The Law and Politics of International Cultural Rights: E. Stamatopoulou, Cultural Rights in International Law; F. Francioni and M. Scheinin (eds.), Cultural Human Rights

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-501
Author(s):  
Patrick Macklem
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractTwo recent books place international law at the centre of inquiries into the nature of cultural rights. The first, Cultural Rights in International Law: Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Beyond, by Elsa Stamatopoulou, explores "the concept of cultural rights by reviewing international and national legal instruments, international practice, and especially the role of UN bodies and entities in the implementation of these rights". The second, Cultural Human Rights, is a collection of essays edited by Francesco Francioni and Martin Scheinin. Wide-ranging in scope, Cultural Human Rights includes contributions that explore the relationship between cultural rights and the state, the relationship between cultural rights and other human rights, the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, normative justifications of human rights in general and minority rights in particular, the law and politics of cultural identity and collective memory, and various forms of cultural protection in a variety of regional and international institutional contexts. Both demonstrate that understanding cultural rights in international law requires a multi-faceted approach, one that pays close attention to the historical, textual and institutional dimensions of cultural rights. They reveal, too, that international legal commitments to sovereignty and human rights are more relevant to moral and political accounts of the significance of cultural rights than they might otherwise appear.

The Obligation to Afford Reparation to Injured Individuals

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Ferstman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers the consequences of breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law for the responsible international organizations. It concentrates on the obligations owed to injured individuals. The obligation to make reparation arises automatically from a finding of responsibility and is an obligation of result. I analyse who has this obligation, to whom it is owed, and what it entails. I also consider the right of individuals to procedures by which they may vindicate their right to a remedy and the right of access to a court that may be implied from certain human rights treaties. In tandem, I consider the relationship between those obligations and individuals’ rights under international law. An overarching issue is how the law of responsibility intersects with the specialized regimes of human rights and international humanitarian law and particularly, their application to individuals.

The gypsy’s lot: myth and reality

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Jago
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter focuses on the lived experiences of gypsies (collectively referred to as gypsies rather than Roma or travellers). The author argues that the relationship between the legal system and the specific lifestyle of this group is itself causing many tensions which cannot be separated from the long-held myths about gypsies. Jago shows how the standing of gypsies in the UK legal system has, in turn, become the object of various myths. He demonstrates how judgements by the European Court of Human Rights in favour of gypsy claims created in many an image of the law being always on the side of the gypsy. A perception which Jago demonstrates is far from true. After addressing the nature and role of myths in general the author illustrates the tension between positive, romanticised myths about the freedom of gypsy lifestyle and three derogatory myths, namely gypsies as "child-snatchers", as thieves and as "land grabbers". Jago illustrates that these myths are linked to deep-rooted beliefs around property and its ownership.

Group Identities and Human Rights: How Do We Square the Circle in International Law?

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 94-106
Author(s):  
Gaetano Pentassuglia
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Human Rights Practice ◽  
Group Identities ◽  
Rights Discourse ◽  
Group Diversity ◽  
Human Rights Discourse ◽  
The Relationship

The identity of groups of an ethno-cultural variety has long fallen within the remit of internati­onal human rights law. In this context, discussions have been largely concerned with the legal status of groups and/or the nature of the legal right(s) in question. While acknowledging the importance of these dimensions, in this article I seek to provide an alternative account by dis­cussing the continuities and discontinuities in articulating the very concept of group identity. I first examine the potential, limitations and eventual hybridity of human rights practice across the spectrum of minority/indigenous identities. Then, I critique a range of instabilities in human rights discourse relating to the idea of group identities, their personal scope and the role of international law. I argue that such instabilities do not merely mirror the ambivalent outlook of the relationship between human rights and group identities; they raise the broader question of whether there is a relatively more coherent way to capture the legitimacy of group claims. I conclude by pointing to the outer limits of identity claims, the understated interplay of sove­reignty and inter-group diversity, and the need to unpack the reasons why certain groups merit protection in the way they do.

The Role of Law in Counter-hegemonic Globalization and Global Legal Pluralism: Lessons from the Narmada Valley Struggle in India

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
BALAKRISHNAN RAJAGOPAL
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Pluralism ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Normative Order ◽  
The Relationship

The multiplication of legal orders is characteristic of what one could call an age of globalization and counter-hegemonic globalization. In this age, the relationship between international law and other normative orders is increasingly important. The dominant disciplinary frameworks that provide explanations of such a relationship are focused on compliance with and/or the effectiveness of international norms in domestic legal orders and are derived from international relations. In this article, I examine the limits and possibilities of such approaches through a case study of the use of law (at multiple levels) by one of India's most prominent social movements, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada). The article argues that the use of law by a social movement is a concrete instance of counter-hegemonic globalization in which international law is one of many different legal orders, a situation of global legal pluralism, in which it is impossible to tell in advance which normative order will best advance cosmopolitan goals such as human rights.

scholarly journals Human dignity: an illusory limit for the evolutive interpretation of the ECHR?

