Legal reform lags as gender-based cyberviolence rises

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
National Level ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Gender Based

Although international law recognises online gender-based abuse and violence, national-level reform is slow

Legal and Institutional Functionality in the Protection of Women – Victims of Domestic Violence in the Republic of Macedonia – Present Situation and Future Perspectives

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Zorica Saltirovska Professor ◽  
Sunchica Dimitrijoska Professor
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Women Victims ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
National Level ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Republic Of Macedonia ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Gender Based

Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that prevents women from enjoying the rights and liberties on an equal level with men. Inevitably, domestic violence shows the same trend of victimizing women to such a degree that the term “domestic violence” is increasingly becoming synonymous with “violence against women”. The Istanbul Convention defines domestic violence as "gender-based violence against women", or in other words "violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately." The situation is similar in the Republic of Macedonia, where women are predominantly victims of domestic violence. However, the Macedonian legal framework does not define domestic violence as gender-based violence, and thus it does not define it as a specific form of discrimination against women. The national legislation stipulates that victims are to be protected in both a criminal and a civil procedure, and the Law on Prevention and Protection from Domestic Violence determines the actions of the institutions and civil organizations in the prevention of domestic violence and the protection of victims. The system for protection of victims of domestic violence closely supports the Law on Social Protection and the Law on Free Legal Aid, both of which include provisions on additional assistance for women victims of domestic violence. However, the existing legislation has multiple deficiencies and does not allow for a greater efficacy in implementing the prescribed measures for the protection of victims of domestic violence. For this reason, as well as due to the inconsistent implementation of legal solutions of this particular issue, the civil sector is constantly expressing their concern about the increasingly wider spread of domestic violence against women and about the protection capabilities at their disposal. The lack of recognition of all forms of gender-based violence, the trivial number of criminal sentences against persons who perform acts of domestic violence, the insufficient support offered to victims – including victim shelters, legal assistance, and counseling, and the lack of systematic databases on domestic violence cases on a national level, are a mere few of the many issues clearly pointing to the inevitable conclusion that the protection of women-victims of domestic violence is inadequate. Hence, the functionality and efficiency of both the existing legislation and the institutions in charge of protection and support of women – victims of domestic violence is being questioned, which is also the subject for analysis in this paper.

scholarly journals International Law, COVID-19 and Feminist Engagement with the United Nations Security Council: The End of the Affair?

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-328
Author(s):  
Catherine O’Rourke
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Seminal Contribution ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Gender Based

AbstractThe gendered implications of COVID-19, in particular in terms of gender-based violence and the gendered division of care work, have secured some prominence, and ignited discussion about prospects for a ‘feminist recovery’. In international law terms, feminist calls for a response to the pandemic have privileged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), conditioned—I argue—by two decades of the pursuit of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda through the UNSC. The deficiencies of the UNSC response, as characterised by the Resolution 2532 adopted to address the pandemic, manifest yet again the identified deficiencies of the WPS agenda at the UNSC, namely fragmentation, securitisation, efficacy and legitimacy. What Resolution 2532 does bring, however, is new clarity about the underlying reasons for the repeated and enduring nature of these deficiencies at the UNSC. Specifically, the COVID-19 ‘crisis’ is powerful in exposing the deficiencies of the crisis framework in which the UNSC operates. My reflections draw on insights from Hilary Charlesworth’s seminal contribution ‘International Law: A Discipline of Crisis’ to argue that, instead of conceding the ‘crisis’ framework to the pandemic by prioritising the UNSC, a ‘feminist recovery’ must instead follow Charlesworth’s exhortation to refocus on an international law of the everyday.

scholarly journals Will Universal Jurisdiction Advance Accountability for Sexualized and Gender-based Crimes? A View from Within on Progress and Challenges in Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 894-913
Author(s):  
Silke Studzinsky ◽  
Alexandra Lily Kather
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Federal Court ◽  
Universal Jurisdiction ◽  
Professional Experiences ◽  
Sexualized Violence ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Trial Monitoring ◽  
Federal Prosecutor

AbstractThis Article is based on the professional experiences of the authors working as lawyers and activists towards accountability for sexualized and gender-based crimes under international law. It provides a critical evaluation of universal jurisdiction cases in Germany addressing conflict-related sexualized violence. In particular, the article looks deeper into the Office of the German Federal Prosecutor General of the Federal Court of Justice’s (GBA) approach to gender while taking note of the barriers in the way of investigating and adjudicating crimes under international law. Both authors have been following universal jurisdiction developments in Germany closely, particularly in relation to the investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes. With regard to the proceedings against two high-rank representatives of the armed rebel group Forces Démocratiques de liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), the findings in this article are informed by trial monitoring reports organized and conducted by a group of organisations and institutions, namely Medica Mondiale, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), and the Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung. In light of the fact that German trial records are absent of publicly accessible records of what was said in the court room, the consortium of groups co-monitored the FLDR trial.

