The choice of means of interpretation and attribution appropriate weight to them may well determine the outcome of an interpretation. Articles 31 of the 32 of the VCLT leave broad discretion to an interpreter in that respect. That may turn an interpretation into a legal process of diminishing predictability and undermine legal certainty. Judicious discretion in the choice and weighing means of interpretation should not be unlimited. The nature and particular characteristics of a treaty, of a question that should be answered by interpretation, and of the means of interpretation, might have the role of determinants of the significance of means of interpretation. The correlations in a triangle of the particular characteristics of the treaty, the question and the means of interpretation, established as typical in the practice of international courts, might constitute a standard model of interpretation. An international court would be expected to explain its departure from the model.
Textual interpretation is the prevailing mode of interpretation. Significant exceptions exist. The choice of means of interpretation and the different weight attributed to them can shape the outcome of interpretation. Different means applied to the same term can sometimes create different clarifications. Moving decisive significance from one to another means can occasionally change the outcome of interpretation. There are many factors that determine the choice and weight of the means of interpretation. The spirit, as originates from the object and purpose of the GATT 1994, might be in the background of all of them. The interpretation does not operate without certain inconsistencies and difficulties.
The text analyzes interpretations of bilateral treaties in three cases decided by the International Court of Justice in the period of 2009 to 2011. As the interpretation of the treaties was performed by applying the same rules laid down in Article 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, it includes the same or similar factors and methods. Specific characteristics of each case, in particular the specific characteristics of treaties, resulted in certain differences. The range of factors used in interpretation of a treaty governing a unique issue and the range of factors used in interpretation of a treaty whose object belongs to the class of objects of an area of international law are not the same.
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