scholarly journals Forced Labour in Brazil: International Criminal Law as the Ultima Ratio Modality of Human Rights Protection

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-193
Author(s):  
JAMES L. BISCHOFF
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Criminal Sanctions ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Brazilian Government ◽  
Forced Labour ◽  
The Individual

Notwithstanding estimates that 12.3 million persons today are subjected to conditions analogous to slavery, public international lawyers have almost completely ignored slavery and related institutions in recent decades. This article explores the phenomenon of forced labour in the Amazon, where anywhere between 25,000 and 100,000 people are compelled through trickery and coercion to work in subhuman conditions. After outlining the legal regime governing slavery-related practices, the author examines why the Brazilian government has failed in its efforts to secure compliance within its own borders of its obligations under anti-slavery and human rights conventions. The author then argues that holding the Brazilian state responsible and assessing monetary damages is not in fact the most effective and fair way to secure the human rights of the victims of forced labour, and that international criminal sanctions for the individual perpetrators – including prosecution in the ICC for crimes against humanity – is a viable and preferable alternative.

Human Rights at the International Criminal Court: Testing the Limits of Judicial Discretion

2017 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Aksenova
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Judicial Discretion ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
The Relationship

The future of the International Criminal Court (icc) is uncertain. The system established by the Rome Statute of the icc ensures that priority is given to domestic prosecutions, while at the same time, it imbues international values into national systems. The approach of the Court to the rights of the accused and victims’ rights poses challenges. In the Al Senussi complementarity decision, the icc refused to act as a human rights court and rendered the case inadmissible, notwithstanding the death penalty threatening the accused if tried in Libya. Does the same reasoning hold true in other circumstances? The article explores the relationship between human rights law and international criminal law with specific reference to the principle of complementarity and argues that judicial discretion is central in the assessment of the degree of human rights protection at the icc.

1 The Court Over Sixty Years

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nussberger Angelika
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
Member States ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Violent Conflicts

This introductory chapter provides a background of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), a multilateral treaty based on humanism and rule of law. Similar to the—albeit non-binding—Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the ECHR is a document that marks a change in philosophy and gives a new definition of the responsibility of the State towards the individual. It fixes basic values in times of change and paves the way towards reconciliation in Europe. Unlike in a peace treaty, not all wartime enemies participate in its elaboration, but, one by one, all the European States accede to it, signalling their consent to the values fixed by a small community of States in the early 1950s. Seven decades later, forty-seven European States have ratified the Convention. Admittedly, the new start based on common values could not prevent the outbreak of violent conflicts between Member States. At the same time, the resurgence of anti-democratic tendencies could not be successfully banned in all Member States, but such tendencies could be stigmatized as grave human rights violations in binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Thus, it is not surprising that the European model of human rights protection has been attractive and inspirational for other parts of the world. Nevertheless, there was and is a debate in some Member States to withdraw from the Convention as the Court’s jurisprudence is seen to be too intrusive on national sovereignty.

scholarly journals A Brief Analysis on Human Rights from Hannah Arendt’s Criticism

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Janilce Silva Praseres ◽  
Marcelo Ramos Saldanha
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Hannah Arendt ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

Abstract: human rights are a set of ethical values whose purpose is to protect and enable the realization of human dignity in its various dimensions and also prevent the reduction of the individual to the condition of object or, above all, the reduction of his condition as subject of rights, such as the right to life, freedom, security, equality. The universal character of human rights protection demonstrates some weaknesses, especially in the transposition into concrete legal systems, so what we propose is a brief analysis of human rights from Hannah Arendt.Uma Breve Análise Acerca dos Direitos Humanos a partir da Crítica de Hannah ArendtResumo: os direitos humanos são um conjunto de valores éticos que têm por finalidade proteger e possibilitar a realização da dignidade humana em suas várias dimensões e, ainda, impedir a redução do indivíduo à condição de objeto ou, sobretudo, a diminuição da sua condição na qualidade de sujeito de direitos, a exemplo o direito à vida, à liberdade, à segurança, à igualdade. O caráter universal de proteção aos direitos humanos demonstra algumas fragilidades, principalmente, na transposição para ordenamentos jurídicos concretos, assim, o que propomos é uma breve análise acerca dos direitos humanos a partir de Hannah Arendt.

