreement and the presence of obligations in them, methods of revival of obligations in the agreement, comparison of agreements with different subjects and obligations in them. Emphasis is made separately on the existing problems of the implementation of current international agreements. The study shows that security agreements usually contain negative obligations, while trade agreements include both positive and negative types of obligations. The above demonstrates that an international agreement is an expression of the will of the parties, their intentions, and also demonstrates the nature of the relationship dictated by the subject of the agreement. Thus, security agreements provide for compliance with the principle of non-interference and refraining from actions that could harm another country. Instead, trade agreements aim at active cooperation between states, which emphasizes the need for positive commitments by countries. The issues of appropriateness of the formation of obligations are equally important, both in international private and in international public law. However, researchers, unfortunately, pay little attention to the specifics of states’ obligations. It is the latter that are important, complex and lengthy to negotiate and affect a wide range of individuals. Undoubtedly, they differ significantly among themselves in the specifics of multilateral international agreements, which provide for accession itself, and not participation in the formation of the texts of agreements. All of the above emphasizes the complexity and multifacetedness of the researched issue. Accordingly, as modern international agreement law develops, it needs new views, the proper formulation of obligations in agreements, and guarantees of the latter’s fulfillment.