Ineke Boerefijn
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199565221
- eISBN:
- 9780191705281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565221.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Public International Law
This chapter focuses on the United Nations human rights treaty bodies and the way in which they deal with reservations under the reporting procedure. It begins with a section on general aspects of ...
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This chapter focuses on the United Nations human rights treaty bodies and the way in which they deal with reservations under the reporting procedure. It begins with a section on general aspects of the reservations regime and the validity of reservations to human rights treaties. It then considers the ‘object and purpose’ rule, paying specific attention to general human rights treaties. The chapter also deals with various types of reservations that (potentially) affect the implementation of the entire treaty. It then addresses reservations to norms that have a special status, such as peremptory norms and non-derogable norms. The concluding sections discuss the reservations affecting the role of monitoring bodies and the competence of the monitoring bodies to examine reservations and determine their validity, as well as the consequences of their findings.Less
This chapter focuses on the United Nations human rights treaty bodies and the way in which they deal with reservations under the reporting procedure. It begins with a section on general aspects of the reservations regime and the validity of reservations to human rights treaties. It then considers the ‘object and purpose’ rule, paying specific attention to general human rights treaties. The chapter also deals with various types of reservations that (potentially) affect the implementation of the entire treaty. It then addresses reservations to norms that have a special status, such as peremptory norms and non-derogable norms. The concluding sections discuss the reservations affecting the role of monitoring bodies and the competence of the monitoring bodies to examine reservations and determine their validity, as well as the consequences of their findings.
Carl Wellman
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199744787
- eISBN:
- 9780199827138
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744787.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This book discusses all three species of human rights—moral, international, and national—at length, but it pays special attention to the moral reasons that are relevant to each species. The first ...
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This book discusses all three species of human rights—moral, international, and national—at length, but it pays special attention to the moral reasons that are relevant to each species. The first part develops an original view of the nature and grounds of moral human rights based on the author’s previous publications in the general theory of rights. If respected, they confer some sphere of dominion on the right-holder in some potential confrontation and are grounded on specifically moral reasons. The second part explains how moral human rights are relevant to both the justification and the interpretation of human rights in international law and identifies several other relevant moral considerations, such as peace and social justice. The third part argues that different kinds of moral and international human rights ought to be incorporated into national legal systems in four distinct ways: in a written constitution, judicial decisions, legislation, and human rights treaties. Finally it explains how the moral dimensions of human rights are relevant to the alleged use of torture in the interrogation of detainees in the Bush administration war on terrorism.Less
This book discusses all three species of human rights—moral, international, and national—at length, but it pays special attention to the moral reasons that are relevant to each species. The first part develops an original view of the nature and grounds of moral human rights based on the author’s previous publications in the general theory of rights. If respected, they confer some sphere of dominion on the right-holder in some potential confrontation and are grounded on specifically moral reasons. The second part explains how moral human rights are relevant to both the justification and the interpretation of human rights in international law and identifies several other relevant moral considerations, such as peace and social justice. The third part argues that different kinds of moral and international human rights ought to be incorporated into national legal systems in four distinct ways: in a written constitution, judicial decisions, legislation, and human rights treaties. Finally it explains how the moral dimensions of human rights are relevant to the alleged use of torture in the interrogation of detainees in the Bush administration war on terrorism.
Theodor Meron
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198257455
- eISBN:
- 9780191681769
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198257455.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter discusses the relationship between human rights and state responsibility, based on the fundamental proposition that a breach of conventional or customary human rights or humanitarian ...
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This chapter discusses the relationship between human rights and state responsibility, based on the fundamental proposition that a breach of conventional or customary human rights or humanitarian norms leads to the international responsibility of states. The chapter aims to examine the relationship between the contemporary and the rapidly developing law of human rights and humanitarian norms and the law of state responsibility. This examination should contribute to the acceptance of human rights as an authentic and legitimate branch of international law. The discussion in the chapter happens to be largely theoretical.Less
This chapter discusses the relationship between human rights and state responsibility, based on the fundamental proposition that a breach of conventional or customary human rights or humanitarian norms leads to the international responsibility of states. The chapter aims to examine the relationship between the contemporary and the rapidly developing law of human rights and humanitarian norms and the law of state responsibility. This examination should contribute to the acceptance of human rights as an authentic and legitimate branch of international law. The discussion in the chapter happens to be largely theoretical.
