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ACCA Applied Skills · Corporate and Business Law (Global) · International trade, international legal regulation and conflict of laws

State A is a party to a treaty on commercial arbitration. A company in State A relies on a national statute that conflicts with the treaty. Under the general rule of international law, what is the position of State A?

State A cannot normally rely on its internal law to justify failing to perform a treaty it has accepted. A conflicting national statute does not void the treaty, and the state may be in breach of its international obligations.

  1. AState A may rely on its national law to avoid its treaty obligations toward other parties
  2. BState A cannot normally invoke its internal law as justification for failing to perform a treaty it has acceptedCorrect
  3. CThe treaty is automatically void as soon as a conflicting national statute is passed

Explanation

Under the general rule (reflected in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties), a party cannot justify non-performance of a treaty by pointing to its domestic law. Option A states the opposite, and option C is wrong because a later national statute does not void a treaty. State A may be in breach in international law.

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