‘International law consists of certain rules of conduct which modern civilized States regard as being on them in their relations within one another.’

The international law also includes the rules of law relating to functioning of international institutions or organizations, their relations with each other, and their relation with states and individuals.

The notion of modern international law can be considered from the renaissance and reformation of European countries. But its origin can be traced back to ancient historical politics and relationships of thousands of years old. The Greek City State and the Roman law concept of jus gentium underpin that example. After the fall of Roman Empire and the collapse into independent cities, principalities, kingdom and nations, there was a real need for rules of conduct between the international communities. International trade was one of the real catalysts for the development of objective rules of behavior among the nations. Economic self-interest drove the evolution of common international trade rules and customs of maritime law.

        Following the world war-1, the League of Nations was established which attempted to established a new international law of peace. An international court was established to arbitrate disputes between nations without resorting to war. However the post war era show a highly appreciable form of international law, plunging many areas of human necessity in an organized way. One of the important developments in modern international law is the concept of ‘consent’. Before the Second World War, a nation would not have been considered to be bound by a rule unless it had formally agreed to be bound by it, or it was already customarily abiding by that rule. Now a days merely consenting to an international practice is sufficient to be bound by it, without signing a treaty. Moreover, customary international law applies to every country, regardless of whether they have formally agreed to it or not. Again the international organizations are created on the basis of international agreements for certain specific functions. The United Nation is one of such international organization which was established after the Second World War in the year 1945. The General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which is the first international law on Human Rights. The human rights delineated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 are to be understood as applying to women also. However, traditions, prejudice, social, economic and political interests have combined  to exclude women from prevailing definition of ‘human rights’ and to relegate women to secondary status within human rights consideration. This marginalization of women in the world of human rights has been a reflection of gender inequality in the world at large and has also had a formidable impact on women’s life. Generally human rights of women are violated in variety of ways and through various institutions and system of society such as family, religion, education, service, health etc. That was the focus of the work of the United Nations since its establishment. The Preamble of the UN Charter set a basic goal to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights and equal rights of man and woman.

             As early as in 1946 the Commission on the Status of Women was established by the; to deal with women’s issue. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights had affirmed the principle of the non-discrimination and proclaimed that all human beings are been free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein without any distinction based on sex. On November 7th, 1967, the General Assembly adopted a Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and in order to implement the principle set forth in the Declaration, finally a Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted in 1979.  This Convention is considered to be one of the most comprehensive international legal instrument in the field of human rights of women and more concrete provisions aimed at the real implementation of the rights already recognized.

          It is worth mentioning here that the right of women along with men has been recognized in major human rights instruments since the establishment of the United Nation. But, by early 1960s, a sense of dissatisfaction let to renew proposals for the elaboration of a global instrument covering all aspects of discrimination against women. Subsequently, the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was found to be only a moral force with lukewarm response by the government. Finally the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was found to be the major instrument relating to the status of women under human rights concept.

         The Convention has twin objectives:  to prohibit discrimination and to ensure equality. The scope of the obligations created by the Convention extends to political, economic, social, cultural, legal, familial and personal fields of activity. The Convention is the first international treaty for women who include provisions for a reporting system and review machinery. It is considered as the crowning achievement of the Commission on the Status of Women in the field of standard setting.

           Part-I of CEDAW define discrimination against women as any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.

          Article-3 of Part-I requires States to take appropriate measures in all fields, particularly in the political, social, economic and cultural fields, to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the basis of equality with men.

              Article-5(a) requires States to take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.

             Article-6 also requires States to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.

             Part-II of the Convention focuses on equality within political and public life of the country, including equality in voting and participation in formulating government politics.

            Part-III addresses equality of men and women in the field of education, employment, health care and economic benefits. A special provision requires States to take into account particular difficulties experienced by rural women in the areas of health, education and other aspects of rural life.

            Part-IV establishes equality between men and women in civil matters, including the right to contract and administer property. Women shall also enjoy the same rights with regard to freedom of movement and choice of residences as men. State shall also eliminate discrimination in marital and other family matters, allowing women equal rights with respect to choosing spouse, choosing a family name or profession, and owning and disposing of property.

           Article-17 of Part-V of CEDAW establishes a Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for the purpose of considering the progress made in the implementing the treaty. State party of CEDAW must submit periodic reports on measures taken to effect provisions of CEDAW to the Secretary General of the United Nation and for consideration by the Committee.

         Part-VI contains procedural provisions, including a settlement procedure for resolving dispute between two or more State concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention.