Joshua Castellino and Elvira Domínguez Redondo
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199296057
- eISBN:
- 9780191705403
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296057.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter focuses on the extent to which Asian states participate in the general UN human rights machinery. It begins by outlining the positions of Asian states with regards to human rights then ...
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This chapter focuses on the extent to which Asian states participate in the general UN human rights machinery. It begins by outlining the positions of Asian states with regards to human rights then discusses the notion of the so-called ‘Asian Values’ debate. This is followed by an examination of Asian states' participation in the human rights treaty and charter-based regime. The final section seeks to undertake a brief survey of the Asian states that have reported on minority rights issues, drawing on the state reports submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) and Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).Less
This chapter focuses on the extent to which Asian states participate in the general UN human rights machinery. It begins by outlining the positions of Asian states with regards to human rights then discusses the notion of the so-called ‘Asian Values’ debate. This is followed by an examination of Asian states' participation in the human rights treaty and charter-based regime. The final section seeks to undertake a brief survey of the Asian states that have reported on minority rights issues, drawing on the state reports submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) and Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
Martin Scheinin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199565221
- eISBN:
- 9780191705281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565221.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Public International Law
This chapter discusses the relationship between the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) and human rights treaties. It identifies alternative approaches in the issue and discusses their ...
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This chapter discusses the relationship between the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) and human rights treaties. It identifies alternative approaches in the issue and discusses their relative strengths and weaknesses. The positivist approach, the dogmatic approach, and the fragmentation approach to the relationship between the VCLT and human rights treaties were rejected. Instead, the chapter expresses sympathy for the two remaining approaches, namely the constitutional and the reconciliation approaches.Less
This chapter discusses the relationship between the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) and human rights treaties. It identifies alternative approaches in the issue and discusses their relative strengths and weaknesses. The positivist approach, the dogmatic approach, and the fragmentation approach to the relationship between the VCLT and human rights treaties were rejected. Instead, the chapter expresses sympathy for the two remaining approaches, namely the constitutional and the reconciliation approaches.
Alain Pellet and Daniel Müller
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199588817
- eISBN:
- 9780191725272
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588817.003.0035
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter on reservations to human rights has its place in a volume devoted to the evolution of international law from bilateralism to community interest. It could even be said that it is at the ...
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This chapter on reservations to human rights has its place in a volume devoted to the evolution of international law from bilateralism to community interest. It could even be said that it is at the very heart of the dialectic called by these two trends: on the one hand, reservations, in a way, ‘bilateralize’ the relations between the parties to multilateral treaties while, at the same time, facilitating a wider acceptance of the core elements of the treaties in question and, therefore, strengthening the global community interest. This dialectic is vividly present with regard to human rights treaties even though, according to a dominant view among human rights activists, reservations to those treaties are seen as an absolute evil. They are not.Less
This chapter on reservations to human rights has its place in a volume devoted to the evolution of international law from bilateralism to community interest. It could even be said that it is at the very heart of the dialectic called by these two trends: on the one hand, reservations, in a way, ‘bilateralize’ the relations between the parties to multilateral treaties while, at the same time, facilitating a wider acceptance of the core elements of the treaties in question and, therefore, strengthening the global community interest. This dialectic is vividly present with regard to human rights treaties even though, according to a dominant view among human rights activists, reservations to those treaties are seen as an absolute evil. They are not.
Michael O'Flaherty
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199217908
- eISBN:
- 9780191705380
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217908.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
The seven principal United Nations-sponsored human rights treaties stipulate that states parties submit periodic reports to the respective treaty monitoring bodies on their implementation of the ...
