|
Sunset Clauses in International Law and their Consequences for eu lawIPOL STU(2022)703592 EN2.3.
Conditional and unconditional
The third classification of sunset clauses is based on the expiration date.
When the expiration date is
certain and does not depend upon any condition, then the sunset clause is unconditional
. An
example of an unconditional sunset clause could be seen in the Treaty between USA and Russia on the
Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, also known as SALT II at Vienna on June 18, 1979. In particular,
Article 19 paragraph 1 provided that ‘This Treaty shall be subject to ratification in accordance with the
constitutional procedures of each Party. This Treaty shall enter into force on the day of the exchange
of instruments of ratification and shall remain in force through December 31, 1985, unless replaced
earlier by an agreement further limiting strategic offensive arms.’
31
On the other hand,
a sunset clause is conditional when the automatic expiration of the law
depends upon a future condition
. The condition may be relevant to the activation of the sunset
clause, or it may be relevant to the expiration of a monumental event, the end of a war for instance.
This is so notwithstanding that
conditional sunset clauses raise several interpretive issues and
uncertainty regarding the exact expiration date
.
32
2.3.1.
Expiration date based on a condition
An example of a conditional sunset clause is recorded in the Trade Agreement between the European
Union and Colombia and Peru. Article 331 prescribes that the treaty would automatically expire for
every contracting party if the EU withdraws. Accordingly, the expiration date of the Trade Agreement
30
See Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, 14 July 2015, Article 20. For more details see: Information Note on EU sanctions
to be lifted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) [2.1]. Available at
http://eeas.europa.eu/top_stories/pdf/iran_implementation/information_note_eu_sanctions_jcpoa_en.pdf. Accessed 1
August 2021 (last date accessed August 25 2021). Another example of indirect sunset clause is recorded in the Joint
Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the
People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong. In particular, the declaration, which is a legally binding treaty,
registered with the United Nations, regulates the Hong Kong’s return to China. On 19 December 1984 the Government
of the UK and the Government of the People’s Republic of China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the
Question of Hong Kong and in article 3, the Government of the People’s Republic of China declared that a number of
agreed policies regarding Hong Kong such as the one country, two systems ‘will be stipulated, in a Basic Law of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, by the National People's Congress of the
People's Republic of China, and they will remain unchanged for 50 years.’ See at
https://www.cmab.gov.hk/en/issues/jd2 .htm (last date visited 31 August 2021). Consequently, the Sino-British Joint
Declaration includes a 50-year sunset clause, which scope is the Basic Law of Hong Kong. Accordingly the Basic Law of
Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, in article 5 provides that ‘ The socialist system and policies shall not be
practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the previous capitalist system and way of life shall
remain unchanged for 50 years.’ Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of
China, Article 5.
31
Treaty between The United States of America and The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Limitation of Strategic
Offensive Arms (SALT II) 18 June 1979, Article 19, paragraph 1. For more unconditional sunset clauses see also
International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 1 July 1986, Article 60.
32
For more details, see Antonios Kouroutakis, The Constitutional Value of Sunset Clauses (Routledge 2017) 11.
Sunset Clauses in International Law and their Consequences for EU Law
PE 703.592
17
between the European Union, Colombia and Peru is not certain. Generally, the condition that will
automatically lead to the expiration of the Trade Agreement
Dostları ilə paylaş: |
|
|