Measuring Violations of Human Rights Standards

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Gibney ◽  
Linda Cornett ◽  
Peter Haschke ◽  
Reed M. Wood ◽  
Daniel Arnon
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Amnesty International ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Physical Integrity ◽  
Ordinal Measure ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Human Rights Standards

Although every violation of international human rights law standards is both deplorable and illegal, one of the major advances in the social sciences has been the development of measures of comparative state practice. The oldest of these is the Political Terror Scale (PTS), which provides an ordinal measure of physical integrity violations carried out by governments or those associated with the state. Providing data from the mid-1970s to the present, the PTS scores the human rights practices of more than 190 countries on a scale of 1–5, with 1 representing “best practices” and 5 indicating gross and systematic violations. There are two different sources for these scores: U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and the Amnesty International Annual Report. Although human rights have traditionally been associated only with the state, individuals can also be denied human rights protection by non-state actors. To measure this, the Societal Violence Scale (SVS) has been created to analyze three sources of physical integrity violations: the individual; corporate or criminal gang activity; and armed groups. As globalization proceeds apace, states have an increased influence on human rights protection in other countries. Unfortunately, human rights data, such as the PTS, analyze only the domestic practices of states. In an effort to better understand the full extent of a state’s human rights performance, the Extraterritorial Obligations (ETO) Report is currently being constructed. The ETO Report will provide an important analysis of state human rights performance when acting outside its own territorial borders.

Part V Fairness and Expeditiousness of ICC Proceedings, 43 Testifying behind Bars—Detained ICC Witnesses and Human Rights Protection

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wijk Joris van ◽  
Cupido Marjolein
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Video Link ◽  
Alternative Solutions

This Chapter discusses the competing responsibilities of the ICC and the host State in relation to detained witnesses, with a particular focus on asylum applications. As shown by the example of Congolese witnesses, testimony before the Court can lead to conflicting human rights obligations. The Court is obliged to return detained witnesses to the requested state after they have testified. The ICC and the Netherlands need to respect internationally recognized human rights and protect persons from persecution. Attempts to reconcile these competing obligations have resulted in lengthy proceedings before the ICC and Dutch courts. This Chapter examines the problems that arose in this context, and argues that the threat of more asylum applications could have serious implications for the future functioning of international criminal justice. It explores three possible alternative solutions: anticipatory protective measures, video-link testimony, and rogatory commissions, all of which come with their own complications.

O SURGIMENTO DO TRIBUNAL PENAL INTERNACIONAL COMO UMA DECORRÊNCIA DO NEOCONSTITUCIONALISMO E DE SUA PROPOSTA DE PROTEÇÃO AOS DIREITOS HUMANOS UNIVERSAISTHE EMERGENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AS A RESULT OF THE NEOCONSTITUTIONALISM AND ITS PROPOSAL FOR UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS’ PROTECTION

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Artemis Cardoso Holmes (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Universal Human Rights

Neste artigo pretende-se demonstrar que o Neoconstitucionalismo, ao priorizar os princípios em detrimento das normas positivadas e eleger os direitos humanos como lastro de validade das leis, contribuiu para o desenvolvimento da jurisdição internacional, fato que possibilitou a instituição do Tribunal Penal Internacional.

Part V The Scope of Refugee Protection, Ch.39 Exclusion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Geoff ◽  
Bentajou Anna Magdalena
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Refugee Convention ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
Standards Of Proof

This chapter examines the exclusion provisions in article 1F of the Refugee Convention, which can only be properly understood when analysed in the context of international criminal law and the international law of armed conflict. Article 1F provides that the Convention shall not apply to persons with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that they have committed (a) war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, (b) serious non-political crimes, or those who (c) are guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. The chapter then explores how article 1F was initially understood, before considering its application in practice and the increasing intermingling of certain ideas: exclusion as pre-status and retroactive; the difficulties of conceiving of refugee status without the guarantee of non-refoulement; the overlap of the different phrases used in the Refugee Convention when dealing with crimes and the security of the country of asylum; and how crimes that are not particularly serious might yet indicate a danger to the security of the hosting State or be contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, a threat to national security, or even simply a public order concern. In addition, standards of proof, sequencing, regional mechanisms, and complementary human rights protection regimes add layers of complexity to the analysis.

scholarly journals The other side of the Article 21(3) coin: Human rights in the Rome Statute and the limits of Article 21(3)

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 837-850
Author(s):  
Emma Irving
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
The Past

AbstractThe drafters of the Rome Statute sought to accord human rights a central place within the legal framework of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This was done not only through numerous provisions on the rights of the accused, victims, and witnesses, but also through the inclusion of the overarching Article 21(3) of the Rome Statute. Article 21(3) Rome Statute requires that the interpretation and application of all ICC law be consistent with internationally recognized human rights. While this provision has been employed on numerous occasions to bolster human rights protection in the ICC legal framework, it is not without its limits. In a series of decisions over the past few years, ICC judges have placed limits on the protections that can be read into the ICC legal framework on the basis of Article 21(3). Beyond stating that the ICC ‘is not a human rights court’, the decisions in question articulate no clear justification for the limitations imposed on Article 21(3). The present article analyses these decisions and identifies the underlying rationale for the Court’s approach: the principle of speciality. However, the picture is further complicated by the judges’ willingness to overlook the principle of speciality when particularly serious violations of human rights are involved. This leaves the precise contours of human rights protection in the ICC legal framework undefined.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document