This article investigates and analyses the work of the International Law Commission concerning what constitutes a treaty in international law, and the role of international courts and tribunals in developing the definition of treaty as enshrined in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (‘the VCLT ’). The definition of the treaty in the VCLT is the starting point of the discussion. The article argues that there is a whole host of new elements which appear in the practice of international courts and tribunals (including the International Court of Justice) that supplement the classical definition in the VCLT . However, judicial practice in international courts and tribunals is rather diverse which inhibits the formulation of a uniform and consistent general rule in respect of the definition of the treaty outside that of the VCLT .

中文翻译：

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国际法院和法庭决定中的条约概念

本文调查和分析了国际法委员会在国际法中什么构成条约方面的工作，以及国际法院和法庭在制定1969年《维也纳条约法公约》（以下简称`` VCLT'）。VCLT中条约的定义是讨论的起点。该文章认为，在国际法院和法庭（包括国际法院）的实践中出现了许多新元素，这些新元素补充了VCLT中的经典定义。但是，国际法院和法庭的司法实践是多种多样的，这阻碍了在VCLT定义之外就条约的定义制定统一一致的一般规则。