Reservations to Multilateral Treaties: A Macroscopic View of State Practice

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Many vexing, complicated, and important problems of international law relate in some way to reservations to multilateral treaties. No doubt, the right of states to make reservations to multilateral treaties is important to the functioning of an international legal system, a major component of which is multilateral treaties. As Edwin Hoyt pointed out two decades ago, the unanimity rule has given way to a much more flexible standard which permits reservations under many circumstances. Thus, the position adopted here is that many important questions should be asked about when and how reservations are used and what their aggregate impact has been. This approach contrasts with most others which concentrate on the legality of reservations. Reservations to multilateral treaties are a fact of life that can be evaluated and analyzed.