Analysis of “Material Breach” Under Article 60 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in Light of the Jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice

International treaty law recognizes the right of the injured party to terminate a treaty or suspend it as a result of a breach. This right is based on one of the general principles of law, according to which neither party can demand the implementation of a contract that the other party has violated. However, with regard to the scope of implementation of this principle, the fundamental question is how the treaty should have been violated? Article 60 (3) of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties makes this right applicable only in cases of “material breach” of the treaty. The present paper, based on a descriptive-analytical method and emphasizing the decisions of the International Court of Justice, examines the various dimensions of the concept of material breach of the treaty. It argues that the concept of material breach is complex and interpretable and, due to its different interpretations, allows for differences in its implementation between members of the treaty.