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The seven principal United Nations-sponsored human rights treaties stipulate that states parties submit periodic reports to the respective treaty monitoring bodies on their implementation of the treaty obligations. Following a report review, the treaty body in question issues a set of ‘Concluding Observations’ containing its collective assessment of the state's record and recommendations for enhanced implementation of the rights in question. This chapter analyzes the weaknesses of the current system of uncoordinated recommendations between the seven UN treaty bodies, and highlights the need for integration of the recommendations. Failure to do so could give rise to ‘clashes of approach’ and cases of ‘inconsistent or contradictory recommendations’. Integration of the approaches of the treaty bodies based on a human rights-based approach can enhance the structure and fulfilment of the obligations under the main human rights treaties, including the ICESCR, as well as the work of the respective Committees, including the ESCR Committee.Less
The seven principal United Nations-sponsored human rights treaties stipulate that states parties submit periodic reports to the respective treaty monitoring bodies on their implementation of the treaty obligations. Following a report review, the treaty body in question issues a set of ‘Concluding Observations’ containing its collective assessment of the state's record and recommendations for enhanced implementation of the rights in question. This chapter analyzes the weaknesses of the current system of uncoordinated recommendations between the seven UN treaty bodies, and highlights the need for integration of the recommendations. Failure to do so could give rise to ‘clashes of approach’ and cases of ‘inconsistent or contradictory recommendations’. Integration of the approaches of the treaty bodies based on a human rights-based approach can enhance the structure and fulfilment of the obligations under the main human rights treaties, including the ICESCR, as well as the work of the respective Committees, including the ESCR Committee.
Menno T. Kamminga
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199565221
- eISBN:
- 9780191705281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565221.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Public International Law
This chapter examines practice under the European Convention on Human Rights and under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It shows that practice under the European Convention ...
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This chapter examines practice under the European Convention on Human Rights and under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It shows that practice under the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to the former Czechoslovakia provides ample support for the doctrine of automatic state succession in respect of human rights treaties. It also shows that the supervisory body of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has devoted most attention to the questions of principle raised by a succession of states.Less
This chapter examines practice under the European Convention on Human Rights and under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It shows that practice under the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to the former Czechoslovakia provides ample support for the doctrine of automatic state succession in respect of human rights treaties. It also shows that the supervisory body of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has devoted most attention to the questions of principle raised by a succession of states.
Elizabeth Wicks
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199547395
- eISBN:
- 9780191594373
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547395.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Medical Law
This chapter focuses upon the legal implementation of the right to life, within both domestic and international legal systems. It identifies the diverse range of circumstances which may give rise to ...
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This chapter focuses upon the legal implementation of the right to life, within both domestic and international legal systems. It identifies the diverse range of circumstances which may give rise to a right to life claim and presents some of the difficulties faced by states and international organs in seeking to implement the right. This chapter addresses the crucial practical question of whether, and if so how, the right to life can be enforced in a world where the loss of life is so commonplace. It is recognized that the most effective means of protecting the right to life will be by means of domestic law, including by means of the core requirement of a criminal prohibition of killing. However, it is at a domestic level in which the threat to human life usually arises and so international oversight, by both legal and non-legal mechanisms, is essential.Less
This chapter focuses upon the legal implementation of the right to life, within both domestic and international legal systems. It identifies the diverse range of circumstances which may give rise to a right to life claim and presents some of the difficulties faced by states and international organs in seeking to implement the right. This chapter addresses the crucial practical question of whether, and if so how, the right to life can be enforced in a world where the loss of life is so commonplace. It is recognized that the most effective means of protecting the right to life will be by means of domestic law, including by means of the core requirement of a criminal prohibition of killing. However, it is at a domestic level in which the threat to human life usually arises and so international oversight, by both legal and non-legal mechanisms, is essential.
Jonas Christoffersen
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199565221
- eISBN:
- 9780191705281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565221.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Public International Law
The interpretation of human rights treaties is widely believed to be subject to special rules, deviating from generally accepted interpretative canons of international law. The view is most clearly ...
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The interpretation of human rights treaties is widely believed to be subject to special rules, deviating from generally accepted interpretative canons of international law. The view is most clearly expressed by the European Court of Human Rights, which claims that in interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) ‘regard must be had to its special character as a treaty for the collective enforcement of human rights and fundamental freedoms’. This chapter argues that the Court's method of interpretation is firmly rooted within the traditional canons of interpretation of general international law, and that the method of subsidiary review does not deviate substantially from generally accepted methods of review in international law. It suggests that general principles of treaty interpretation have had — and continue to have — tremendous impact on human rights law, whereas human rights law has not had much of an impact on general international law on the methodological plane, although the substance of human rights law — alongside all other branches of international law — will of course be part of the general body of international law.Less
The interpretation of human rights treaties is widely believed to be subject to special rules, deviating from generally accepted interpretative canons of international law. The view is most clearly expressed by the European Court of Human Rights, which claims that in interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) ‘regard must be had to its special character as a treaty for the collective enforcement of human rights and fundamental freedoms’. This chapter argues that the Court's method of interpretation is firmly rooted within the traditional canons of interpretation of general international law, and that the method of subsidiary review does not deviate substantially from generally accepted methods of review in international law. It suggests that general principles of treaty interpretation have had — and continue to have — tremendous impact on human rights law, whereas human rights law has not had much of an impact on general international law on the methodological plane, although the substance of human rights law — alongside all other branches of international law — will of course be part of the general body of international law.
