Incompatible reservations with the object and purpose ofthe Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The case of Islamic States

Abstract

Universality, interdependence and indivisibility of human rights receives a strong handicap due to reservations formulated to international treaties facing its protection. This reflects the extraordinary importance that state consent still maintains in the process of creation of international norms and obligations. This study is focused on those reservations of general feature or addressed to essential aspects of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women which have been erected by many Islamic States subordinating to Islamic law the application of this treaty. Such reservations have raised several objections made by third states and even they have been found as being contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The purpose of this work is to elucidate the legal consequences of the formulation and maintenance of this kind of reservations in light of current International Law and of the Guide to Practice on Reservations to Treaties adopted by the International Law Commission in 2011. Conclusions are oriented at emphasizing possible limits to the preeminence of state consent in the acquisition of international obligations in the field of human rights and also at offering a portrait of the resources and limitations which International Law has in order to increase and achieve the universality of human rights protection, women’s rights in this case, from strict observance and respect to cultural diversity.