You are required to develop and submit a research question and proposal for your research essay. The proposal must clearly set out the research question you are proposing to answer and the basic proposed approach to the question. It should include a draft structure of the paper (headings and subheadings in a table of contents format). The proposal must clearly indicate what current issue you are intending to consider, why the issue is worthy of consideration, and the relevance of the analysis to the general principles of international law (including how the topic will address one of the 5 broad areas available for research). The proposal should not exceed 2 A4 pages TOPIC : International human rights and reservations to multilateral treaties: critically examine the Human Rights Committee's approach in the light of the general international law relating to the reservations to treaties. The past century has questioned whether reservations to multilateral human rights treaties should be approached in the same manner as reservations to general multilateral treaties. The International Court of Justice adopts the view that the reservation regime should be the same in both cases. The European Court of Human Rights however disagrees, stating that the specific nature of human rights treaties requires rules that are less general than those applied to classic multilateral treaties. This study will critically examine this topic, particularly in light of the approach of the Human Rights Committee to reservations to treaties. How does the classical regime function in terms of human rights treaties and how can this be better suited to reservations on such treaties? Is an alternative approach indeed necessary? The study will ultimately seek to achieve a suitable balance between the need to provide a certain degree of flexibility in order to encourage participation and the importance of maintaining the integrity of human rights treaties. Suggested Reading BUT NOT LIMITED TOTHESE De Schutter, O 2010. International Human Rights Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Steiner, HJ, Alston, P & Goodman, R 2008. International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics and Morality, New York: Oxford University Press. Schabas, WA 1994. 'Reservations to Human Rights Treaties: Time for Innovation and Reform', Canadian Yearbook of International Law, vol. 12, no. 42.