Bruno Simma and Gleider I. Hernández
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199588916
- eISBN:
- 9780191728938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588916.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Human Rights and Immigration
The Vienna Convention's regime on reservations is particularly unfit to cope with the specific characteristics of human rights treaties due to the very limited and particular role played by ...
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The Vienna Convention's regime on reservations is particularly unfit to cope with the specific characteristics of human rights treaties due to the very limited and particular role played by reciprocity and the ‘inward-targeted’ nature of the obligations stipulated in such instruments. Regional human rights courts and UN human rights treaty bodies have developed certain methods of monitoring the reservations practice of states parties to the respective instruments, but a central question has hitherto remained very controversial, namely that of the legal consequences of a reservation to a human rights treaty which is considered incompatible with that treaty's object and purpose and therefore impermissible. After many years of dealing with the topic of reservations, the UN International Law Commission has finally addressed this issue: Special Rapporteur Alain Pellet has proposed a solution which finds itself essentially in accord with the ‘severability’ doctrine advocated by the human rights community, reconciling this approach and the principle of treaty consent through the introduction of a presumption of severability of an invalid reservation from the body of a human rights treaty, to which the State making such a reservation will then remain bound in full. This chapter supports the Special Rapporteur's proposal, traces its development, and discusses both the advantages and the specific challenges posed by a presumption of severability.Less
The Vienna Convention's regime on reservations is particularly unfit to cope with the specific characteristics of human rights treaties due to the very limited and particular role played by reciprocity and the ‘inward-targeted’ nature of the obligations stipulated in such instruments. Regional human rights courts and UN human rights treaty bodies have developed certain methods of monitoring the reservations practice of states parties to the respective instruments, but a central question has hitherto remained very controversial, namely that of the legal consequences of a reservation to a human rights treaty which is considered incompatible with that treaty's object and purpose and therefore impermissible. After many years of dealing with the topic of reservations, the UN International Law Commission has finally addressed this issue: Special Rapporteur Alain Pellet has proposed a solution which finds itself essentially in accord with the ‘severability’ doctrine advocated by the human rights community, reconciling this approach and the principle of treaty consent through the introduction of a presumption of severability of an invalid reservation from the body of a human rights treaty, to which the State making such a reservation will then remain bound in full. This chapter supports the Special Rapporteur's proposal, traces its development, and discusses both the advantages and the specific challenges posed by a presumption of severability.
Elizabeth Wicks
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199547395
- eISBN:
- 9780191594373
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547395.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Medical Law
This chapter investigates the human origins of the idea that human life has an inherent value. The concept has religious and philosophical roots and serves as the underlying principle for the modern ...
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This chapter investigates the human origins of the idea that human life has an inherent value. The concept has religious and philosophical roots and serves as the underlying principle for the modern day right to life. We see its development from a religious belief in the sanctity of human life, through philosophical musings about why human life is valuable and whether individuals enjoy certain rights by virtue of their humanity, to the gradual development of a right to life in international law. It is discovered that a concept of the sanctity of human life is not specific to any single human culture. The universally recognized value in human life, when combined with a natural law philosophy and widespread moral revulsion at the disregard for human life during the Holocaust, cemented itself into a legally recognized international human right to life in the mid twentieth century.Less
This chapter investigates the human origins of the idea that human life has an inherent value. The concept has religious and philosophical roots and serves as the underlying principle for the modern day right to life. We see its development from a religious belief in the sanctity of human life, through philosophical musings about why human life is valuable and whether individuals enjoy certain rights by virtue of their humanity, to the gradual development of a right to life in international law. It is discovered that a concept of the sanctity of human life is not specific to any single human culture. The universally recognized value in human life, when combined with a natural law philosophy and widespread moral revulsion at the disregard for human life during the Holocaust, cemented itself into a legally recognized international human right to life in the mid twentieth century.
