reservation to treaty

Article 2(1)(d) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969 defines a reservation as a unilateral statement, however phrased or named, made by a State when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty, by which it purports to exclude or modify the legal effect of certain provisions in their application to that State.

Under Article 19, a reservation is not allowed if the treaty prohibits it, if it permits only specified reservations, or if it is incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty. This compatibility test comes from the ICJ's advisory opinion on Reservations to the Genocide Convention (1951), which rejected the old rule of unanimous acceptance. Articles 20 to 23 deal with acceptance and objection. An interpretative declaration that only clarifies meaning is not a reservation. India has entered reservations, for example to Article 1 of the ICCPR on self-determination.

Example

A reservation that excludes the core obligation of the treaty is invalid as incompatible with its object and purpose under Article 19(c).

In Indian law

• Articles 2(1)(d) and 19–23, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969
• Reservations to the Convention on Genocide, Advisory Opinion (ICJ, 1951)

See also

treaty · ratification · pacta sunt servanda · advisory opinion

Read more in the study notes

• Need for ADR, international commitments and suitability of disputes (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Enforcement of arbitral awards and foreign awards (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Official language and local self-government (Constitutional Law II)
• Rights of tribals, minorities and racial groups (Human Rights Law and Practice)
• Equality, affirmative action and the impact of privatisation (Indian Constitutional Law - New Challenges)
• Constitutional provisions on women's empowerment (Indian Constitutional Law - New Challenges)