Published: 1 February 2018 Author: Stefan Talmon
On 1 February 2018, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (“Istanbul Convention”) became binding on Germany. Germany was among the first States to sign the Convention on 11 May 2011. Upon the Convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2014, the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid stated:
“I am glad that the Istanbul Convention officially entered into force today. The convention is a milestone on the road towards better protecting women and children from violence, particularly domestic violence. The Council of Europe has once again proven itself a pioneer in the creation of legally binding international standards, especially on human rights. Germany has signed the Istanbul Convention, and the German Government is working on ratifying it as soon as may be. One important thing is that a monitoring mechanism for the convention has been set up.”
“As soon as may be” was to take more than three years. It was only on 12 October 2017 that Germany finally submitted its instrument of ratification. Germany accompanied both its signature and its ratification with reservations in accordance with Article 78, paragraph 2, of the Convention.
For the text of the Convention, see here.
For the text of the German reservations, see here.
