Object and purpose in international uniform law conventions

Object and purpose of an international treaty appear frequently as word pair in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) where the word pair is often understood to form a fixed expression with an interchangeable meaning of the two words. Most relevant for questions of interpretation of uniform law conventions in general is Art. 31 VCLT .

The author submits that object has a separate meaning from purpose and that the object of a treaty in particular can be used as a powerful tool for the interpretation and justification of uniform law. An outline of the intricate interplay between the notion of contract and treaty interpretation is given and the meaning of both terms analysed in detail. The use of object and purpose can open up new avenues for putting the existing codified uniform law to best use as well as developing guidelines for future legislation.

This article is part of a special issue: The future of the commercial contract in scholarship and law reform - a work in progress