NOVATION OF TREATIES

Abstract

Unlike a revision, a renewal of treaties through novation amounts to concluding new agreements. As for the consequences of concluding new agreements on the same issues as those that were in the treaties made earlier, many scholars are of the opinion that if the states entered into two agreements on the same issue, the agreement concluded later should be considered as the one in force, and the previous one shall be terminated regardless of whether this is stipulated by a new agreement. But it raises an appropriate question of whether any conclusion of a new treaty relating to the same objects as those of a former treaty should be considered as an event indicative of the termination of the treaty previously concluded. The author tends to believe that the abovementioned position leads to undermining the principle pacta sunt servanda, justifying the possibility of defaulting on previous international obligations under the pretext of the conclusion of new treaties.