4.1 Definitions : The growth of reservations to treaties coincides with the growth in multilateral conventions. With regard to bilateral treaties, the two parties to the treaty may disagree over the precise terms of the treaty which is to bind them. If this is the case, they may re-negotiate the terms until they achieve full agreement. There will be no treaty in existence until both sides agree on the terms. From this it

doi:10.4324/9781843143802-29

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convince the other parties to amend the text of the treaty to incorporate its specific wishes. However, often this will not be possible and the regime of reservations allows a state, in certain circumstances, to alter the effect of the treaty in respect of its own obligations while preserving the original treaty intact as between the other parties.