ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses and assesses the approach of the International Law Commission in the light of this controversy. It suggests that some of the criticisms of that approach are based partly on a misunderstanding both of its practical significance and of its theoretical justification. A detailed comparison with rival approaches is necessary to appreciate the precise implications of the articles in the Convention. But there is room for argument about the proper function of rules of interpretation in international law. Of all the issues raised by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, there can be few which combine theoretical interest and practical importance to the same degree as the question of treaty interpretation. The clearest formulation of the teleological approach is to be found in the Draft Convention on the Law of Treaties prepared in 1935 as part of the Harvard Research in International Law. The chapter ends with an attempt to clarify the relevant issues of policy.
