Abstract:

International conventions are the most frequent agreements between two nations regarding any issue or for citing international standards. This paper gives you a basic knowledge of what is a treaty or an agreement and why is there need to make such agreements between the nations. It also gives you the glimpse of three conventions i.e. Vienna convention and the other two which are ratified by India. Later the paper mentions about what is the significance of the international treaties in international laws? It also tells the relevance of some constitutional articles why the parliament is involved in ratification of treaties.

What is a treaty?

A treaty is a formal, written agreement between two or more states which has a binding effect of international law. There are bilateral treaties which is between two nations or multilateral between two or more states. Treaties are being formed due to several reasons it can be because of disputes between two or nations, so a treaty can be for ratified by the nations to maintain peace or harmony and to agree on the similar terms to settle the dispute. A treaty can signed to reduce the depletion of natural resources or for the establishment of science & innovation based public and private partnerships. So there can be several motives of signing a treaty.

Need for international treaties

 As we know globalisation plays a very important role in today’s era. The world is becoming smaller day by day. And the problems are becoming global day by day. So global problems need global solutions. No matter how much powerful a nation is it cannot solve the global problems alone. In other words international law act as a mechanism between two or more nations to corroborate peace, harmony, stability, order in international relations and security of the sovereign state. Despite being known for maintaining peace &security among nations there was no codified law for signing of treaties. It took a long time in making a codified law for making treaties. 

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969

It is a UN agreement which has a set rules and regulations that binds every treaty which is being formulated between two sovereign states. It provides legal framework for the nations to abide at the time of peace. The framework includes directives on application, conclusion, interpretation, amendment, entry into force treaties and modification. It also states regulations on validity, termination and suspension of different treaties. By this Vienna convention UN enforces its charter onto nations to live in peace and harmony and to maintain international security. Convention may still represent a progressive development of international laws, not supported by a large number of states. Article 26 of the convention says that every treaty signed by a country is binding on it and its obligations imposed by the treaties should be done with good faith.

Few treaties ratified by India

FTA agreement:

 FTA treaty or FTA agreement is multinational agreement according to the international law, it is an agreement which promotes trade across nations with no trade barriers or less trade barriers encouraging international trade however now the agreement not only include trade of goods but also trade of services and investment. The FTA agreement not only facilitates the free trade between nations but also helps under developed nations and developing nations to become more prospers. 

Few advantages of FTA

• More dynamic business climate – In the absence of free trade the countries protected their local business which made them stagnant and non – competitive but with the introduction of free trade the local business of nations become more competitive and  motivated to be able to grow globally.
• Foreign direct investments- FDI’s promote local business as foreign investors invest in the domestic market so it boost our economies and help domestic business to grow internationally.
• Sharing resources and valuable information- as we know international business are expert in developing resources , so it would help domestic companies to access of the information and methods to work efficiently and effectively.
• Technology advancement- if domestic companies lack in technologies then the international companies will help the locals in accessing the latest technologies which will make the domestic business grow globally.

Few disadvantages of FTA

• Outsourcing- The job outsourcing has been a major problem instead of being a advantage, as there is cheap labour available in other counties it affects the local people who are jobless.
• Theft of IP – Every country does not have protected patent laws and other country takes advantage and as a result their ideas are often stolen.
• Poor working conditions- Every country does not have proper labour laws so the many times children and women are being harassed.

Solution

Protection of trade is not the permanent solution of the problems faced. As increasing the tariffs and subsides can be a solution for the short term but not for the long term.  A better way is to make some rules within trade agreements that are the solutions to all the cons of the trade agreement.  Countries can insist that foreign companies build local factories as part of the agreement. They can insist to train their workers and make share technology.

Shimla Agreement, 1972

The Shimla agreement signed between India and Pakistan on 2 July 1972 was more than just an agreement, it was set of guidelines which India and Pakistan adhere to maintaining the peaceful relations with India. The agreement was signed the Prime mister Indira Gandhi of India and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan.

The agreements says that-

• The UN charter will govern the relations of the two nations.
• Both the countries shall resolve all the issues between them by mutual and peaceful means. And all the rest of the issues between the nations will be solved through bilateral agreements and by unilateral. 
• They also agreed to maintain respect for each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and non – interference in each other’s internal affairs on the basis of equality, and mutual benefit. 
• Both the nations will take steps to resume communication, to promote travel facility, exchange in field of science and technology will be promoted.
• In order to maintain durable peace forces of both the nations will be withdrawn from their side of international border.
• In Jammu and Kashmir, the line of control shall be respected by both the nations and no one can unilaterally seek to alter it. It shall be resolved with mutual or unilateral agreements.

Despite having the legal agreement Pakistan has continually failed to be committed to the agreement. They have continually terrorised India by their terror attacks, which has always been an issue for India. However we know that using terror to achieve ones goals is not a rational behaviour. And the matter of article370 was an internal matter of India to promote socio- economic development and good governance. And India has always been committed to the agreement while Pakistan has been failed to comply with it. Moreover terrorism is the act which no democracy accepts.

Significance of international conventions under international law:

The international agreements set ground rules for different nations in framing laws and policies on various subjects. They also lay down guidelines for Indian judicial system to fill gaps in the matter where there are no clear laws in Indian legal system. Like on case vishaka v. state of Rajasthan where vishaka and other women filed an PIL against Rajasthan and the central government to enforce fundamental rights in articles 14, 19 &21 of the constitution of India. The petition was filed after a social worker was gang raped for stopping a child marriage. Later the SC took in the consideration of international laws and guarantee of gender equality, right to work with human dignity in article 14, 19, &21 of constitution of India. Without domestic law involving the field to plan successful measures to check the abhorrence of evil of sexual harassment against working ladies at all work puts, the substance of International Conventions and standards are noteworthy with the end goal of translation of the assurance of gender equality, right to work with Human nobility in Articles 14, 15, 19(1) (g) and 21 of the Constitution and the protections against sexual harassment verifiable in that. Any international treaty showing not conflicting with the key rights and in congruity with its spirit must be added something extra to those arrangements to develop the significance and substance thereof, to advance the object of the Constitutional assurance. International conventions help the country to settle disputes with the foreign states like Shimla agreement, 1972 and bilateral agreement with Bangladesh of sharing Ganges water are few examples of the same.

Conclusion:

As mentioned international treaties play a significant role in cultivating global participation in different fields influencing the lives of individuals and advancing harmony and peace.  The Indian Constitution contains provisos with that impact in article 51(c). The question however remains that in any case, is that who chooses which settlement is useful for the nation and which authority is skilled to settle on the equivalent. Under the Indian Constitution and as asserted by different legal proclamations it is the Indian Parliament which is preeminent in choosing such issues. Article 253 of the Indian Constitution is sure about that. Notwithstanding, the Indian Parliament has not made any law so far controlling the methodology for the Indian government to go into universal or two-sided arrangements.  In the absence of same under article 73 it is the executive which is consenting to global arrangements now and again without bringing the parliament into certainty. While it may not be pragmatic to have the Parliament to favour all agreements. It will be suitable to take a fair view regarding the matter and have an enactment engaging the official to sign arrangements subject to specific conditions. The Parliament may command particular kinds of conventions to be endorsed by it preceding its marking by the executive. Particular sorts of treaties then again might be left totally to the discretion of the executive.

Author: Mudita Dubey, Legal Intern at Legal Desire (June 2020)

Law Student pursuing BBA-LLB (H) from amity university, Rajasthan. My interest is corporate laws.