Aspects Of Treaty Research Articles

Catatan atas Masalah Aktual Perjanjian Internasional

The matter of treaty is always be interesting to discuss, especially when it somes to the question whether a state will regard a treaty which has been ratified as a part of national law that could be directly executed or not. Many opinions from various experts have been spelt out in different media. This article will discuss various aspects of treaty especially in Indonesian legal system, which was previously presented in a seminar organized by Center for International Law Studies and Ministry of Foreign Affairs overviewed certain affairs regarding implementation of treaties in Indonesia.

NARES Capacity in Relation to International Treaties and Conventions on Intellectual Property Rights, Agricultural Biotechnology, and Plant Genetic Resources Management

Significant developments in the scientific front and international policy arena have affected the use and exchange of genetic resources, and the management of intellectual property. These developments are now reshaping public agricultural research and development (R&D) in developing countries, especially in the access, generation, and dissemination of research outputs. Three of the most important international treaties and conventions that are important in this context are the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (WTO-TRIPS), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). Already, majority of the developing countries are signatories to these treaties and could be expected to exploit them for their own advantage. On the other hand, non-member countries, despite their non-participation, must find alternative scenarios to be able to effectively address issues concerning IPR, agricultural biotechnology, and plant genetic resources. As the main source of innovation in public agricultural research, national agricultural research extension systems (NARES) need to be enlightened on the various aspects of these treaties and agreements and the impact on their respective research and extension activities. It may be necessary, for example, to tailor capacity-building initiatives on the IPR, agbiotech, and PGR aspects of international treaties to specific countries or regions since policy and enforcement mechanisms among NARES vary according to the availability of human and logistical resources, research priorities, and technology transfer objectives. This paper takes a look at the critical aspects of TRIPS, CBD, ITPGRFA, and other agreements, and studies their implications on public agbiotech R&D among NARS; compares initiatives by several Asian developing countries to comply with the provisions of these treaties and agreements; highlights PhilRice's initiatives to help its national government comply with its obligations under these treaties; and assesses and recommends a plan of action on the capacity-building of NARES institutions on IPR, agbiotech, and PGR management.

The Operational and Normative Aspects of Treaties

There are two aspects to a treaty. On the one hand, it constitutes a procedure, an operation whereby several minds meet and, if necessary, meet again to review, amend or even abolish the commitments contained in the treaty; on the other hand, it describes and establishes rights and duties, defines individual situations, or lays down general rules. In the language of continental jurists a treaty is at the same time a “legal transaction” and a “collection of norms”. Consequently, it is possible to distinguish in the articles of the treaty between those containing provisions pertaining to the mechanism of the legal transaction, which may be termed its “operational rules”, and those containing rules of content, which may also be called—to borrow from the language of private international law—“rules of substantive law”.