| Summary: | The purpose of international human rights law is to protect basic individual
rights and provide to the victims of violations legal remedies against the
authors of the abuses. One major difficulty faced in this context originates
in the limiting clauses that states insert in international conventions. This
paper looks at their compatibility with human rights agreements, in the view
of strengthening the legal avenues open to the victims and the possibility
for them to obtain redress. The crucial position of human rights at the core
of the notion of international public order conditions the approach to adopt
in relation to most issues that touch upon the scope and substance of
protected rights, including withdrawal from treaties, reservations, implied
limitations, overtly broad or inappropriate restrictions, misguided
interpretations and failure to apply the relevant provisions. It is put
forward that limiting clauses should be narrowly construed and most
restrictions discarded altogether.
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