ng been recognized in international practice that governments may agree on joint statements of policy or intention that do not establish legal obligations. In recent decades, this has become a common means of announcing the results of diplomatic exchanges, stating common positions on policy issues, recording their intended course of action on matters of mutual concern, or making political commitments to one another. These documents are sometimes referred to as non-binding agreements, gentlemen’s agreements, joint statements or declarations. [emphasis added].In this regard a panel or tribunal would be guided by the principles of The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 (the Vienna Convention) which establishes the rules governing the application and interpretation of treaties. Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention deal with the subject of treaty interpretation and supplementary means of interpretation respectively. Article 31.2(b) of the Vienna Convention states that "any instrument which was made by one or more parties in connection with the conclusion of the treaty and accepted by the other parties as an instrument related to the treaty" should be considered in the treaty’s interpretation. [emphasis added]Article 32 of the Vienna Convention states that "where an interpretation under Article 31 leaves the meaning ambiguous or obscure, then recourse may be had to supplementary means of interpretation, including the preparatory work of the treaty and the circumstances of its conclusion". [emphasis added] Therefore, an important question that arises here is whether the Statement should be considered as having been "accepted" by the US, within the meaning of Article 31.2(b) of the Convention. Which brings us the circumstances in which the 1993 Statement was released. Here we must note the rather startling degree of informality that surrounds this 1993 Statement upon which Canada has placed so much reliance. In fac...
