ASEAN States, Their Reservations to Human Rights Treaties and the Proposed ASEAN Commission on Women and Children

This article examines reservations to the six main human rights treaties and specifically considers the impact of reservations made by the Association of South East Asian Nations' (ASEAN) on the Hanoi Action Plans proposed Commission on Women and Children. The author discusses reasons why ASEAN states become parties to human rights treaties and the general debate on reservations to such treaties. An overview of the Vienna Conventions reservation provisions, including the process and validity of reservations, is provided, and the legal effect of reservations is also considered. A detailed analysis is provided of the reservations made to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) by ASEAN states. Finally, the author argues that ASEAN states do not necessarily have a legal obligation to move forward with the Commission on Women and Children simply because they are parties to the CRC and CEDAW.