SOURCES DU DROIT INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC: LES TRAITÉS

1. COMITÉ DES DROITS DE L’HOMME, OBSERVATION GÉNÉRALE NO. 24 2. AFFAIRE DES ZONES FRANCHES DROIT INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC PROFESSEUR FRANÇOIS CRÉPEAU 13 FÉVRIER 2012 WILLIAM MARTIN-CHIN

1. HRC, GENERAL COMMENT NO. 24:

• • • • • • • Outline UN Human Rights Committee The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Reservations: why the tension?

Discerning reservations When are reservations to the ICCPR allowed?

State objections to a reservation Guidelines on reservations

UN Human Rights Committee

• A body of independent experts, tasked with monitoring the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) – Studies reports from states parties to determine the adequacy of measures undertaken to give effect to the rights recognized in the ICCPR, along with progress made in the enjoyment of such rights (ICCPR, art 40(1)) – Examines inter-state human rights complaints (ICCPR, art 41) – Examines individual human rights complaints (First Optional Protocol to ICCPR) – Issues general comments on thematic issues, such as its General Comment 24 (today’s reading)

ICCPR: Preamble

• • • • •

The States Parties to the present Covenant,

Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Recognizing that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person, Recognizing that, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby

everyone may enjoy his civil and political rights, as well as his economic, social

and cultural rights, Considering the obligation of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms, Realizing that the individual, having duties to other individuals and to the community to which he belongs, is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance of the rights recognized in the present Covenant,

Agree upon the following articles:

Reservations: Why the Tension?

• Reservations widen the tent of states parties who adopt general human rights principles, desirable from an international human rights perspective: – “The possibility of entering reservations may encourage States which consider that they have difficulties in guaranteeing all the rights in the Covenant nonetheless to accept the generality of obligations in that instrument. Reservations may serve a useful function to enable States to adapt specific elements in their laws to the inherent rights of each person as articulated in the Covenant.” (para. 4) • Yet reservations, when entered into in large numbers, threaten to void the content of international instruments: – “The number of reservations, their content and their scope may undermine the effective implementation of the Covenant and tend to weaken respect for the obligations of States Parties.” (para. 1)

How to Discern Reservations

• How to distinguish between a reservation and a state’s declaration of interpretation or statement of policy?

– “If a statement, irrespective of its name or title, purports to exclude or modify the legal effect of a treaty in its application to the State, it constitutes a reservation.” – “Conversely, if a so-called reservation merely offers a State's understanding of a provision but does not exclude or modify that provision in its application to that State, it is, in reality, not a reservation.” (para. 3) • Consider intention over form – Note similarity in Affaire des essais nucléaires (para. 45): must look at the intention, not the form, of a state’s unilateral act, to determine if it translates into an obligation

When are Reservations to the ICCPR Allowed?

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, article 19 A state may, when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty, formulate a reservation unless: a) The reservation is prohibited by the treaty b) The treaty provides that only specified reservations, which do not include the reservation in question, may be made  Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR c) In cases not falling under subparagraphs (a) and (b), the reservation is incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty  ICCPR and First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR

When are Reservations to the ICCPR Allowed?

• • • Role of the Human Rights Committee on reservations: To determine whether a specific reservation is incompatible with the “object and purpose” of the ICCPR Consequence of an unacceptable reservation: – Reservation will be severed – ICCPR will remain operative for the reserving state, without the state’s reliance on the reservation – ICCPR will not be suspended for the reserving state Categories of unacceptable reservations: – Offending substantive peremptory norms, i.e., when a reservation seeks to derogate from customary international law (slavery, torture, cruel/inhuman/degrading treatment, arbitrary deprivation of life, arbitrary arrest and detention, denial of freedom of thought, religion, etc.) – Attacking the substance of ICCPR-derived rights (obligation to respect and ensure rights in a non-discriminatory manner, right to self-determination, economic/social/cultural development, etc.) – Attacking “supportive guarantees” – the framework of the ICCPR (providing no domestic remedies for human rights abuses, rejecting the competence of the Human Rights Committee, etc.)

State Objections to a Reservation

• – – Provisions of the Vienna Convention on the role of state objections to reservations are inapplicable to reservations on human rights-related treaties Vienna Convention’s provisions on the role of state objections to reservations should be limited in application to paradigmatic treaties – “inter-state exchanges of mutual obligations” Human rights treaties are different: they concern individuals and not states as subjects of international law • Rules applicable to inter-state reciprocity are ill-suited to human rights treaties • – Human Rights Committee leaves unanswered the status of state objections to a reservation “In the view of the Committee, because of the special characteristics of the Covenant as a human rights treaty, it is open to question what effect objections have between States inter se.” (para. 17)

Guidelines on Reservations

• – – – Reservations must: Be specific (must refer to a particular provision of the ICCPR) Not attack the integrity of the ICCPR in quantity or in substance Not “systematically reduce obligations undertaken” • – – – States should: Indicate which elements of their domestic legislation are incompatible with the ICCPR, and provide a timeline for their domestic laws’ coming into conformity with the ICCPR Ensure that reservations are periodically reviewed, to determine whether they remain necessary Withdraw reservations as soon as possible

2. AFFAIRE DES ZONES FRANCHES

• – • – – Faced with an impasse between France and Switzerland on the matter of the free trade zones of the Haute-Savoie and the Pays de Gex (established by treaty over 100 years before), the Permanent Court of International Justice accedes to a proposition by Switzerland for private arbitration: “Il appartiendra aux experts d’arrêter, avec effet obligatoire pour les Parties, dans la mesure où cela serait nécessaire faute d’accord entre celles-ci, le règlement à établir en vertu de l’engagement pris par la Suisse.” Mandate of arbitrators (as defined by the Swiss proposal): “à régler d’une façon mieux appropriée aux conditions économiques actuelles les modalités des échanges entre les régions intéressées” Agenda of economic liberalisation: “Le nouveau régime doit être plus libéral et juridiquement plus stable que par le passé”

2. AFFAIRE DES ZONES FRANCHES

• • • – – – – – Prior to arbitration, France and Switzerland agreed on three (3) issues: Technicalities on the operation of French and Swiss fiscal posts Placement of French customs line Measures to verify the origins of imported goods (through customs declarations submitted to French officers) Problems persisted on two (2) outstanding issues related to a 1930 Swiss proposal: France’s imposition of so-called “fiscal taxes” on Swiss products, (allegedly a hidden customs tax, in contravention of prior agreements) Switzerland’s imposition of a quota system to limit imports based on normal production volumes (allegedly a protectionist measure) General need to establish a new framework for Swiss handling of products imported from the free trade zone

2. AFFAIRE DES ZONES FRANCHES

• – – – – – Arbitral award: a 10-year bilateral treaty, with establishment of permanent administrative machinery 1. La franchise illimitée pour la totalité de la production de l’agriculture et des branches annexes, ainsi que pour les produits minéraux bruts – “La généralisation du principe du système du contingentement des importations zoniennes en Suisse constitue, de l’avis des arbitres, un pas en arrière, lorsqu’on se propose d’élaborer un nouveau régime plus libéral que par le passé” 2. L’importation en franchise des produits fabriqués ou manufacturés dans la limite de crédits d’importation 3. Une stipulation permettant, dans des conditions exceptionnelles, des restrictions temporaires au système de la franchise illimitée 4. L’institution d’un organe de conciliation et de contrôle • Commission permanente franco-suisse • Voie diplomatique • Arbitre unique • Tribunal arbitral de cinq membres 5. Une procédure arbitrale • Règles arbitrales