scholarly journals Toward Rejuvenated Inspiration with the Unbearable Lightness of Anthropology

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 283-288
Author(s):  
Miia Halme-Tuomisaari
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Legal Fiction ◽  
State Compliance ◽  
Treaty Body ◽  
Civil And Political Rights

How might the connections between anthropology and international law become more dynamic? I reflect upon this question in this essay using ethnographic insights from the documentary cycles of the UN Human Rights Committee, the treaty body monitoring state compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Building on recent anthropological scholarship on international organizations, bureaucracy, and documents, this essay discusses the knowledge practices and legal technicalities that characterize the international community of human rights lawyers. In particular, I reflect on the legal fiction of difference governing UN treaty bodies’ operations and the empirical sameness of participants in different formal categories in the shared community of practice of human rights lawyers. I conclude by suggesting that anthropological insights could significantly enrich our shared understanding of the diverse and subtle effects of human rights monitoring. Simultaneously such insights may offer rejuvenated inspiration for those international lawyers tackling a sense of losing faith in their discipline, both as an influential tool of world improvement and an invigorating intellectual tradition.

scholarly journals Ordre du droit et droit de l'ordre

2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 699-729
Author(s):  
Jacques Zylberberg
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Civil And Political Rights

This essay undertakes a review of national and international law to demonstrate that law is mainly an ideological and variable instrument of the State and of the United Nations, which is a by-product of the states. In this perspective, the author opposes the pragmatical ideology of resistance against the sovereign state to the juridical legitimation and the behaviour of the States who reluctantly have conceded some civil and political rights. Those rights are endangered by the growing bureaucratization of the state, the inflation of the juridical norms and rules, in addition to the permanent repressive characters of the State. The criticism of the contradiction and the variation of the rule of law when it relates to "human rights" is also extended to international law as well as to the international organizations.

ACCIDENT AND DESIGN: RECOGNISING VICTIMS OF AGGRESSION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-132
Author(s):  
Shane Darcy
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Future Application ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Civil And Political Rights

AbstractInternational law has not traditionally recognised individuals as victims of the crime of aggression. Recent developments may precipitate a departure from this approach. The activation of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the crime of aggression opens the way for the future application of the Court's regime of victim participation and reparation in the context of prosecutions for this crime. The determination by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in General Comment No. 36 that any deprivation of life resulting from an act of aggression violates Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights serves to recognise a previously overlooked class of victims. This article explores these recent developments, by discussing their background, meaning and implications for international law and the rights of victims.

scholarly journals Extraterritorial application of the right to life on the high sea . Commentary to the Views adopted by the Human Rights Committee of 27 January 2021, A.S., D.I., O.I. and G.D. against Italy, Communication No. 3042/2017

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Pacholski
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Rescue Operation ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
The Right

The subject matter of this commentary, which instigates the Views of the Human Rights Committee of 27 January 2021, is the protection of one of the fundamental human rights – the right to life. The Committee, as an authority appointed to oversee compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, had to decide on the issue of Italy’s responsibility for failing to provide assistance to a boat in distress, even if the area in which the vessel was located was not within the territory of this state and other acts of international law attribute the responsibility for executing the rescue operation to a third country. According to the Committee’s views, which applied extraterritorial approach to the protection of the right to life, whenever states have the opportunity to take action for the protection of human rights they should do everything possible in a given situation to help people in need.

scholarly journals Criteria and Constraints: the Human Rights Committee’s Test on Limiting the Freedom of Religion or Belief

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 20-38
Author(s):  
Gehan Gunatilleke
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Vital Function ◽  
Treaty Body ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
Normative Constraints

Abstract The Human Rights Committee—the treaty body established under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—performs a vital function in supervising the Covenant’s implementation. This article presents an analytical account of the Committee’s approach to determining the permissibility of limitations on the freedom of religion or belief under the Covenant. It finds that the Committee has set out certain primary legal criteria when determining the permissibility of a limitation. The Committee has then articulated certain additional normative constraints that apply to states’ authority to limit rights—such as the requirement that the limitation be compatible with the principle of non-discrimination. Based on an analysis of the Committee’s general comments and jurisprudence, the author argues that the Committee has offered a path towards imposing on states a heavier burden to justify limitations on the freedom of religion or belief.

