Poland

In favour: A/HRC/RES/1/2, A/HRC/RES/2/4, A/HRC/2/L.48 (rejected)

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/RES/S-3/1, 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

Abstained: A/HRC/RES/2/3, A/HRC/RES/3/1

No vote:

Source: www.ilo.org

Reservations, Declarations and Objections

Reservations and Declarations:

1.
As regards article XII: Poland does not accept the provisions of this article, considering that the Convention should apply to Non-Self-Governing Territories, including Trust Territories.

2. The Polish People’s Republic considers that the provisions of article 17, paragraph 1, and article18, paragraph 1, of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which make it impossible for many States to become parties to the said Convention, are of a discriminatory nature and are incompatible with the object and purpose of that Convention.
The Polish People’s Republic considers that, in accordance with the principle of the sovereign equality of States, the said Convention should be open for participation by all States without any discrimination or restrictions whatsoever.

5. Poland accedes to the Protocol while making a reservation that would exclude the procedure set out in article 5 (2) (a), in cases where the matter has already been examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement.

6. "The Polish People’s Republic considers that the dispositions of articles V and VII of the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, adopted by the General Assembly on the 26th of November 1968, make it impossible for a number of States to become parties to the Convention and are therefore of a discriminatory character which is contradictory to the object and aims of this Convention.
The Polish People’s Republic is of the opinion that, in accordance with the principle of sovereign equality of States, the Convention should be open to all States without any discrimination and limitation."

8. Upon signature:

Reservation:
"1. The Government of the Republic of Korea does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979.
"2. Bearing in mind the fundamental principles as embodied in the said Convention, the Government of the Republic of Korea has recently established the Korea Women’s welfare and social activities. A committee under the chairmanship of the prime minister will shortly be set up to consider and coordinate overall policies on women.
"3. The Government of the Republic of Korea will make continued efforts to take further measures in line with the provisions stipulated in the Convention."

Upon ratification:

Reservation :
"The Government of the Republic of Korea, having examined the said Convention, hereby ratifies the Convention considering itself not bound by the provisions of [...] sub-paragraph [...] (g) of paragraph 1 of Article 16 of the Convention."

9. Upon signature:
Under article 28, the Polish People’s Republic does not consider itself bound by article 20 of the Convention.
Furthermore, the Polish People’s Republic does not consider itself bound by article 30, paragraph 1, of the Convention.

11. Reservations:
 With respect to article 7 of the Convention, the Republic of Poland stipulates that the right of an adopted child to know its natural parents shall be subject to the limitations imposed by binding legal arrangements that enable adoptive parents to maintain the confidentiality of the child’s origin;
 The law of the Republic of Poland shall determine the age from which call-up to military or similar service and participation in military operations are permissible. That age limit may not be lower than the age limit set out in article 38 of the Convention.

Declarations:
 The Republic of Poland considers that a child’s rights as defined in the Convention, in particular the rights defined in articles 12 to 16, shall be exercised with respect for parental authority, in accordance with Polish customs and traditions regarding the place of the child within and outside the family;
 With respect to article 24, paragraph 2 (f), of the Convention, the Republic of Poland considers that family planning and education services for parents should be in keeping with the principles of morality.

11.b. Declaration:
The Government of the Republic of Poland, with the regard to article 3, paragraph 2 of the Protocol, declares that: 1. under the Polish law the minimum age in the case of obligatory recruitment of the Polish citizens into the national Armed Forces is eighteen (18) years. 2. under the Polish law the minimum age for the voluntary recruitment of the Polish citizens into the national Armed Forces is seventeen (17) years. Joining the Polish Armed Forces is really voluntary and a candidate is obliged to show a special document certifying the date of his/her birth. Moreover the consent of the person’s parents or legal guardians is required before the admission to the service.

15. Reservation made upon signature:
"The Republic of Poland understands that Articles 23.1 (b) and 25 (a) shall not be interpreted in a way conferring an individual right to abortion or mandating state party to provide access thereto."

Objections:

4. 22 November 2005

With regard to reservations made by Mauritania upon ratification:
“The Government of the Republic of Poland has examined the Declaration made by MAurtiania upon accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done in New York on 16 December 1966, hereinafter called the Covenant, in respect of Articles 18 and 23 (4).

