Enhancing Mechanism for Protection of Constitutional Rights in Viet Nam Today

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-41
Author(s):  
Van Nghia Hoang Hoang

This article’s overall goal is to examine the development of constitutional rights and their mechanisms for protection and promotion in Viet Nam through the case of the right to environment. Utilising legal methods, as well as qualitative and quantitative methods, the research investigates the ways in which the right to environment has been protected in Viet Nam through examining the case of the Thi Vai River. Given the strengths and weaknesses of Viet Nam’s existing legal system and its mechanisms for human rights protection through accessing the case of the citizen’s right to environment, the article proposes several recommendations for better protecting and promoting constitutional rights. These include further improving its legal system, establishing independent institutions and effective mechanisms (such as the Constitutional Council, Ombudsman, a National Human Rights Body, and an Environmental Court), and enhancing education, training and dissemination of international human rights law and constitutional rights for all.

Author(s):  
Emilie M. Hafner-Burton

In the last six decades, one of the most striking developments in international law is the emergence of a massive body of legal norms and procedures aimed at protecting human rights. In many countries, though, there is little relationship between international law and the actual protection of human rights on the ground. This book takes a fresh look at why it's been so hard for international law to have much impact in parts of the world where human rights are most at risk. The book argues that more progress is possible if human rights promoters work strategically with the group of states that have dedicated resources to human rights protection. These human rights “stewards” can focus their resources on places where the tangible benefits to human rights are greatest. Success will require setting priorities as well as engaging local stakeholders such as nongovernmental organizations and national human rights institutions. To date, promoters of international human rights law have relied too heavily on setting universal goals and procedures and not enough on assessing what actually works and setting priorities. This book illustrates how, with a different strategy, human rights stewards can make international law more effective and also safeguard human rights for more of the world population.


Refuge ◽  
1997 ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
Brian Gorlick ◽  
Sumbul Rimi Khan

This article focuses on the relationship between international human rights standards and refugee protection. The foundational status of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights treaties are surveyed in light of India's international legal obligations. The authors argue that international human rights law and practice have had a significant impact on the protection activities of the Ofice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) both in countries of asylum, countries of origin and in relation to the United Nations and other human rights actors. In this context, courts and national human rights institutions are important players in safeguarding the rights of refugees. As none of the countries of South Asia is party to the international refugee instruments nor have any of them adopted a national refugee law or procedure, the activities of the Indian National Human Rights Commission stand out as a positive example of national institution expanding the legal protection of refugees in the region.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-58
Author(s):  
Beate Rudolf

AbstractThis paper discusses the protection of human rights in Germany through the interplay of constitutional law and international human rights law. It also explores the relationship between specialized human rights treaties on the rights of women, children, and persons with disabilities with “general” human rights treaties and their added value. It will highlight current human rights issues, such as the treatment of refugees, the protection against racist discrimination, and the right to privacy in the digital age.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 565
Author(s):  
Rommy Patra

Upaya mencegah dan menghapus praktik penyiksaan di Indonesia bukanlah persoalan yang mudah. Meski sudah meratifikasi Konvensi Menentang Penyiksaan dan mengakui hak untuk bebas dari penyiksaan sebagai HAM dan hak konstitusional, namun praktik penyiksaan di Indonesia masih juga berlangsung secara massif. Permasalahan dalam penelitian ini, pertama, faktor-faktor apa saja yang menyebabkan praktik penyiksaan masih terjadi di Indonesia? Kedua, upaya apa yang harus dilakukan untuk mencegah dan menghapus praktik penyiksaan dalam memperkuat perlindungan HAM dan hak konstitusional untuk bebas dari penyiksaan di Indonesia? Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam kajian ini adalah pendekatan perundang-undangan, pendekatan kasus dan pendekatan konseptual. Hasil kajian memperlihatkan bahwa, pertama, sejumlah faktor yang menyebabkan masih terjadinya praktik penyiksaan di Indonesia: (1) tidak adanya aturan hukum yang tegas dan memberikan sanksi yang berat kepada pelaku penyiksaan; (2) terinstitusionalisasinya praktik kekerasan dan penyiksaan di jajaran penegak hukum serta permisifnya masyarakat terhadap praktik tersebut; (3) mekanisme perlindungan dan pemberian kompensasi terhadap korban penyiksaan masih belum memadai. Kedua, perbaikan yang harus dilakukan mencakup: (1) adanya komitmen yang kuat dari pemerintah dengan membuat kebijakan penghapusan tindakan penyiksaan, seperti membuat Undang-Undang khusus menentang penyiksaan; (2) penataan institusi Kepolisian, Kejaksaan, TNI, Lembaga Pemasyarakatan serta lembaga-lembaga lainnya dengan meningkatkan pengawasan, memberikan sanksi yang tegas dan dilakukannya proses hukum jika masih terdapat praktik penyiksaan yang dilakukan. Selain itu perlu diberikan pendidikan HAM bagi personil institusi-institusi tersebut; (3) meningkatkan partisipasi masyarakat agar memiliki kesadaran untuk melawan setiap praktik kekerasan dan penyiksaan; (4) mengoptimalkan peranan lembaga seperti Komnas HAM dan LPSK untuk memberikan perlindungan dan pendampingan terhadap korban. (5) harus adanya pemenuhan terhadap hak-hak korban yang menjadi korban dari praktik penyiksaan.Efforts to prevent and eliminate the practice of torture in Indonesia are not easy. Although it has ratified the Convention Against Torture and recognizes the right for freedom from torture as human rights and constitutional rights, the practice of torture in Indonesia is still massive. The problem is, what factors cause the practice of torture to still occur in Indonesia? Then what efforts should be made to prevent and eliminate the practice of torture in strengthening human rights protection and constitutional rights for freedom from torture in Indonesia? The approach used in this study is the statute approach, case approach and conceptual approach. The results of the study show a number of factors that leads to the practice of torture in Indonesia: (1) the absence of strict legal rules and severe sanctions for perpetrators of torture; (2) institutionalization of the practice of violence and torture in the ranks of law enforcement as well as the permissiveness of the community towards the practice; (3) the mechanism for protecting and providing compensation to victims of torture is still inadequate. The improvements that must be made include: (1) a strong commitment from the government by making a policy of abolishing acts of torture, such as making a special law against torture; (2) structuring of the Police, Prosecutor's Office, TNI, Correctional Institutions and other institutions by increasing supervision, providing strict sanctions and carrying out legal proceedings if there are still practices of torture carried out. In addition, it needs education of human rights for personnel of these institutions; (3) increasing community participation in order to have awareness to fight every practice of violence and torture; (4) optimizing the role of institutions such as Komnas HAM and LPSK to provide protection and assistance to victims. (5) there must be rights fulfillment to the victims who become the victims of the practice of torture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 941-1012
Author(s):  
Christina M. Cerna