Freedom of Speech in International Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 192-212
Author(s):  
Michael Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
The Right ◽  
Domestic Law

This chapter traces the broad contours of the right to freedom of speech as it has evolved in international law, principally under Article 19(2) of the 1996 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR or ‘the Covenant’). Any speech protective principles deriving from the international jurisprudence are qualified by the following factors: the contextual contingency of the value of speech, the inherently limited reach of international scrutiny, the changing nature of the marketplace, and emerging forms of censorship. The chapter then outlines the key human rights treaty protections for freedom of speech, before further exploring the scope of the right. It examines the permissible grounds for speech restriction, highlighting two contested categories of speech—namely, incitement to hatred and glorification of terrorism—where international law not only concedes the low value of such speech, but specifically mandates its prohibition in domestic law. States that introduce broadly framed speech restrictions may claim to be acting in satisfaction of this prohibitory requirement. In consequence, the intensity of any ensuing international scrutiny will inevitably be substantially reduced.

scholarly journals Human Rights and Social Justice: the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the quiet revolution in international law

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny Weller
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
International Law ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Civil And Political Rights

On the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights (UDHR) the Commonwealth Attorney General announced a national public consultation concerning the need for better human rights protection in Australia and the viability of a federal human rights charter. Whether or not the anticipated Charter includes social, economic and cultural rights is directly relevant to questions of social justice in Australia. This paper argues that the legislative acknowledgment of civil and political rights alone will not adequately address the human rights problems that are experienced in Australia. The reluctance to include economic, social and cultural rights in human rights legislation stems from the historical construction of an artificial distinction between civil and political rights, and economic social and cultural rights. This distinction was articulated and embedded in law with the translation of the UDHR into binding international law. It has been accepted and replicated in judicial consideration of the application on human rights legislation at the domestic level. The distinction between the two forms of rights underpins a general ambivalence about the capacity of human rights legislation to deliver social justice and echoes a critical tradition in legal philosophy that cautions against the reification of law. Coming into force early in the 21st century, the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities illustrates the effort of the international community to recognize and eschew the burden of the false dichotomy between civil and political and economic, social and cultural rights. Acknowledging the indivisible, interdependent and indissociable nature of human rights in Australia is a crucial step toward achieving human rights based social justice.

Transnational Lawmaking Coalitions for Human Rights

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Reiners
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Transnational Actors ◽  
Treaty Body ◽  
The Right

Transnational Lawmaking Coalitions is the first comprehensive analysis of the role and impact of informal collaborations in the UN human rights treaty bodies. Issues as central to international human rights as the right to water, abortion, torture, and hate speech are often only clarified through the instrument of treaty interpretations. This book dives beneath the surface of the formal access, procedures, and actors of the UN treaty body system to reveal how the experts and external collaborators play a key role in the development of human rights. Nina Reiners introduces the concept of 'Transnational Lawmaking Coalitions' within a novel theoretical framework and draws on a number of detailed case studies and original data. This study makes a significant contribution to the scholarship on human rights, transnational actors, and international organizations, and contributes to broader debates in international relations and international law.

Norm Making and Supervision in International Human Rights: Reflections on Institutional Order

1982 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 754-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodor Meron
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
The United Nations

