国际法院解释领土条约的路径、方法及其拓展

领土主权属于一国的根本问题。由于部分领土条约相关条款过于原则或模糊不清,当事方会产生条约解释上的国际争端。通常,国际法院依据《维也纳条约法公约》第31、32条规定的解释规则进行阐释。但是,领土条约具有与一般条约不同的特性,这一特性也决定了其解释方法的特殊性。条约解释与争议领土主权的归属存在密切关系,不当解释会严重损害当事国的领土主权。正是出于此顾虑,国际法院过于严格遵照条约文本语言表述的精确性,但在司法实践中又出现一定的矛盾与反复,甚至在个案中弱化条约解释的价值,转而以有效统治作为判案的法理依据。国际法院的做法动摇了国际社会相关当事方将领土争端提交国际法院,采取法律方式解决纠纷的信心,值得关注和深入研究。

ICJ's Practice on Treaty Interpretation in Cases of Territorial Disputes

Territorial sovereignty is the fundamental issue for a state. However, some territorial treaties are too general and ambiguous to settle the territorial border between two states and therefore are likely to lead to international disputes over treaty interpretation. Usually, the International Court of Justice (the Court) explains relevant articles of a treaty according to Articles 31-32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Considering the utmost importance of a territorial treaty, the Court always strictly follows the precise language of the treaty. However, there are contradictions and inconsistencies in Court''s judicial practices. Moreover, the Court has also made judgment based on the doctrine of effective control, which weaken the value of treaty interpretation. Therefore, the Court should define rules of interpretation that can be anticipated by parties during the trial. Especially, if the Court can solve territorial disputes through treaty interpretation, it should not weaken the value of treaty interpretation by relying on the principle of effective control. Meanwhile, the Court should not be too dependent on the principle of stable boundary, but should set certain restrictions on it. Otherwise, it may deviate from the normal process of territorial treaty interpretation, and put cart before the horse. Thirdly, based on evidentiary rules of admissibility, subsequent practice used to interpret the territorial treaty must be related to the treaty and occured before the critical date if such date can be determined. The Court''s practices on treaty interpretation in cases of territorial disputes are worth noting and studying.