scholarly journals Law on Reservations to Human Rights Treaties: Historical Development and Its Prospects

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Zaheer Iqbal Cheema ◽  
Shahrul Mizan Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Treaty Monitoring ◽  
The Law ◽  
Multilateral Treaties

The application of rules on reservations under the Vienna Convention on Laws of Treaties (VCLT) has generated a debate to revisit the Vienna regime. The rules on reservations under the VCLT have helped attain the universality of human rights treaties but at the price of integrity. The beneficial aspect of reservations is the promotion of universal recognition of human rights treaties. However, they have shattered the uniform and practical application of the provisions of these treaties. The disappointment of the treaty monitoring bodies over the VCLT’s rules on reservations to human rights treaties has resulted in the demand for a separate set of rules on reservations drawn to them. The universality and integrity of these treaties have been at the forefront of the treaty bodies and scholars. In the current debate on rules on reservations, this research tracks down the historical development of the law on reservations to multilateral treaties. It highlights the unique features of the human rights treaties and examines the application of rules to determine the compatibility of reservations. The research suggests treaty bodies adopt a novel approach to maintain the balance between universality and their integrity.   Received: 9 April 2021 / Accepted: 3 June 2021 / Published: 5 September 2021

Some Notable Developments in the Practice of the UN Secretary-General as Depositary of Multilateral Treaties: Reservations and Declarations

2005 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 433-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Palitha T. B. Kohona
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
The Political ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Many ◽  
Multilateral Treaties

This Note will examine developments in the practice of the United Nations secretary-general on reservations and declarations to treaties, particularly since 1994 when the Summary of Practice of the Secretary-General as Depositary of Multilateral Treaties was last updated. This period was marked by some notable developments in the previous practice, especially in connection with human rights treaties.The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 (Vienna Convention) provides the framework for the functions of the secretary-general in his role as depositary of multilateral treaties. Most aspects of the law relating to reservations and declarations to treaties are also codified in the Vienna Convention.Over five hundred multilateral treaties are deposited with the secretary-general. The complex requirements relating to these treaties and the concerns of the many disparate states that may undertake treaty actions with regard to them have significantly influenced his practice. He is also conscious of the political sensitivities surrounding his decisions and the need to protect his own integrity and impartiality.

Extraterritoriality as a Matter of Interpretation

2020 ◽  
pp. 13-40
Author(s):  
Lea Raible
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Standard View ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Treaty Interpretation ◽  
The Law

This chapter considers the standard view that extraterritoriality is a matter of treaty interpretation and that, following on from this, all that is required to discover the extraterritorial scope of human rights treaties is following the rules of interpretation set out in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. I argue that the extraterritorial scope of a treaty is a matter of treaty interpretation, but that it is not sufficient to follow rules in order to give meaning to international legal instruments. What determines the outcome of an interpretation is, in addition to these rules, a question of values. That is, what lies at the heart of interpretation is the determination of the values and principles that underlie a human rights treaty.

Part VI Human Rights and General International Law, Ch.31 Interpretation of Human Rights Treaties

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fitzmaurice Malgosia
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Law ◽  
Rights Issues

This article examines the systems of interpretation of several international human rights treaties by their respective human rights tribunals. It describes some approaches to the classification of human rights treaties and discusses the relevant provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 (VCLT). It also reviews the jurisprudence of human rights tribunals on main human rights issues and analyses the provisions of human rights conventions relating to interpretation.

Derogations and Reservations in International Law

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
Treaty Law ◽  
Multilateral Treaties

The topic of reservations and derogations is a complex issue in treaty law. Reservations define the content and extent of a legal obligation for a party to a treaty. They thereby allow states to accommodate their specific interests in the framework of multilateral treaties. The starting point for any examination of reservations is the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). According to the definition contained in Article 2(1)(d) VCLT, a reservation means “a unilateral statement, however phrased or named, made by a State, when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty, whereby it purports to exclude or to modify the legal effect of certain provisions of the treaty in their application to that State.” Some unresolved and controversial issues in treaty law include the legal effects of objections to reservations, the legal effect of impermissible reservations, and the legal status of interpretative declarations. The VCLT does not address the notion of derogations. Typically, in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed, states may take measures derogating from their obligations under certain treaties to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation. This is provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other obligations under international law. Specific clauses which lay down specific procedures on derogations are usually incorporated in human rights treaties. However, it is unclear under what precise circumstances a state may derogate from its treaty obligations, or what procedure is to be followed in this regard. The concepts of reservations and derogations have been of interest for many years, not least in the context of human rights treaties. In this article, the main focus is on reservations to and derogations from multilateral treaties. Historical Background of Reservations to Treaties Prior to the 1969 VCLT gives a historical overview of the development of the regime of reservations to treaties prior to the adoption of the 1969 VCLT. Reservations Under the Regime of the 1969 VCLT addresses reservations under the 1969 VCLT regime. Legal Effects of and Procedure Regarding Reservations deals with the legal effects of permissible reservations. Legal Effects of Impermissible Reservations addresses the legal effects of invalid reservations, and Reservations to Human Rights Treaties addresses reservations to human rights treaties. Practice of Human Rights Bodies on Reservations to Human Rights Treaties looks at some approaches of human rights bodies with respect to reservations to human rights treaties. Interpretative Declarations addresses the issue of interpretative declarations, and 2011 ILC Guide to Practice on Reservations discusses the 2011 Guide to Practice on Reservations to Treaties. Lastly, Derogations deals with the notion of derogations, with a particular emphasis on derogations from norms ius cogens and human rights treaties.