One of the characteristic phenomena of contemporary international life is the proliferation of human rights instruments and systems of supervision. In addition to the Charter of the United Nations and comprehensive global conventions such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Economic Covenant) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Political Covenant), instruments have been adopted within the United Nations or the specialized agencies to govern particular aspects of human rights (e.g., racial discrimination, rights of women) and within regional organizations (e.g., the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States) to govern both general and particular aspects of human rights. In the United Nations, the general practice has been for each normative instrument to create its own system of supervision whenever such systems have been established. Typically, each organ of supervision applies only the norms adopted in the specific “founding” instrument, rather than the entire corpus juris of international human rights or even all of the instruments comprising the International Bill of Human Rights, i.e., the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration), the Economic Covenant, the Political Covenant, and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This proliferation of normative instruments and systems of supervision, which is similar to the proliferation that has given rise to difficult questions of coordination within and between international organizations in the fields of budget, programming, and administration, has led to overlapping jurisdiction and even to conflicts between the legislative and supervisory competence, or claims of competence, of various international bodies. The object of this article is not to compile or map out all the possible conflict areas or to undertake a detailed analysis of the conflicts, whether real or imaginary. Its more modest purpose is to present a broad panorama of the problems, directions, and policy. These matters merit attention, even though political and institutional reasons may make major reforms impossible for the time being. The questions to be discussed are relevant to three major fields of international law: treaties, human rights, and international organizations. While substantive problems of “legislation” or norm making are closely related to problems of supervision or implementation, normative problems will be focused upon first, and problems of supervision second.

scholarly journals Brak obowiązku stawiennictwa oskarżyciela publicznego na rozprawie w kontekście podstawowych zasad procesu karnego

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-136
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Limańska
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Public Prosecutor ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Efficient Operation ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
The Public ◽  
Civil And Political Rights

The principle of legalism places upon the public prosecutor the obligation o pressing charges to a court of law and then to support this claim in the course of the lawsuit. It seems obvious that in order to execute this duty in an appropriate manner, the public prosecutor should attend the trial and actively participate in it. However, in regulation Art. 46 §2 k.p.k., which was introduced by way of an amendment issued on 11 March 2016, the legislator stipulated a regulation which permits the public prosecutor not to appear during the trial, if the preliminary legal proceedings concluded in the form of investigation. Obviously, the task of this regulation is to accelerate the proceedings in cases of lesser calibre, which are cases in which an investigation is conducted. However, it is necessary to consider the aforementioned regulation in the context of the basic principles of a criminal lawsuit and the analysis of the consequences of such regulations. Therefore, in the first instance one made reference to the most important regulations contained in the basis acts of international law, i.e. the European Convention of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which emphasise above all the significance of independence and impartiality, as well as the principle of a quick and efficient operation of the procedure. It was also necessary to refer the substantive regulation to the principle of the contradictoriness of the criminal lawsuit, which stipulates inter alia the separation of lawsuit-related roles and the passivity of the court in reference to the initiative of the parties who argue their cases.

scholarly journals Zagrożenie życia narodu jako przesłanka wstępna derogacji zobowiązań w dziedzinie praw człowieka

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-41
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Jasudowicz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
States Of Emergency ◽  
Treaty Monitoring ◽  
Public Emergency ◽  
Civil And Political Rights

To determine the fate of human rights in extreme situations, the treaties contain a mechanism for derogating from obligations, i.e. derogations from their enforceability in such exceptional situations. The initial and fundamental criterion under which derogation steps are admissible is the existence of an exceptional public emergency that threatens the life of the nation, as referred to in Article 4(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 15(1) of the European Charter of Human Rights, and about which Professor Anna Michalska wrote so competently in 1997. Neither the constitutions of modern states nor their practice of introducing states of emergency are helpful in defining this criterion more precisely; most often, they do not use it at all. Unfortunately, it is not to be found in Chapter XI of the Polish Constitution “States of Emergency”, nor in the laws of 2002 regulating these states. In the practice of the treaty monitoring bodies (Human Rights Committee in the ICCPR system; the European Commission and the Court of Human Rights in the ECHR system), we do not find incontestable nor indisputable indications. The concept of the “nation” is referred to society as a whole and is to be associated with its physical survival. In the author’s opinion, this is not the correct approach, as it is and must be about a “living nation”, a nation effectively exercising its rights. The enslavement of a nation, its subjugation, elimination of opportunities for its self-determination – far from its extermination – can unquestionably meet the requirements of the criterion of a threat to the life of the nation. The study of constitutional law (the nation-sovereign) and international law (the principle and right to self-determination of the nation) unequivocally confirms this thesis.

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