scholarly journals Legal regulation of the use of technical means for copyright protection in international law

2018 ◽  
pp. 64-71
Author(s):  
A. N. Kirsanov ◽  
A. A. Popovich
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
International Law ◽  
Copyright Protection ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
National Level ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
General Nature ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Intellectual Activity

Introduction. The use of technical means for copyright protection is regulated not only in Russian legislation, but also in foreign and international law. It means that the international concept of intellectual property protection could be perceived differently by foreign jurisdictions, which, in turn, is of special scientific interest. The foundations of legal regulation are laid down in international treaties, which in the intellectual property law are tools that contain substantive rules of law. The provisions of such treaties are implemented in the national (supranational) legislation, and, therefore, become part of them and subject to additions.. The article is devoted to the study of international legal regulation of the use of technical means for copyright protection.Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the research consists of the following general scientific and special methods of cognition of legal phenomena and processes: dialectical, formal-legal, comparative-legal, formal-logical, structural-functional.Results of the study. The authors found that attempts to protect copyright using technology available at every stage of history were undertaken by individual countries, beginning from the second half of the 19th century. However technical means of protection received legal regulation at the international level relatively recently, the prerequisite for that was the rapid development of digital information technologies. Analysis of international legal norms in the field of legal regulation of technical means of copyright protection has shown that at present international legal regulation is of a general nature, providing each of the states at the national level with ample opportunities for legal concretization of gen-eral norms. However, recently the Internet treaties of WIPO recognized for the first time not only the advisability of the use of technical means of protection, but also the obligation prohibiting circumvention of such protection technologies, and therefore national legislations should contain provisions regulating the circumvention of such protection technologies.Discussion and Conclusions. The introduction of international law with regard to the use of the protection technologies, despite their general and abstract nature, has given a serious impetus to the establishment of legal regulation of this institution at the national level. At the same time, the rules governing the use of the protection technologies in the near future will require greater unification and concretization due to the rapid development of digital information technologies, blurring the borders between states in terms of disseminating the results of intellectual activity, and also in order to avoid a multiplicity of interpretation of law and to ensure effective legal regulation and protection of copyright.

Use of Armed Force against Suspected Foreign Submarines in the Swedish Internal Waters and Territorial Sea

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-599
Author(s):  
Said Mahmoudi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Present Article ◽  
National Level ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Armed Force ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
Legal Arguments ◽  
Actual Response ◽  
Self Defence

Abstract Sweden’s territorial sea and internal waters have experienced regular intrusions by submerged foreign submarines since the early 1950s. The response of the country to such intrusions is generally well-documented and mainly public. The present article offers an overview of the development of the relevant national legislation, the actual response of the naval forces, and the legal arguments invoked at national level to justify or dismiss use of force in self-defence or under another title. The article discusses the relevance of the immunity that submarines normally enjoy under international law and Sweden’s human-rights obligations, two issues that have been at the centre of the legal discourse. Particular attention is paid to developments since 2014 when a new round of “submarine hunts” started and led to the adoption of new measures both revising the existing laws and strengthening the defence forces.

Non-discrimination, Accommodation, and Intersectionality under the CRPD: New Trends and Challenges for the UN Human Rights System

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-130
Author(s):  
Wiebke Ringel
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
National Level ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Treaty Body ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
And Gender

On 3 May 2008, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) entered into force. The CRPD is the first human rights treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly in the 21st century. It is also the first binding international law instrument that specifically and comprehensively addresses disability from a human rights perspective. Building on existing UN human rights treaties, the CRPD aims to strengthen the effective enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities. Specifically, the new convention seeks to remedy the neglect and marginalization of the rights of persons with disabilities not just at the national level but also at the international level, most notably within the UN treaty system. In this regard, the new convention endorses innovative and new approaches relating to, inter alia, the notions of disability, nondiscrimination, and intersectionality. This article analyses selected emerging key issues, including the principle of reasonable accommodation and the intersectionality of disability and gender. A specific focus will be on the emerging jurisprudence of the responsible treaty body, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. While some of the aspects discussed may appear to primarily arise under a disability-specific perspective, it is suggested that they could potentially provide an impetus to advance the UN human rights system in general, beyond the context of disability.

