When
does the OP-CEDAW enter into force at the national level?
The text of
the OP-CEDAW (Article 16) clearly establishes that the treaty
would come into force as a binding international legal instrument
immediately after the tenth State expressed its consent to become
State party to it. In accordance to this provision, the OP-CEDAW
came into force on 22 December 2000.
In the case
of States that ratified the OP-CEDAW before it came into force
internationally, the OP-CEDAW should be considered to have come
into force at the domestic level on 22 December 2000.
In the case
of all other States, the OP-CEDAW enters into force in the ratifying
or acceding State party three months after the date that the instrument
of ratification or accession has been deposited with the UN Secretary-General.
This point
is noteworthy due to its implications when bringing a case under
the Communications Procedure
of the OP-CEDAW. Violations forming the subject of communications
must have occurred after the OP-CEDAW entered into force in the
country concerned or alternatively, they must constitute continuing
violations which occurred before the entry into force of the treaty
but also continued after that date.