Helge Elisabeth Zeitler
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199589104
- eISBN:
- 9780191595455
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199589104.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Public International Law
Clauses guaranteeing investor ‘full protection and security’ are included in most bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. They require not only abstention by the host State from physically ...
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Clauses guaranteeing investor ‘full protection and security’ are included in most bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. They require not only abstention by the host State from physically damaging foreign investment, but also positive measures to protect foreign investment, in particular against harm caused by private actors. This chapter shows the importance of and need for a comparative legal approach in order to understand what a guarantee of ‘full protection and security’ means today, in customary international law, but also in bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. It starts with an analysis of the origins of the clauses in customary international law and its importance for the understanding of their content under investment treaties, before analysing investment law jurisprudence on this basis. The applicable standard of protection in investment treaties is clarified in comparative perspective, in particular as regards human rights protection systems, with a view to developing general principles of law.Less
Clauses guaranteeing investor ‘full protection and security’ are included in most bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. They require not only abstention by the host State from physically damaging foreign investment, but also positive measures to protect foreign investment, in particular against harm caused by private actors. This chapter shows the importance of and need for a comparative legal approach in order to understand what a guarantee of ‘full protection and security’ means today, in customary international law, but also in bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. It starts with an analysis of the origins of the clauses in customary international law and its importance for the understanding of their content under investment treaties, before analysing investment law jurisprudence on this basis. The applicable standard of protection in investment treaties is clarified in comparative perspective, in particular as regards human rights protection systems, with a view to developing general principles of law.
Markos Karavias
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199674381
- eISBN:
- 9780191752322
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199674381.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Company and Commercial Law
This chapter discusses the position of corporations in international treaties appertaining to human rights and international criminal law, and the extent to which such instruments serve as the ...
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This chapter discusses the position of corporations in international treaties appertaining to human rights and international criminal law, and the extent to which such instruments serve as the fountainhead of obligations directly binding upon corporations under positive international law. It concludes that international human rights and criminal agreements fall short of directly regulating corporate conduct. However, this does not mean that they disregard corporate conduct altogether. Both under international human rights and criminal law, States assume obligations to regulate corporate conduct, albeit via the medium of domestic law.Less
This chapter discusses the position of corporations in international treaties appertaining to human rights and international criminal law, and the extent to which such instruments serve as the fountainhead of obligations directly binding upon corporations under positive international law. It concludes that international human rights and criminal agreements fall short of directly regulating corporate conduct. However, this does not mean that they disregard corporate conduct altogether. Both under international human rights and criminal law, States assume obligations to regulate corporate conduct, albeit via the medium of domestic law.
AnnJanette Rosga and Margaret L. Satterthwaite
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199658244
- eISBN:
- 9780199949915
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199658244.003.0012
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter discusses several efforts to use indicators within the law of international human rights. It identifies the criticisms made to these efforts, and states that there is an increasing ...
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This chapter discusses several efforts to use indicators within the law of international human rights. It identifies the criticisms made to these efforts, and states that there is an increasing potential for suitable tempered indicators to play valuable roles. It then takes a look at the project of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which is aimed to create internationally-prescribed indicators for a number of primary UN human rights treaties. It determines that these indicators may help in addressing the concerns of the perceived legitimacy of the supervisory committees under these treaties. This chapter also suggests that indicators may play a role in assisting peoples and publics to use the kinds of pressures and constraints on governments that human rights advocates have long sought after.Less
This chapter discusses several efforts to use indicators within the law of international human rights. It identifies the criticisms made to these efforts, and states that there is an increasing potential for suitable tempered indicators to play valuable roles. It then takes a look at the project of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which is aimed to create internationally-prescribed indicators for a number of primary UN human rights treaties. It determines that these indicators may help in addressing the concerns of the perceived legitimacy of the supervisory committees under these treaties. This chapter also suggests that indicators may play a role in assisting peoples and publics to use the kinds of pressures and constraints on governments that human rights advocates have long sought after.
Yvonne Donders
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199642120
- eISBN:
- 9780191770401
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199642120.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter addresses cultural pluralism in international human rights law by analysing reservations to human rights treaties. Some have argued that reservations are a legitimate and desirable means ...
