France

In favour : A/HRC/RES/1/2, A/HRC/RES/2/4, A/HRC/2/L.48 (rejected), A/HRC/RES/6/37, A/HRC/RES/7/11, A/HRC/RES/7/15, A/HRC/RES/7/18

Against : A/HRC/DEC/1/106, A/HRC/DEC/1/107, A/HRC/RES/S-1/1, A/HRC/RES/S-2/1, A/HRC/DEC/2/109, A/HRC/DEC/2/115, A/HRC/DEC/3/103, A/HRC/RES/4/5, A/HRC/RES/4/9, A/HRC/DEC/4/103, A/HRC/RES/6/3, A/HRC/RES/6/7, A/HRC/RES/6/22, A/HRC/RES/7/4, A/HRC/RES/7/5, A/HRC/RES/7/19, A/HRC/RES/8/5, A/HRC/RES/8/9

Abstained : A/HRC/RES/S-3/1, A/HRC/RES/2/3, A/HRC/RES/3/1, A/HRC/RES/6/19, A/HRC/RES/S-6/1, A/HRC/RES/7/1, A/HRC/RES/7/30, A/HRC/RES/7/33, A/HRC/RES/7/36

No vote :

Source : www.ilo.org

Reservations, Declarations and Objections

Reservations and Declarations :

2. Reservation :
[The Government of the French Republic declares], in accordance with article 14 of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination opened for signature on 7 March 1966, [that it] recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to receive and consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals within French jurisdiction that either by reason of acts or omissions, events or deeds occurring after 15 August 1982, or by reason of a decision concerning the acts or omissions, events or deeds after the said date, would complain of being victims of a violation, by the French Republic, of one of the rights mentioned in the Convention.

3. Declaration :

(1) The Government of the Republic considers that, in accordance with Article 103 of the Charter of the United Nations, in case of conflict between its obligations under the Covenant and its obligations under the Charter (especially Articles 1 and 2 thereof), its obligations under the Charter will prevail.

(2) The Government of the Republic declares that articles 6, 9, 11 and 13 are not to be interpreted as derogating from provisions governing the access of aliens to employment or as establishing residence requirements for the allocation of certain social benefits.

(3) The Government of the Republic declares that it will implement the provisions of article 8 in respect of the right to strike in conformity with article 6, paragraph 4, of the European Social Charter according to the interpretation thereof given in the annex to that Charter.

9. Reservation :

The Government of France declares in accordance with article 30, paragraph 2, of the Convention, that it shall not be bound by the provisions of paragraph 1 of [article 30].

11. Declaration and reservation made upon signature and confirmed upon ratification :

(1) The Government of the French Republic declares that this Convention, particularly article 6, cannot be interpreted as constituting any obstacle to the implementation of the provisions of French legislation relating to the voluntary interruption of pregnancy.

(2) The Government of the Republic declares that, in the light of article 2 of the Constitution of the French Republic, article 30 is not applicable so far as the Republic is concerned.

(3) The Government of the Republic construes article 40, paragraph 2 (b) (v), as establishing a general principle to which limited exceptions may be made under law. This is particularly the case for certain non-appealable offences tried by the Police Court and for offences of a criminal nature. None the less, the decisions handed down by the final court of jurisdiction may be appealed before the Court of Cassation, which shall rule on the legality of the decision taken.

11b. Declaration :

France hereby declares that it recruits only volunteers aged at least 17 who have been informed of the rights and duties involved in military service and that the enlistment of recruits under the age of 18 is valid only with the consent of their legal representatives.

Objections :

4. The Government of the Republic takes objection to the reservation entered by the Government of the Rublic of India to article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as this reservation attaches conditions not provided for by the Charter of the United Nations to the exercice of the right of self-determination. The present declaration will not be deemed to be an obstacle to the entry into force of the Covenant between the French Republic and the Republic of India.

4 October 1993

At the time of the ratification of [the said Covenant], the United States of America expressed a reservation relating to article 6, paragraph 5, of the Covenant, which prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed by person below 18 years of age.

France considers that this United States reservation is not valid, in as mush as it is incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention.

Such objection does not constitute an obstacle to the entry into force of the Covenant between France and the United States.

15 October 2001

With regard to the reservation made by Botswana upon ratification :

The Government of the French Republic has studied Botswana’s reservations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The purpose of the two reservations is to limit Botswana’s commitment to articles 7 and 12, paragraph 3, of the Covenant to the extent which these provisions are compatible with sections 7 and 14 of the Constitution of Botswana. The Government of the French Republic considers that the first reservation casts doubt upon Botswana’s commitment and might nullify article 7 of the Covenant which prohibits in general terms torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Consequently, the Government of the French Republic objects to the Government of Botswana’s reservation to article 7 of the Covenant.

18 November 2005

With regard to reservations made by Mauritania upon ratification :

“The Government of the French Republic has examined the declarations formulated by the Government of Mauritania upon acceding to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted on 16 December 1966, in accordance with which the Government of Mauritania, on the one hand, “while accepting the provision set out in article 18 concerning freedom of thought, conscience or religion, declares that their application shall be without prejudice to the Islamic sharia” and, on the other, “interprets the provisions of article 23, paragraph 4, on the rights and responsibilities of spouses to marriage as not affecting in any way the prescriptions of the Islamic sharia”. By making the application of article 18 and the interpretation of article 23, paragraph 4, of the Covenant subject to the prescriptions of the Islamic sharia, the Government of Mauritania is, in reality, formulating reservations with a general, indeterminate scope, such that they make it impossible to identify the modifications to obligations under the Covenant, which they purport to introduce. The Government of the French Republic considers that the reservations thus formulated are likely to deprive the provisions of the Covenant of any effect and are contrary to the object and purpose thereof. It therefore enters an objection to these reservations. This objection should not preclude the entry into force of the Covenant between the France and Mauritania.”

19 September 2007

With regard to the reservation mde by Maldives upon accession :

The Government of the French Republic has reviewed the reservation made by the Republic of Maldives at the time of its accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966 to the effect that the Republic of Maldives intends to apply the principles relating to freedom of thought, conscience and religion set out in article 18 of the Covenant without prejudice to its own Constitution.

The French Republic considers that by subordinating the general application of a right set out in the Covenant to its internal law, the Republic of Maldives is formulating a reservation that is likely to deprive a provision of the Covenant of any effect and makes it impossible for the other States Parties to know the extent of its commitment.

The Government of the French Republic considers the reservation as contraty to the object and purpose of the Convenant. It therefore objects to that reservation. This objection does not prevent the entry into force of the Covenant between the French Republic and the Republic of Maldives.

Sources : www.ohchr.org