Amicus Curiae ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 20-28
Author(s):  
Pavel Bureš
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Senior Lecturer ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Relationship

In this article Pavel Bureš (Senior Lecturer in Public International Law in the Faculty of Law at Palacky University, Czech Republic) aims to portray some basic elements of the relationship between the concepy of human dignity and the evolutive interpretation, setting out key elements, notions and considerations for further thoughts. The article presents some basic issues related to the subject matter, then focuses on the evolutive interpretation, and finally outlines the role of human dignity in the case law related to the evolutive interpretation. Index keywords: Human rights, human dignity, European Court of Human Rights

scholarly journals Looking Forward Looking Back: Customary International Law, Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Shea Esterling
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
United Nations Declaration ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Two of the most laudable achievements of human rights are the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (udhr) and the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (undrip). Aside from advancing human rights, both are examples of soft law. For the undrip, this soft law status has generated significant controversy which is evocative of the earlier debate surrounding the legal status of the udhr. Yet unexamined, this article analyses this contemporary controversy surrounding the undrip in light of the historical debate surrounding the legal status of the udhr. Fleshing out points of convergence and divergence, these debates unearth narratives which shed light on the claims and advocacy strategies of Indigenous Peoples and the role of customary international law within human rights. Ultimately, it reveals that these narratives do little to secure the enforcement of indigenous rights.

Members of the Armed Forces and Human Rights Law

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

The national law of individual states is generally clear as to the criteria for defining which entities make up the armed forces, as well as who is entitled to be a member of the armed forces. Whether a state is bound by its human rights obligations while taking part in an international armed conflict outside its own territory, is a complex issue. This chapter examines the term ‘armed forces’, who are entitled to be called members of the armed forces, a state’s national law in relation to its international law obligations, and the role of human rights law from the standpoint of members of the armed forces and others who take an active part in an armed conflict. It also discusses the relationship between peacekeeping and human rights, the role of the United Nations, why members of the armed forces commit human rights violations, the human rights of soldiers, and the right to conscientious objection to military service.

Locating Nature: Making and Unmaking International Law

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 573-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
USHA NATARAJAN ◽  
KISHAN KHODAY
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Environmental Harm ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Wealth Generation ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article explores the relationship between international law and the natural environment. We contend that international environmental law and general international law are structured in ways that systemically reinforce ecological harm. Through exploring the cultural milieu from which international environmental law emerged, we argue it produced an impoverished understanding of nature that is incapable of responding adequately to ecological crises. We maintain that environmental issues should not be confined to a disciplinary specialization because humanity's relationship with nature has been central to making international law. Foundational concepts such as sovereignty, development, property, economy, human rights, and so on, have evolved through understanding nature in ways that are unsuited to perceiving or observing ecological limits. International law primarily sees nature as a resource for wealth generation to enable societies to continually develop, and environmental degradation is treated as an economic externality to be managed by special regimes. Through tracing the co-evolution of these assumptions about nature alongside seminal disciplinary concepts, it becomes evident that such understandings are central to shaping international law and that the discipline helps universalize and normalize them. By comprehending more broadly the relationship between nature and international law, it is possible to see beyond law's potential to correct environmental harm and identify the disciplinary role in driving ecological degradation. Venturing beyond the purview of international environmental lawyers, this article considers the role of all international lawyers in augmenting and mitigating ecological crises. It concludes that disciplinary solutions to environmental problems require radical departures from existing disciplinary tenets, necessitating new formulations that encapsulate rich and diverse understandings of nature.

scholarly journals The Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in International Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
Hennie Strydom
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Main Part ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Optional Protocol ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
State Obligations ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms

This contribution commences with a brief overview of the origin of economic, social and cultural rights and their eventual codification in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The main part then focuses, firstly, on the nature and scope of state obligations for the realization of Covenant rights and the enforcement mechanisms created under the Covenant and its Optional Protocol, and secondly, on the role of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council. In the conclusion, three contemporary developments are highlighted which could open up new areas in which economic, social and cultural rights could find further application.

scholarly journals The Role of Public International Law in the WTO: How Far Can We Go?

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joost Pauwelyn
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
Wto Dispute Settlement ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

How does the World Trade Organization (WTO) relate to the wider corpus of public international law? What, in turn, is the role of public international law in WTO dispute settlement? This paper aims at resolving these two difficult questions. No straightforward answers to them can be found in WTO rules. Yet answering them has major ramifications both for the WTO (is the WTO a largely “self-contained regime” or is it not?) and for international law (is the future of international law further fragmentation or increased unity?). This exercise will be conducted under the law as it stands today—that is, the law as it may be invoked at present before the WTO “judiciary” (panels and the Appellate Body). Of course, WTO members (viz., the WTO “legislator”) could clarify or change the relationship between WTO rules and other rules of international law. However, it is unlikely that such changes will occur any time soon. In part I, I examine the general relationship between public international law and WTO law. I then assess, more specifically, the role of public international law in WTO dispute settlement in part II and offer some conclusions in part III.

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