Evolutionary Interpretation and the Intention of the Parties

Eirik Bjorge 

University of Oxford - Corpus Christi College; University of Oslo
October 10, 2012

University of Oslo Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2012-33 
Abstract:      
While many authors have seen, and continue to see, evolutionary treaty interpretation as something that by definition goes against the grain of the intentions of the parties to the treaty, this working paper puts the opposite point of view. It is argued that evolutionary interpretation, whether conducted by the European Court of Human Rights or by the International Court of Justice, is nothing if not built upon the common will of the parties. Evolutionary interpretation, in itself nothing else than the name we have given to a particular type of interpretive result, must in common with all other interpretive results in the law of treaties be the outcome of a process aimed at establishing as fully an fairly the intention of the parties to the treaty.


Full text available: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2159657