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This chapter addresses cultural pluralism in international human rights law by analysing reservations to human rights treaties. Some have argued that reservations are a legitimate and desirable means of accounting for cultural and religious diversity across the world. Others have expressed concern about reservations, in particular those referring to cultural diversity, as they would undermine the universality of human rights and should not be allowed as being against the object and purpose of the treaty. This chapter elaborates on the questions to what extent the instrument of reservations is used by states to express cultural pluralism between and among them and how other states and international supervisory bodies have reacted to such reservations, including to what extent such reservations are accepted as a reflection of cultural pluralism. The treaty selected for this examination is the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The CEDAW is almost universally ratified by states, but it also has a large number of reservations, which often refer to cultural or religious arguments as justification.Less
This chapter addresses cultural pluralism in international human rights law by analysing reservations to human rights treaties. Some have argued that reservations are a legitimate and desirable means of accounting for cultural and religious diversity across the world. Others have expressed concern about reservations, in particular those referring to cultural diversity, as they would undermine the universality of human rights and should not be allowed as being against the object and purpose of the treaty. This chapter elaborates on the questions to what extent the instrument of reservations is used by states to express cultural pluralism between and among them and how other states and international supervisory bodies have reacted to such reservations, including to what extent such reservations are accepted as a reflection of cultural pluralism. The treaty selected for this examination is the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The CEDAW is almost universally ratified by states, but it also has a large number of reservations, which often refer to cultural or religious arguments as justification.
Eckart Klein
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199588817
- eISBN:
- 9780191725272
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588817.003.0032
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
It is generally agreed that human rights treaties have a special character distinguishing them from other treaties. The decisive difference is usually based on the argument that in the context of ...
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It is generally agreed that human rights treaties have a special character distinguishing them from other treaties. The decisive difference is usually based on the argument that in the context of human rights treaties the principle of reciprocity is not working at all, or at least not in the same way as for other treaties, essentially influencing neither the establishment nor the performance of a human rights treaty. While the problem has been widely discussed under the aspects of reservations, succession, and reprisals, it has rarely been dealt with from the viewpoint of a unilateral termination by denunciation or withdrawal. This chapter focuses on this issue.Less
It is generally agreed that human rights treaties have a special character distinguishing them from other treaties. The decisive difference is usually based on the argument that in the context of human rights treaties the principle of reciprocity is not working at all, or at least not in the same way as for other treaties, essentially influencing neither the establishment nor the performance of a human rights treaty. While the problem has been widely discussed under the aspects of reservations, succession, and reprisals, it has rarely been dealt with from the viewpoint of a unilateral termination by denunciation or withdrawal. This chapter focuses on this issue.
Benjamin Mason Meier and Virgínia Brás Gomes
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190672676
- eISBN:
- 9780190672713
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190672676.003.0024
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Public International Law
This chapter assesses the role of human rights treaty bodies in monitoring, interpreting, and adjudicating health-related human rights obligations, facilitating accountability for the realization of ...
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This chapter assesses the role of human rights treaty bodies in monitoring, interpreting, and adjudicating health-related human rights obligations, facilitating accountability for the realization of human rights in health policy. With each core human rights treaty having its own corresponding human rights treaty body, these international institutions influence states and galvanize advocates to take action to realize human rights across a range of global health issues. Describing treaty body efforts to monitor state implementation, interpret human rights, and adjudicate individual complaints, this chapter examines the evolving composition and functions of these treaty bodies and analyzes their effectiveness in facilitating the implementation of human rights as a basis for global health. Given recent United Nations efforts to strengthen treaty body functions and streamline monitoring processes, treaty bodies provide complementary approaches for public health practitioners to support accountability for the implementation of health-related human rights.Less
This chapter assesses the role of human rights treaty bodies in monitoring, interpreting, and adjudicating health-related human rights obligations, facilitating accountability for the realization of human rights in health policy. With each core human rights treaty having its own corresponding human rights treaty body, these international institutions influence states and galvanize advocates to take action to realize human rights across a range of global health issues. Describing treaty body efforts to monitor state implementation, interpret human rights, and adjudicate individual complaints, this chapter examines the evolving composition and functions of these treaty bodies and analyzes their effectiveness in facilitating the implementation of human rights as a basis for global health. Given recent United Nations efforts to strengthen treaty body functions and streamline monitoring processes, treaty bodies provide complementary approaches for public health practitioners to support accountability for the implementation of health-related human rights.
