Reserves to Human Rights Treaties: The Islamic Countries Clauses to CEDAW

Uses of force and solving international disputes through coercive measures have plagued human societies for centuries. The emerging of International Community as a consequence of rapid global developments in 19th and 20th centuries have contributed immensely to the development of international law and growing number of treaties. This process chiefly aimed to prevent international belligerence including armed conflicts through encouraging, with all strength, the member states to sign and ratify treaties in many areas particularly the norm setting ones. On the other hand, the major challenge, in this domain, is the number of substantive reservations that could otherwise undermine or even threaten the object and purpose of those treaties. In this context, the treaty-based organs monitoring the implementation of international instruments have played major role in preserving their integrity through working to ensure the legality and validity of reservations. Hence, these organs continued to consolidate the development of international law in this manner, though their right to interpret the validity of reservations met with mixed reactions at the international level. Of great importance, in this regard, is the wide range of reservations submitted by the Islamic countries to the CEDAW which revealed new dimensions. One of the distinctive features of these reservations is the emphasis on the inviolability of Islamic Sharia in the international legal system.