Peace Agreements

A agreement it is an understanding, a compromise or a pact reached by two or more parties. Peace, on the other hand, it is the situation that exists when there is no war conflict or a persistent state of violence.

The notion of peace agreement, therefore, refers to agreement signed by the authorities of two nations that were confronted in a war. By establishing a peace agreement, the parties undertake not to carry out new attacks and to respect the criteria established in the resolution in question.

The peace accords, also known as peace treaties, mark the end point of war. There are, however, other tools that can interrupt the confrontation, such as the truce known as Stop the fire or surrender.

It is also important to bear in mind that, in certain armed confrontations, peace agreements are very difficult to achieve if one of the opposing sides does not represent any Condition. In this way, if a State signs a peace agreement with the other party, it would be conferring a status similar to its own.

Beyond what a peace agreement formally entails, it is common for wars to be resolved in complex and extensive processes. Thus, the participants in the conflict They take various steps until they reach peace and sign the corresponding agreement.

The distribution and access to resources, the establishment of border limits, the establishment of Actions and prohibited conduct and the situation of prisoners and refugees are some of the issues that are usually defined through peace agreements.

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

On May 23, 1969, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties was signed, although it was only on January 27, 1980 that it began to enjoy validity.

The elaboration of this Convention was in charge of an international conference that met in Vienna, and there they worked based on a project that had taken the United Nations International Law Commission more than fifteen years of planning. The purpose of this Convention was the coding customary international law and, at the same time, ensure that it could be developed progressively.

It is possible to find the following definition of a treaty in the second article of this Convention: it is an international agreement that is entered into by two or more States in writing and that is governed by international law, whether or not it is allowed constancy in a single instrument or in a minimum of two, related, and regardless of their particular denomination.

This brings us to a point mentioned in a previous paragraph: peace agreements can only be signed between states. It should be noted, on the other hand, that the definition just presented does not include agreements between a State and international organizations (among others subjects that also enjoy international law), between two of those subjects or agreements that are not put in writing.

Something important to keep in mind is that the effect of this Convention is not retroactiveIn other words, this means that it can only apply to treaties that have been concluded from the moment it entered into force, and not to those that took place previously.

The United Nations carried out the signing of this Convention, anticipating the importance of the parties involved enforcing the rights contained therein. For this reason, in various of its articles, which are not contained in the same chapter or ordered in a particular way, the remedies and actions before an arbitrator or judge are established.