Treaty Interpretation Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Chang-fa Lo has been Justice of the Constitutional Court of the ROC (Taiwan) since October 2011. Prior to his current judicial position, he was the Chair Professor and Lifetime Distinguished Professor at National Taiwan University (NTU); Dean of NTU College of Law; Director of Asian Center for WTO and International Health Law and Policy of NTU College of Law (ACWH); Director of Center for Ethics, Law and Society in Biomedicine and Technology of NTU; Commissioner of Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission; Commissioner of Taiwan’s International Trade Commission; and legal advisor for Taiwan’s GATT/WTO accession negotiations. In his capacity as the Director of ACWH, Professor Lo launched two English journals, namely, the Asian Journal of WTO and International Health Law and Policy and the Contemporary Asia Arbitration Journal (CAA) in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In his tenure as Dean of NTU College of Law, he also launched an English journal, the NTU Law Review. Prior to histeaching career, he practiced law in Taipei. He received his SJD degree from Harvard University Law School in 1989. He was appointed by the WTO as a panelist for DS332      Brazil—Measures Affecting Imports of Retreaded Tyre in 2006, DS468 Ukraine—Definitive Safeguard Measures on Certain Passenger Cars in 2014, and as a member of the Permanent Group of Experts under the SCM Agreement of WTO in 2008. He is also the chairman of the Asia WTO Research Network (AWRN) since 2013. He is the author of 13 books (including the current one) and the editor of 6 books, and has authored about 100 journal papers and book chapters.  

Part I The Setting.- 1 Revisiting the Essence of Treaty Interpretation.- 2 Treaty Interpretation as Opposed to Statutory, Constitutional and Contractual Interpretations.- 3 Meaning of Codification and VCLT as the First Round of Codification of Customary Rules of Treaty Interpretation.- 4 Desirability and Some Principles for a New Round of Codification.- Part II Existing Issues to be Subject to Codified Rules.- 5 Boundary of Treaty Interpretation and Possible Codification.- 6 Difference and Relations Between Interpretation and Application of Treaties and the Possible Codification.- 7 Relations Between Treaty Interpretation and Finding/Assessment of Facts and the Possible Codification.- 8 International Adjudicating and Non-Adjudicating Bodies as Treaty Interpreters and the Possible Codification.- 9 Interpreting Treaties For Private Matters And The Possible Codification.- 10 Methods of Searching for the Ordinary Meaning and the Possible Codification.- 11 Ways of Taking Into Consideration the Object-and-Purpose and the Possible Codification.- 12 Means of Taking into Consideration the Context and the Possible Codification.- 13 Special Meaning, Supplementary Means and Different Languages as Well as the Possible Codification.- 14 Some Other Supplementary Interpretation Principles and the Possible Codification.- 15 Time Factor, Technological Development, Evolutive Interpretation and the Possible Codification.- 16 The Formula Approach for Indefinite Legal Concepts and the Possible Codification.- 17 Sequence, Hierarchy, Good Faith, Holistic Interpretation and the Possible Codification.- Part III  New Issues and Perspectives.- 18 Introducing Fundamental Values into Treaty Interpretation and the Possible Codification.- 19 Coordination Between Different Treaties Through Treaty Interpretation and the Possible Codification.-20 Conclusion – Features and Perspectives of the New Codified Rules of Treaty Interpretation.- Index.