                                Thus, the Convention combines three main approaches: a non discrimination approach, a protective approach and a corrective approach. The Convention mandates the monitoring of its implementation by State parties through a reporting procedure. In October, 1999, two new monitoring procedures for CEDAW Committee, namely, communication and an inquiry procedure were added to the Convention through the adoption of Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and this came into entry into force in December, 2000.

            While it had been one of the goals, stipulated in the Beijing Platform for Action, to achieve universal ratification of the Convention by the year 2000, but it was not achieved. At the end of 1992 Lijnzaad records 120 State parties to the Convention, of which 81 had ratified without reservation and 27 had entered reservation to substantive provision or other declaration. By January 2004, there were 175 States parties to the Convention with the reservation by 55 States parties. It is true that reservation to this Convention raise not only a number of legal, but also many political, economic, moral and social problems.

            It is notable that the Convention itself does allow for reservation as described in Article – 19 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treatise.  However, despite the withdrawal provision of reservations, most of the general reservations as well as those to substantive articles are found to be going against the ‘object’ and ‘purpose’ of the Convention. Many countries, though signed the Convention, made reservation to the Convention. These reservations and widespread objection to the CEDAW Committee’s power to questioning reservation can be seen as part of the overall marginalization of women’s rights. Rejection of the fundamental obligation of non-discrimination on the basis of sex through broad reservations to the Women’s Convention should be seen as undermining commitment to all human rights guarantees.

            The strength and effectiveness of the Global campaign can be seen on the adoption of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW which was approved by the United Nation General Assembly in December 1999 and went into force in 2000, by the General Assembly, Resolution No.54/4. The Protocol contains 21 Articles and deals with the individual’s petition of member States, regarding the violation of Women’s Human Rights.

            Article-2 of the Protocol provides for the submission by or on behalf of any individual, claiming to be a victim of violation of any of the right set forth in the Convention. Some of the cases decided by the CEDAW Committee are mentioned hereunder:

    X and Y –vs- Georgia. Communication No. 24/2009, UN Doc.CEDAW/C/61/D/24/2009(2015)

   R.P.B.-Vs-The Philippines. Communication No.34/2011,UN Doc. CEDAW/C/57/D/34/2011(2014)

   Angela Gonzalez Carreno-Vs-Spain.  Communication No.47/2012. UN Doc. CEDAW/58/D/47/2012(2014)

   Cecilia Kell-Vs-Canada. Communication No. 19/2008, UN Doc. CEDAW/C/51/D/19/2008(2012)

      In these cases the women’s rights are discussed thoroughly.

Finally it can be concluded that the CEDAW Convention is an effort for protection of women’ human rights at the International Forum.

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women:-

        The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women is the monitoring body of the CEDAW, established in 1982. The legal basis of the Committee can be found Article – 17 of CEDAW. The Committee consists of 23 expert persons having knowledge on Human Rights issues. The mandate of the Committee is to watch the programme for women made in those countries which are members of the CEDAW Convention. The Committee monitors the implementation of national measures to fulfill this obligation. The Committee also makes recommendations on any issues affecting women to which it believes that the state parties should devote more attention. Governments which have ratified the Convention are obliged to submit reports to CEDAW on implementation of the Convention on every after four years. CEDAW holds two seasons a year for a period of three weeks each and it is serviced by the Division for the Advance of Women [DAW].

                 Periodic Report: In each session the Committee reviews a number of periodic reports submitted by the member States regarding any matter on legislative, judicial and other measures and asks the respective government representatives about the implementation of the Convention. Being a member of the CEDAW, the Government of India submitted its annual report to the Committee annually.

               The Optional Protocol to the Convention provides for an inquiry procedure against the individuals complaints. Under the Optional Protocol, any individual women or group of women whose rights under the Convention have   been violated in a State which is a member to the Optional Protocol will be able to present a complaint to the Committee on condition that her domestic remedies have been exhausted. The Committee will not consider any complaints which have been placed before any other International Court.

The main functions of the Committee are –                                               

[a] Examination of State reports.

 [b] Individuals Complaint.

 [c] Fact finding through confidential enquiry procedure for gross and systematic abuse.

        However, it may be concluded that the discussion on the United Nation and the CEDAW Convention, and the role of IGOs for adopting those Conventions and implementing those women’s human rights, painfully realize the fact that even after 50 years of adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, women’s right have recently been acknowledge conceptually, while its practice and reality still remain tangled in complex issues of culture, inadequate or lack of enforcement, accountability systems and political will. All these combine to ensure a long struggle ahead for making human rights a reality for all women. But, regarding the position of the Convention in India, it may be stated that though India have included the provision of UDHR in its Constitution, more fully under Part-III and Part- IV of Indian Constitution, still  the provision of CEDAW have not been included.