The Government of the Republic of Poland considers that the Declaration made Mauritania – which constitutes de facto a reservation – is incompatible with the object and purpose of the Covenant which guarantees every person equal enjoyment of the rights set forth in the Covenant.

The Government of the Republic of Poland therefore considers that, according to the customary international law as codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, done at Vienna on 23 May 1969, a reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of a treaty shall not be permitted (Article 10 c).

Furthermore, the Government of the Republic of Poland considers that the Declaration made by Mauritania is not precise enough to define for the other State Parties the extent to which Mauritania has accepted the obligation of the Covenant.

The Government of the Republic of Poland therefore objects to Declaration made by Mauritania.

This objection does not preclude the entry into force of the Covenant between the Republic of Poland and Mauritania.”

3 December 2007

The Government of the Republic of Poland has examined the reservations made by the Kingdom of Bahrain after its accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature at New York on 19 December 1966, hereinafter called the Covenant, in respect of article 3, article 9 paragraph 5, article 14 paragraph 7, article 18 and article 23.

The Government of the Republic of Poland considers that the reservations made by the Kingdom of Bahrain are so called late reservations, since they were made after the date of accession of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Covenant. Therefore the reservations are inconsistent with article 19 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which provides for the possibility of formulation of reservations only when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty.

Furthermore, the Government of the Republic of Poland considers that as a result of reservations with respect to articles 3, 18 and 23 of the Covenant, the implementation of provisions of these articles by the Kingdom of Bahrain is made subject to the prescriptions of the Islamic Shariah, with the result that the extent to which the Kingdom of Bahrain has accepted the obligations of the said articles of the Covenant is not defined precisely enough for the other State Parties. The Republic of Poland considers that theses reservations lead to differentiation in enjoyment of the rights warranted in the Covenant, which is incompatible with the purpose and object of the Covenant and therefore not permitted (article c) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties).

The Government of the Republic of Poland therefore objects to the reservations made by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

However this objection does not preclude the entry into force of the Covenant between the Republic of Poland and the Kingdom of Bahrain.”

Poland’s objections on Bahrain on the ICCPR

8. 28 November 2005
With regard to the reservations made by the United Arab Emirates upon accession:
"The Government of the Republic of Poland has examined the reservations made by the United Arab Emirates upon accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 18, 1979, hereinafter called the Convention, regarding articles 2 (f), 9, 15 (2) and 16.
The Government of the Republic of Poland considers that the reservations made by the United Arab Emirates are incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention which guarantees equal rights of women and men to exercise their economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. The Government of the Republic of Poland therefore considers that, according to the customary international law as codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (article 19 (c)), done at Vienna on 23 May 1969, as well as article 28 (2) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, reservations incompatible with the object and purpose of a treaty shall not be permitted.
The Government of the Republic of Poland therefore objects to the aforementioned reservations made by the United Arab Emirates upon accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 18 December 1979, regarding articles 2 (f), 9, 15 (2) and 16.
This objection does not preclude the entry into force of the Convention between the Republic of Poland and the United Arab Emirates."

11.b. 1 December 2005
With regard to the reservations made by Oman upon accession:
"The Government of the Republic of Poland [has] examined the reservation made by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman upon accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child as regards the participation of children in armed conflicts, which confirms that the reservations made to the Convention are currently valid. The above mentioned reservations refer in general to all the provisions of the Convention which are not in accordance with Islamic Law of the legislation of the Sultanate of Oman and stipulate that the provisions of the Convention should be applied within the limits imposed by the materials resources available.
The Government of the Republic of Poland considers that reservations do not specify the extent to which the Sultanate of Oman has accepted the obligations of the Convention are contrary to the object and purpose of the Protocol, i.e., to guarantee better protection of the rights of the child set forth in the Convention. The Government of the Republic of Poland would like to note that pursuant to article 19 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, any reservations contrary to the scope and purpose of the treaty are unacceptable.
The Government of Poland therefore objects to the aforesaid reservation made by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman to the Optional Protocol.
However, this objection shall not preclude the entry into force of the Optional Protocol between the Republic of Poland and the Sultanate of Oman."

Sources: www.ohchr.org