The Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Abstract

This article investigates how asean acquires its international legal personality and exercises its treaty-making capacity. It, first, traces the evolution of asean’s international legal personality and treaty-making practice in three successive periods in asean’s pre-Charter development from 1967 until 2007. It then examines the formal conferral of asean’s legal personality in 2007; analyses the content and implications of the 2011 Rules of Procedure for the Conclusion of International Agreements by asean; and examines asean’s treaty-making practice in the post-Charter era. It argues that asean had a limited international legal personality and treaty-making capacity even prior to the adoption of the asean Charter in 2007. While the Charter represents a critical juncture in asean’s legal evolution, asean’s exercise of its international legal personality and treaty-making capacity since then remains limited due to many institutional and procedural constraints.