Reservations to the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Abstract

Forty-seven states parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child have accompanied their ratification of the instrument with reservations or interpretative declarations intended to limit the scope of their obligations. Thus, although the Convention on the Rights of the Child is now the most successful and widely-ratified human rights treaty, with more than 175 states parties, this impressive support for the instrument is regrettably mitigated by the reservations. Of the few holdouts that have failed to ratify, the United States is surely the most important. Though it signed the treaty in February 1995 without reservation, there can be no doubt that if the United States ever ratifies the Convention this will be associated with a substantial list of reservations should past behavior be any guide. Making reservations to multilateral treaties is a well-accepted practice in international law. It facilitates negotiation of treaties because states know that they may eventually accept an instrument without binding themselves to every single provision. It also encourages ratification, because it is possible for a state to avoid assuming obligations in conflict with certain aspects of its internal legislation.

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