treaty interpretation

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The ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Right to Strike and the Interpretation of Climate Change Treaties

by Sebastián Rioseco | 6 Aug 2026

The ICJ recently found that the right to strike is protected by ILO Convention No. 87 through a sophisticated exercise of treaty interpretation. This post connects that opinion with the previous ICJ and ITLOS advisory opinions on climate change. It argues that while the ILO opinion clarifies aspects of treaty interpretation, it also adds new considerations with potential implications for the climate change regime.

Ramsar as a Living Instrument: What the Gippsland Lakes Ramsar Site Reveals About Treaty Interpretation

by Astrid Milena Bernal Rubio and Dr Bruce Lindsay | 2 Jun 2026

International Environmental treaties are often drafted in broad terms, but they must be applied to ecosystems that have already been deeply altered by human activity. This piece argues that the Ramsar Convention should be interpreted as a living instrument, with Conference of the Parties’ resolutions and subsequent practice shaping the content of Australia’s international obligations and their domestic expression. The Gippsland Lakes Ramsar Site is used as an example.