Cameron Miles writes for American Journal of International Law (AJIL) on Implied Terms in Treaties

Cameron Miles has written an article ‘Implied Terms in Treaties’ for the American Journal of International Law (AJIL). It is one of the few major articles setting out detailed rules for the identification of implied terms within treaties.

The article draws on concepts from the branch of linguistics known as pragmatics to analyse how the rules on treaty interpretation allow, in exceptional cases, for the identification of implied terms in otherwise express treaty texts. Its key insight is that implied terms fit within the framework of Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and are derived from the associated interpretation of express terms. They cannot be derived from a separate process—and indeed such a separate process is not possible under the positive law.

The article was first published in January 2025 by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Journal of International Law. Access the article here.