An in-depth analysis of the rules and principles of international law relevant to the interpretation of, and application to tax treaties. The rules of international law enshrined in Articles 31, 32 and 33 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties are discussed in detail. Where appropriate, reference is made to the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, and to the law and procedure of other international courts and tribunals.

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Since tax treaties are not only a source of legal rights and obligations for the contracting States, but can also be invoked by the taxpayers of those States, this book considers the extent to which the relevant rules and principles of international law are binding on domestic courts and taxpayers. The effect of international law in a State‘s national legal order is largely dependent on its relevant rules of constitutional law, which vary from country to country. In order to address this issue, the book draws upon the example of the Netherlands and provides a number of leading cases decided by the Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad).

• Chapter One: Scope and purpose of this study
• Chapter Two: Sources of public international law
• Chapter Three: The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
• Chapter Four: History of Articles 31, 32 and 33 of the Vienna Convention
• Chapter Five: The textual approach to treaty interpretation
• Chapter Six: The general rule of interpretation
• Chapter Seven: Supplementary means of interpretation
• Chapter Eight: Treaties authenticated in two or more languages
• Chapter Nine: The Vienna Convention system of interpretation
• Chapter Ten: Interpretation of tax treaties under international law
• Chapter Eleven: Interpretation of tax treaties in the national legal order
• Chapter Twelve: Summary and conclusions

Frank Engelen is a tax partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Netherlands. In addition he teaches international and European tax law at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam and the International Tax Center Leiden.

The mission of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation is: “[T]o maintain a knowledge centre providing information about and explanations of international taxation and promoting the study of taxation in general” (Art. 2 of the articles of association). True to this mission, and aware that access to doctoral theses is often limited, IBFD has taken the initiative to make available to a wider public a series of books based on doctoral research, meeting the highest academic standards.

Only contributions that enhance the international academic tax debate are accepted. In order to ensure high quality, every thesis published in this series has been reviewed by academic members of the Board of Trustees, senior IBFD research staff or prominent tax academics worldwide. The series aims to cover all aspects of comparative and international taxation, not only in respect of income tax, but also in respect of VAT and of inheritance, estate and gift taxes.