The Obligation to Afford Reparation to Injured Individuals

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Ferstman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers the consequences of breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law for the responsible international organizations. It concentrates on the obligations owed to injured individuals. The obligation to make reparation arises automatically from a finding of responsibility and is an obligation of result. I analyse who has this obligation, to whom it is owed, and what it entails. I also consider the right of individuals to procedures by which they may vindicate their right to a remedy and the right of access to a court that may be implied from certain human rights treaties. In tandem, I consider the relationship between those obligations and individuals’ rights under international law. An overarching issue is how the law of responsibility intersects with the specialized regimes of human rights and international humanitarian law and particularly, their application to individuals.

The Institutional Future of the Covenants

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felice D Gaer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Body System ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Treaty Monitoring ◽  
Treaty Body ◽  
International Human ◽  
Normative Standards ◽  
Individual Petition

Longstanding proposals to strengthen implementation of the international human rights treaties have often focused on procedural reforms such as harmonizing methods of work or consolidating ten treaty monitoring bodies into one. This article reviews past reform efforts and then considers proposals to create stronger individual petition mechanisms—including a ‘world court’—as a way of strengthening human rights implementation. After discussing these proposals, the author offers additional ways to make the system more effective and efficient. She rejects the oft-suggested proposal to create a ‘world court’ for human rights, noting legal, organizational, logistical, and financial obstacles. Rather than rushing to tear down the current treaty body system, the author offers a proposal for determining how consolidation of petition proceedings might affect normative standards.

The Core UN Human Rights Treaty Systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 95-128
Author(s):  
Steven Wheatley
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
The Core ◽  
Ordinary Meaning ◽  
System P ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Work First

Chapter 4 examines the core United Nations human rights treaties. It shows how we can think of these as complex systems, the result of the interactions of the states parties and the treaty bodies. The work first explains the regime on opposability and denunciation, which establishes the binding nature of the conventions, before considering the law on reservations, noting how this differs from the scheme under general international law. The chapter then turns to the interpretation of convention rights, detailing the distinctive pro homine (‘in favour of the individual’) approach applied to human rights treaties. The law on interpretation also requires that we examine the subsequent practice of states parties, as well as the pronouncements of the treaty bodies. The doctrine of evolutionary interpretation explains how the ‘ordinary meaning’ of treaty terms can evolve with developments in technical and scientific knowledge, changes in societal understandings, and wider modifications in regulatory approaches outside of the human rights treaty system.

1. General Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Lunney ◽  
Donal Nolan ◽  
Ken Oliphant
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Tort Law ◽  
General Introduction ◽  
The Law

This chapter first discusses the historical development of tort law, covering the origins of tort law; the forms of action; the development of fault-based liability; eighteenth-century developments; the classification of obligations; and the modern pre-eminence of negligence. It then turns to theories of tort, covering the aims of the law of tort and doctrinal classifications. Finally, the chapter considers modern influences on tort law, covering the influence of insurance; the influence of human rights; and concerns about ‘compensation culture’.

10. Industrial action

2019 ◽  
pp. 704-794
Author(s):  
Ian Smith ◽  
Aaron Baker ◽  
Owen Warnock
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Common Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Industrial Action ◽  
Unfair Dismissal ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Many ◽  
Contractual Rights ◽  
The Impact

This chapter considers the law relating to strikes and other industrial action including the important changes made by the Trade Union Act 2016. It deals with the historical development of common law and statute in this field to illuminate the current law. The relevance of the European Convention on Human Rights is considered. The tortious and criminal liabilities flowing from industrial action are considered and the crucial immunity for tortious liability provided by the ‘golden formula’ including the exceptions to this immunity and the preconditions of complying with rules on balloting and notice of industrial action. Picketing is considered in relation to the many legal liabilities and the statutory immunity for some peaceful picketing. The granting of injunctions to stop industrial action is examined. The impact of industrial action on individual employees is considered in relation to their contractual rights and liabilities and the law of unfair dismissal.

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