This thesis engages in a semioethic analysis of the English text of international human rights treaties to assess whether the provisions as formulated clearly identify the girl child and take into account her unique condition. Its hypothesis is that the terminology employed to define the girl child and phrase her rights is insufficient to ensure her protection. The thesis firstly explores the unique status of the girl child as a female and a child, and the obstacles she faces in exercising her rights as a result of sexism, childism, and interactive intersectional discrimination. It also presents the semiotics theory, the Meaning Triad developed by Victoria Lady Welby, which allows for an analysis of the sense, meaning and significance of terminology, and the semioethic approach, which studies the import of signs for the purpose of improving the human condition. The thesis explains how intersectionality theory and semioethics shall be applied as methodologies to examine the content of international treaties as concerns the girl child. Secondly, the thesis explores the status of the girl child under international law. It examines the gradual recognition of the girl child in the international legal apparatus and the definition of the girl child in international law and the English language. Thirdly, the thesis analyses the right to life of the girl child as a case study to investigate whether its formulation under international law sufficiently tackles three key violations experienced by girl children: prenatal sex selection, female infanticide, and feminicide of adolescent girls. The thesis focuses on the two main treaties pertaining to the girl child, the CRC and the CEDAW, and a central treaty protecting the right to life, the ICCPR. At the end of each chapter, recommendations are provided, where applicable, to modify the wording of relevant provisions in order to strengthen the protection of the girl child.

Face à la "mondialisation" du fléau de la contrefaçon, les États ont édicté l'Accord ADPIC pour harmoniser, à l'échelle internationale, les règles de protection des droits de propriété intellectuelle et les moyens de les faire respecter contre la contrefaçon. L'Accord ADPIC est le premier traité multilatéral qui prévoit de véritables "moyens de faire respecter les droits de propriété intellectuelle". Sa partie III consacre un important volet aux prescriptions spéciales aux frontières, aux procédures et mesures correctives, civiles et pénales destinées à lutter contre la contrefaçon. Signataires de l'Accord ADPIC, les seize États membres de l'Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI) ont révisé le 24 février 1999, leur législation commune l'Accord de Bangui afin de se conformer à leurs engagements internationaux. Cette étude consacrée aux marques, catégorie des droits de propriété intellectuelle la plus connue mais aussi la plus contrefaite de l'espace OAPI, démontre que les exigences de l'Accord ADPIC ne sont pas respectées plusieurs années après sa ratification. La première partie de cette étude consiste en une analyse critique des règles de protection de la marque. La seconde partie met en exergue le non respect des droits des détenteurs de marques contre la contrefaçon. Après avoir souligné les nombreuses contingences qui entament l'efficacité des moyens de lutte contre la contrefaçon, une série de mesures est proposée afin d'améliorer le respect des droits de marques en particulier et de propriété intellectuelle en général. / Faced with the "globalization" of the scourge of counterfeiting, states have enacted the TRIPS Agreement to harmonize on an international scale the rules of protection of intellectual property rights and means to enforce them against counterfeiting. The TRIPS Agreement is the first multilateral treaty that provides real "means of enforcing intellectual property rights." Part III devotes an important part on special border requirements, procedures and remedies, civil and criminal measures to fight against counterfeiting. As signatories of the TRIPS Agreement, the sixteen members of the African Intellectual Property Organization (AIPO) revised on the 24th February 1999, their common law the Bangui Agreement in order to comply with their international commitments. This study on trademarks, the best known category of intellectual property but also the most counterfeited in the AIPO space, demonstrates that the requirements of the TRIPS Agreement are not met several years after its ratification. The first part of this study is a critical analysis of the rules of trademarks protection. The second part highlights the disregard for the rights of trademarks owners against counterfeiting. Having underlined the many contingencies that cut into the effectiveness of the fight against counterfeiting, a serie of measures is proposed to improve the rights of particular trademarks and intellectual property in general.