Legal Effects of Muslim States’ Reservations to the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Legal Effects of Muslim States’ Reservations to the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Zaheer Iqbal Cheema
Shahrul Mizan Ismail
 
Abstract: Many Muslim states have been accused of undermining the principles and norms of CEDAW by formulating general and undefined reservations. The general and undefined reservations are deemed to be inadmissible on account of contravening the object and purpose of the treaties. Such reservations have enabled the reserving states to lower women’s rights standards and have adversely affected the uniform application of CEDAW. This article finds that despite their negative outcomes, general and undefined reservations to treaties are permissible under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). The VCLT’s approach has promoted the idea of universality of human rights treaties but arguably at the cost of their integrity. On the other hand, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has adopted the severability approach to assess the admissibility of reservations and to determine their legal effects. Under the severability approach, a general and undefined reservation would be considered inadmissible and severed from the ratification of the treaty, and the reserving state is considered bound by treaty provisions as if no reservation was drawn. Although the severability approach has substantially impacted the law on reservations, its recognition has been slow due to its inherent limitations. In the context of different approaches to treaty reservations taken by the VCLT and the ECtHR, this article examines the reservations of Muslim state to CEDAW and analyses the scope of severing those reservations. The article argues that reactions and practices of the state parties to severability approach indicate that application of severability approach would be detrimental to the universality of CEDAW. The article suggests that instead of determining the legal consequences of Muslim states’ reservations, due consideration must be given to the fulfilment of their obligations under CEDAW.

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