Onder 5.22. Rechtbank Den Haag 20 april 2016

Another question to be answered concerning the interpretation of Article 45 paragraph 1 ECT is whether significance should be attached to the travaux preparatoires of the ECT, as mentioned by the Russian Federation. From Article 32 VCLT it follows that if application of the interpretation rules contained in Article 31 leaves the meaning ambiguous or obscure or leads to a result that is manifestly absurd or unreasonable, use may be made of supplemental means of interpretation, specifically of (data from) the preparatory work referred to here. There is no ground to apply this supplemental means of interpretation; the court holds that the explanation – in accordance with Article 31 VCLT – does not lead to an ambiguous or obscure meaning or to a result that is manifestly absurd or unreasonable. Superfluously, the court would like to point out the statement of the Russian Federation concerning the addition of the term “regulations” to the draft text of the Limitation Clause. Mr Bamberger, chairman of the legal advisory committee to the Conference on the ECT, answered the question of the Secretary-General of the Conference on the ECT about the addition of this term as follows:

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