The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which came into force more than seventeen years ago, is the most universally accepted human rights treaty. It is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights, civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. The Convention also offers greater opportunities than most human rights instruments for balancing traditional values and international rights. Notably, this convention is the only international treaty that includes an explicit reference to ‘Islamic law.
In the meantime, along with the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the CRC has received the most religious based reservations of Muslim states on different articles and/or on the treaty as a whole. This study will examine the relevance of these reservations to the practice of Muslim legal traditions, with regard to Article 2 of the Convention on the issue of distinction and discrimination.