Rebecca J. Cook, Bernard M. Dickens, and Mahmoud F. Fathalla
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199241323
- eISBN:
- 9780191696909
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199241323.003.0028
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
States commit themselves to implement human rights treaties through a process of signature usually followed by ratification, or alternatively by direct accession. When states sign and then ratify, or ...
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States commit themselves to implement human rights treaties through a process of signature usually followed by ratification, or alternatively by direct accession. When states sign and then ratify, or directly accede to a treaty, they are called States Parties to the treaty. When countries are only signatories to a treaty but have not yet ratified, they nevertheless commit themselves not to act inconsistently with the treaty. If a state wants to reacquire the option to act inconsistently, it usually first withdraws its signature. When states ratify or accede to a treaty, thus becoming States Parties to that treaty, they agree to implement the treaty. This chapter identifies states that have signed, ratified, or acceded to particular treaties, and Optional Protocols if treaties have them. It also provides the total number of States Parties to each treaty, indicating that there is near universal ratification of some treaties.Less
States commit themselves to implement human rights treaties through a process of signature usually followed by ratification, or alternatively by direct accession. When states sign and then ratify, or directly accede to a treaty, they are called States Parties to the treaty. When countries are only signatories to a treaty but have not yet ratified, they nevertheless commit themselves not to act inconsistently with the treaty. If a state wants to reacquire the option to act inconsistently, it usually first withdraws its signature. When states ratify or accede to a treaty, thus becoming States Parties to that treaty, they agree to implement the treaty. This chapter identifies states that have signed, ratified, or acceded to particular treaties, and Optional Protocols if treaties have them. It also provides the total number of States Parties to each treaty, indicating that there is near universal ratification of some treaties.
Alec Stone Sweet and Jud Mathews
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- July 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198841395
- eISBN:
- 9780191876912
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198841395.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter focuses on the evolution of treaty-based human rights regimes in Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Each of the five courts under consideration insists on its own primacy with respect to ...
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This chapter focuses on the evolution of treaty-based human rights regimes in Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Each of the five courts under consideration insists on its own primacy with respect to the interpretation of charter rights; each considers such interpretations to be binding on all domestic judges; and each holds, or strongly implies, that states are under a duty to incorporate the regional charter as directly enforceable, domestic law with a rank at least above statute. Today, the European and the Inter-American courts take pains to portray their role and function in constitutional terms, a posture the three African regional courts appear to be following. All have adopted proportionality, which the European and Inter-American courts, in particular, have prioritized as an instrument of transnational governance. National trustee courts can and do resist transnational courts; but an increasing number have also held that international human rights—and respect for the jurisprudence of the regional court—are an integral part of their own domestic systems of justice. Today, domestic and treaty-based charters overlap, reflect, and reinforce one another. As important, trustee courts, at both levels, intensively interact with one another on the basis of shared commitment to building the effectiveness of rights protection through the enforcement of the proportionality principle. These facts support the view that, over the past three decades, a global, multi-level, and pluralistic constitutional system has emerged.Less
This chapter focuses on the evolution of treaty-based human rights regimes in Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Each of the five courts under consideration insists on its own primacy with respect to the interpretation of charter rights; each considers such interpretations to be binding on all domestic judges; and each holds, or strongly implies, that states are under a duty to incorporate the regional charter as directly enforceable, domestic law with a rank at least above statute. Today, the European and the Inter-American courts take pains to portray their role and function in constitutional terms, a posture the three African regional courts appear to be following. All have adopted proportionality, which the European and Inter-American courts, in particular, have prioritized as an instrument of transnational governance. National trustee courts can and do resist transnational courts; but an increasing number have also held that international human rights—and respect for the jurisprudence of the regional court—are an integral part of their own domestic systems of justice. Today, domestic and treaty-based charters overlap, reflect, and reinforce one another. As important, trustee courts, at both levels, intensively interact with one another on the basis of shared commitment to building the effectiveness of rights protection through the enforcement of the proportionality principle. These facts support the view that, over the past three decades, a global, multi-level, and pluralistic constitutional system has emerged.