The Oxford Handbook of International Climate Change Law

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
National Level ◽  
First Century ◽  
Trading Systems ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
International Climate Change

Climate change presents one of the greatest challenges of our time, and has become one of the defining issues of the twenty-first century. The radical changes which both developed and developing countries will need to make, in economic and in legal terms, to respond to climate change are unprecedented. International law, including treaty regimes, institutions, and customary international law, needs to address the myriad challenges and consequences of climate change, including variations in the weather patterns, sea level rise, and the resulting migration of peoples. This book provides an authoritative overview of all aspects of international climate change law as it currently stands, with guidance for how it should develop in the future. This book sets out to analyse the legal issues that surround this vitally important but still emerging area of international law. This book addresses the major legal dimensions of the problems caused by climate change: not only in the content and nature of the international legal frameworks, which need implementation at the national level, but also the development of carbon trading systems as a means of reducing the costs of meeting emission reduction targets. After an introduction to the field, the book assesses the relevant institutions, the key applicable principles of international law, the international mitigation regime and its consequences, and climate change litigation, before providing perspectives focused upon specific countries or regions.

Expanding the Competence to Issue Provisional Measures— Strengthening the International Judicial Function

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1279-1294
Author(s):  
Karin Oellers-Frahm
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
National Level ◽  
Organizational Status ◽  
International Courts ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Judicial Procedures ◽  
Settlement Of Disputes ◽  
Holistic Vision

In international law, jurisdiction serves the same principal aim as in national law, namely the settlement of disputes in order to maintain (legal) peace and security. In international law, as in national law, judicial procedures take time, sometimes a lot of time, during which the rights at stake may be negatively affected by acts of one of the parties potentially resulting in an ineffective judgment. A remedy against such an occurrence has been developed through an instrument of interim protection by which the court directs the parties to leave the rights as they stand and not to interfere with the situation. Such an instrument appears indispensable in order to ensure that a court or tribunal is able to effectively exercise its function. At the national level, interim protection is usually unproblematic since the competence of the tribunals is mostly comprehensive. In international law, in contrast, the competence of judicial organs is one of the most discussed problems because it depends on the consent of states. Any expansion of competence without an explicit agreement of the states concerned is therefore of utmost significance for the role and the acceptance of international courts and reflects the organizational status of international society. Thus, in the context of the project “Beyond Dispute: Lawmaking by International Judicial Institutions,” the subject-matter of this contribution mostly relates to the role and self-understanding of international judicial organs; it is less concerned with the creation of substantive normative expectations between international subjects. Yet, the expansion of judicial competences fits into the conceptual apparatus of this research as it innovates the legal order and reaches beyond the case at hand. The case of provisional measures provides a particularly fine example of incremental judicial law making through progressive interpretation, supported by a holistic vision of the international judiciary, reciprocal strengthening and later state practice, as well as its functional legitimation and its limits.

(In)Compatible Visions of Justice? Personal Culpability and Gender Justice at the ICC

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Liana Georgieva Minkova
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Gender Biases ◽  
Strict Compliance ◽  
Substantive Justice ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

Abstract Although the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been heralded as a success story for gender justice, in practice prosecutions of sexual and gender-based crimes (SGBC) have often ended with acquittal at the court. Gender studies in international relations explain the lack of successful SGBC prosecutions by looking to the influence of older gender biases in international law, which preclude the successful implementation of the novel Rome Statute provisions criminalizing SGBC. This article suggests that “forgetting” the gender justice norm insufficiently explains the outcome of the ICC's SGBC prosecutions. The article argues that ICC judges “remembered” another norm of criminal justice, long forgotten in international trials – strict compliance with the personal culpability principle – which has resulted in tension between different visions of justice in the court's practice: delivering substantive justice for SGBC victims v. safeguarding the defendant's rights by upholding criminal law principles.

scholarly journals Human Rights of Children in the Context of Migration Processes. Innovative Efforts for Integrating Regional Human Rights Standards in the Americas

Laws ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Alejandro Fuentes ◽  
Marina Vannelli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
National Level ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Effective Protection ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Unaccompanied Children ◽  
Human Rights Standards ◽  
Scope Of Protection

This paper proposes a critical analysis of the innovative jurisprudential approaches taken by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in integrating the content and scope of protection of the human rights of children, in the context of migration processes. How might one provide an effective protection to unaccompanied children that enter irregularly into the territory of a given country, when the safeguards guaranteed at the national level are elusive or inefficient? By focusing on the pioneering jurisprudence developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in recent years, this paper intends to unveil how a systemic integration of children’s rights, under the light of the current international law developments, could provide an effective protection for the rights of children in the context of migration processes. In fact, as a result of an evolutive, dynamic and effective interpretation, the regional tribunal has expanded the scope of protection of the American Convention on Human Rights, by taking into consideration and making known, references to instruments and provisions enshrined within the corpus juris of international human rights law, such as the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, and—consequently—improving the level of protection of millions of children in the Americas.

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