FINLAND

CCPR OPTIONAL PROTOCOL

OBJECTIONS MADE TO OTHER STATES PARTIES RESERVATIONS AND DECLARATIONS

(Ed. note: for the text targeted by the following objection, see the Reservations and Declarations of the State which is the subject of the objection)

Note

The Government of Guyana had initially acceded to the Optional Protocol on 10 May 1993. On 5 January 1999, the Government of Guyana notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to denounce the said Optional Protocol with effect from 5 April 1999. On that same date, the Government of Guyana re-acceded to the Optional Protocol with a reservation.

Subsequently, the Secretary-General received the following communications from the following States on the dates indicated hereinafter:

Finland (17 March 2000):

"The Government of Finland is of the view that denying the rights recognised in the Optional Protocol from individuals under the most severe sentence is in contradiction with the object and purpose of the said Protocol.

Furthermore, the Government of Finland wishes to express its serious concern as to the procedure followed by Guyana, of denouncing the Optional Protocol (to which it did not have any reservations) followed by an immediate re-accession with a reservation. The Government of Finland is of the view that such a procedure is highly undesirable as circumventing the rule of the law of treaties that prohibits the formulation of reservations after accession.

The Government of Finland therefore objects to the reservation made by the Government of Guyana to the said Protocol.

This objection does not preclude the entry into force of the Optional Protocol between Guyana and Finland. The Optional Protocol will thus become operative between the two states without Guyana benefitting from the reservation".

...

(Note 2, Chapter IV.5, Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General)