Withdrawal from a Human Rights Treaty and Peremptory Norms of International Law: The case of “Belarus 2020”

Abstract

Abstract The article analyzes the general concept of withdrawal from human rights treaties and addresses a specific case of withdrawal from the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The article argues that the human rights regime, due to its axiological nature, the non-reciprocal character of treaty parties’ relations, and the final beneficiaries´ expectations, needs lex specialis provisions on the withdrawal matters. Moreover, the results of analyses of the United Nations’ bodies show that the general clause on withdrawal being requested by a non-democratic state may lead to the denial of access to international justice for indivi duals and jeopardize the entire human rights protection system. Nowadays, however, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties does not satisfy the needs of the human rights regime. The United Nations and its mandate holders are recommended to request an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice to clarify the compliance of the termination clause of the human rights treaties with the common values of the international society of states as a whole and the principles of the United Nations.