On April 22, 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Commission) issued its first decision on one of the Guantanamo detainees, Djamel Ameziane, an Algerian Muslim who was held at Guantanamo for almost 12 years until he was deported to Algeria in 2013, in violation, inter alia, of the principle of non-refoulement. The case was brought on Mr. Ameziane's behalf by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), and the decision is very comprehensive and carefully written, as is to be expected of a decision totaling 70 pages. Although the United States became a party to the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1992, it never accepted the first Optional Protocol, which gives individuals the right to bring complaints against the United States before the U.N. Human Rights Committee; consequently, the only international body to which an individual can bring a complaint against the United States for a violation of international human rights law is the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a principal organ of the Organization of American States (OAS).


Author(s):  
Hubert Smekal ◽  
Katarína Šipulová

The review essay discusses current critical approaches towards international human rights regimes and categorises them according to their normative, functional, and methodological bases. The paper builds on four recent books which are examples of current relevant positions in human rights scholarship. The books focus, respectively, on a critical examination of human rights historiography, on the functioning of international human rights regimes, on their legitimacy, and finally on the impact of international human rights in the national context. We claim that despite the different backgrounds and topics of the books, all these works can be clustered around three kinds of issues: (1) normative concerns, i.e. those denouncing the very existence and content of international human rights regimes; (2) functional concerns, i.e. those asking whether international human rights bodies have a real effect on the quality of human rights protection in individual countries. (3) Finally, the third group of concerns is driven by the increasing need for the implementation of both qualitative and quantitative methods challenging previous empirical findings (and the lack thereof) on the functioning of human rights regimes. We argue that some positions are practically irreconcilable and that the debate will probably continue for some time without reaching common ground.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (XIX) ◽  
pp. 209-225
Author(s):  
Ilona Topa

The right to truth is extensively recognized in the contemporary legal discussion, especially within the context of the rights of serious human rights violations’ victims and a broader debate on transitional justice, its aims and mechanisms. This right has directly resulted from the activities of international human rights protection bodies. Human rights courts, while dealing with the cases of torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances has established that states are obliged to disclose the truth about past events, and individuals has the right to require a comprehensive and accurate information on the fate of their next of kin. The aim of this article is to analyse the standing of the right to truth in the contemporary international law. Therefore, it describes the development of this concept in international human rights law and examines what is the actual scope, who is entitled to and what are the means of execution of the right to truth.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 180-188
Author(s):  
Bianca Nicla Romano

Art. 24 of the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights recognises and protects the right of the individual to rest and leisure. This right has to be fully exercised without negative consequences on the right to work and the remuneration. Tourism can be considered one of the best ways of rest and leisure because it allows to enrich the personality of the individual. Even after the reform of the Title V this area is no longer covered by the Italian Constitution, the Italian legal system protects and guarantees it as a real right, so as to get to recognize its existence and the consequent compensation of the so-called “ruined holiday damage”. This kind of damage has not a patrimonial nature, but a moral one, and the Tourist-Traveler can claim for it when he has not been able to fully enjoy his holiday - the essential fulcrum of tourism - intended as an opportunity for leisure and/or rest, essential rights of the individual.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document