Comments

This paper may also be referenced as [2007] UNSWLRS 48.

Abstract

The interpretation of the content of the obligations of a State party to a human rights treaty is a critical step in working towards the implementation of the human rights guaranteed by the treaty. The last twenty years have seen significant developments in thinking about the nature of the State’s obligations under human rights treaties; these have been partly the result of the extensive practice under those treaties and have contributed significantly to the elaboration of that practice.

Based on a background paper prepared for an expert group meeting on the subject, this paper explores the nature, scope and content of obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in particular the general obligations contained in the Convention, against the background of a decision by the treaty’s monitoring body, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, to elaborate a general recommendation on that subject. It draws on the text of the Convention, as well as on the extensive practice under it and under other UN human rights treaties. The outcome document of the expert group meeting, and relevant material from the practice of the other treaty bodies, appear as Annexes to the paper.

Disciplines

Human Rights Law

Date of this Version

July 2007



Share

COinS