Uppsatsmall doc

Abbreviations
AdV
Archiv des Völkerrechts
AJIL
American Journal of International Law
ARIEL
Austrian Review of International and European Law
BYIL
British Yearbook of International Law
CalWILJ
California Western International Law Journal
CAT
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984)
CEDAW
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (1979)
CERD
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (1965)
CRC
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
ECHR
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms (1950)
EJIL
European Journal of International Law
GA Res.
General Assembly Resolution (UN)
HarvILJ
Harvard International Law Journal
HRR
Human Rights Review
ICCPR
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
ICESCR
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(1966)
ICJ
International Court of Justice (UN)
ICJ Rep.
International Court of Justice Report (UN)
ICLQ
International and Comparative Law Quarterly
ILC
International Law Commission (UN)
ILO
International Labour Organisation (UN)
NJIL
Nordic Journal of International Law
RdC
Recueil des Cours (de L’Academie de Droit international de la
Haye)
UN
United Nations
VCLT 
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969)

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5
1. Introduction
The present work tries to approach, as the title reveals, the question of
reservations and objections to multilateral treaties, particularly human rights
treaties. The thought has been to first describe the historical background of the
question in a short overview of international practice and the well-known
Advisory Opinion of the ICJ in the Genocide Convention Case. This was a case
that made it very clear to the states and the international community, that there
was a need for a change in the international practice, as well as a need for a
codification of the existing rules on reservations. The Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties (VCLT) was adopted in 1969, and is after over 30 years still the
applicable law for questions on the reservations regime. For quite some time,
though, the Vienna Convention has been criticised by those who think that a
clarification of the concept of reservations in the convention needs to take place.
It has been said that such a clarification is essential in order to facilitate the
implementation of the rules on reservations now laid down in the Vienna
Convention. The provisions of the convention are allegedly deficient to a certain
degree, and this could be remedied by clarifying the very concept of reservations.
States present a variety of statements when giving their consent to be bound by a
treaty, and it is, in the author’s mind, interesting to take a closer look upon this
practice, in a theoretical sense. This means that the main focus will be placed
upon the phenomenon of making reservations and objections. As a consequence,
only a small part of the work has been dedicated to the practical part of the issue.