A ‘treaty’, ‘convention’ or a ‘covenant’ is an international legal instrument. A treaty imposes binding legal obligations upon a State who is a party to that treaty. A State can become party to a treaty by ratifying it, which means that the State voluntarily decides to be bound by the provisions of the relevant treaty. When a State becomes party to a treaty, it is obligated under international law to uphold and implement the provisions of the relevant treaty. This implies that the domestic legislation of the State party must be in conformity with the provisions of the treaty and cannot contradict them in any way. In some cases, a State may declare a reservation to a particular article of a treaty that it has ratified. If the reservation to the relevant article is deemed admissible, then the State is no longer considered bound to fulfil that particular provision. If the reservation is found to be contrary to the spirit of the relevant treaty, however, it will be deemed inadmissible and the State will be considered bound by that particular provision.