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@pmdfoster Art 62 VCLT comes with conditions. First, the changed ‘circumstances’ cannot have been foreseen by the parties. So if the treaty provides for these, Art 62 does not apply. Second, it’s not about breach, but about bare facts. 1/n 
@pmdfoster So here we are talking about the emergence of unicorns (to use the vernacular) that are not presently foreseen, which ‘radically transforms the obligations’ of the treaty. But the treaty regulates the emergence of those unicorns. So how can Art 62 apply? 2/n
@pmdfoster Fns for the above: ICJ case Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros [1997] ICJ Rep 7, para 111 et seq
Finally, the result of all of this is to terminate the treaty. That means the whole treaty, not just the backstop. That’s pretty drastic and maybe not so great for the UK.
