roadmaps to reforming the un drug conventions - Beckley Foundation

has announced its intention to reaccede, providing that its reservation allowing thetraditional use of coca leaves is accepted. 40 This procedure of denunciation andreaccession with a reservation is further discussed below. Bolivia’s action in denouncingone of the three current drug treaties is unprecedented. However, there is precedent forwhat amounts to collective denunciation of earlier drug treaties: the 1961 treaty includesan article (Art. 44) by which that treaty, when it came into force, ‘terminated’ nineprevious conventions, agreements and protocols.Even though Bolivia had clearly signalled its intention to reaccede, there was strongdisapproval expressed by organs of the international drug regime. The InternationalNarcotics Control Board issued a press release stating that it ‘regrets’ the Boliviandecision. While acknowledging that the decision ‘may be in line with the letter of theConvention’, the Board ‘is of the opinion [that] such action is contrary to theConvention’s spirit’. The statement also implied that the decision constituted a ‘threat tothe international drug control system’. 413.2 Reservations to a treatyTraditionally, reservations to a treaty were to be made only at the point of accession to atreaty. However, Helfer 42 notes that ‘late reservations have become a regular, ifinfrequent, component of modern treaty practice’, 43 though their status in internationallaw is still uncertain. The International Law Commission has recommended allowingsuch late reservations, but only if no other Party objects within 12 months. 44 But thisremains a recommendation rather than a settled matter in international law. In any case,an action which can be nullified by any other party does not seem a promising path inthe context of the drug treaties.40Room, R. ‘Reform by subtraction: The path of denunciation of international drug treaties andreaccession with reservations’. International Journal of Drug Policy 23(5):401–406, 2012.41INCB, International Narcotics Control Board regrets Bolivia’s denunciation of the SingleConvention on Narcotic Drugs. Press release, UN Information Service, Vienna, 5 July 2011.http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2011/unisnar1114.html (accessed 24 August, 2011).42Helfer, L.R., ‘Not fully committed? Reservations, risk and treaty design’. Yale Journal ofInternational Law 31:367–382, 2006. http://www.yale.edu/yjil/PDFs/vol_31/Helfer.pdf (accessed 2 July,2012).43It appears that the United Kingdom made a post-ratification reservation to the 1988 drug treaty,which has been accepted without apparent objection. In a series of notifications to the UN Secretary-General between December 1993 and 2002, the UK made particular reservations to the treaty for theIsle of Man, six Caribbean territories, and Jersey and Guernsey. These notifications were all well afterthe UK had ratified the treaty on 28 June, 1991. See footnote 9 ofhttp://treaties.un.org/pp./ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=VI-19&chapter=6&lang=en(accessed 2 July, 2012) .44International Law Commission, Reservations to treaties, pp. 177–180 in: Report on the work of itsfifty-third session (23 April – 1 June and 2 July – 10 August 2001), UN General Assembly OfficialRecords A/56/10. http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/reports/2001/2001report.htm (accessed 2 July, 2012).14