scholarly journals State Immunity and Serious Violations of Human Rights: Judgment No. 238 of 2014 of the Italian Constitutional Court Seven Years on

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-58
Author(s):  
Carlo Focarelli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
State Immunity ◽  
Legal Perspective ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Supreme Court ◽  
The World

Abstract On 3 February 2021, the US Supreme Court affirmed the icj’s Jurisdictional Immunities of the State Judgment of 2012—according to which “a State is not deprived of immunity by reason of the fact that it is accused of serious violations of international human rights law”—adopting, thus, a position opposite to that taken by the Italian Corte Costituzionale in its well-known Judgment No. 238 of 2014. Based on a realist-constructivist theoretical approach to international law, this article argues that the only plausible legal perspective justifying Judgment No. 238 is a dynamic one. However, the Corte Costituzionale has substantially failed to argue the plausibility of the expected change in existing international law that it wished to promote for the future. To take its intended big leap realistically and successfully, the Italian position would have deserved a sounder theoretical analysis of international law and of the world system in which the latter is meant to work.

Resistance Is Futile – You Will Be Assimilated

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 259-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSAN MATHEWS
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
World Bank ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Light And Shadow ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

Sigrun Skogly, The Human Rights Obligations of the World Bank and the IMF, London, Cavendish Publishing, 2001, ISBN 1859416659, 240 pp., £71.50 (pb).Mac Darrow, Between Light and Shadow:The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and International Human Rights Law, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2003, ISBN 1841133906, 376 pp., £42.00.00 (hb).Balakrishnan Rajagopal, International Law from Below: Development, Social Movements and Third World Resistance, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN 0521016711, 360 pp., £19.99 (pb).

scholarly journals When Illiberals Embrace Human Rights

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 380-384
Author(s):  
Alexandra Huneeus
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Survival Strategy ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
The World ◽  
International Human

A topic motivating much research since 2016 is the turn away from international law caused by a surge in non-liberal and nationalist governments across the world. In the realm of human rights law, scholars have noted how states are now more apt to repudiate, resist, or simply ignore their human rights obligations. This essay makes a different cut into this topic. It considers not how non-liberal actors reject human rights law, but rather what happens when they embrace it. International human rights law in Latin America—often understood as a means of promoting a cosmopolitan, liberal political order—is also being harnessed toward other types of political projects. This raises the question of how necessary the link is between human rights and political liberalism: is non-liberal engagement an existential threat, or can human rights law have a thinner commitment to liberal principles than does, for example, national constitutional law? As the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) turns fifty, this essay argues that the human rights law of the Americas is open-ended enough that it can incorporate, and has at times incorporated, non-liberal concerns and norms without losing coherence or legitimacy. Further, this may be an apt survival strategy, albeit not the only one, for the region's human rights institutions in our time.

Introduction: The Phenomenon of Foreign Fighters and Foreign Terrorist Fighters

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 377-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Karska ◽  
Karol Karski
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Perspective ◽  
Narrow Definition ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Foreign Fighters

Modern international law defines a very narrow definition of mercenarism. It does not include all aspects of this phenomenon as it was known and understood for centuries. At the same time the emergence of new forms of mercenary-related activities is observed. The terms ‘foreign fighters’ and ‘foreign terrorist fighters’ should be analysed in this context inter alia from a legal perspective. A question needs to be answered if those existing regulations relating to mercenaries can apply to these terms. It is also important to note how both mercenaries and their activities are perceived under international law. The international legal analysis of factual and legal measures undertaken by states towards foreign fighters and foreign terrorist fighters is also interesting. Frequently these activities concern not just the fighters alone but apply also to all of us. This requires us to look at them in the context of international human rights law. These issues are the subject of current works undertaken within the scope of international organisations. un Security Council adopted resolution 2170 (2014) and 2178 (2014) regarding foreign terrorist fighters. The un General Assembly and un Human Rights Council also tackle these issues. The activity of foreign fighters and foreign terrorist fighters on one side and the activities of the states in reaction to this activity on the other side are also monitored inter alia by the un Working Group on the use of mercenaries.

The Role of Domestic Courts in International Human Rights Law: The Constitutional Court of Colombia and Free, Prior and Informed Consent

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-381
Author(s):  
José Parra
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Domestic Courts ◽  
International Human

The internalization of international law by domestic courts is central to the effective implementation of international human rights law. This is particularly true for emerging rights rooted in soft law. In this regard, indigenous peoples’ rights have significantly expanded in international law over the past 20 years, essentially in the form of soft law. As a case study, the review of the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of Colombia illustrates ‘progressive’ interpretation of soft law, notably on free, prior and informed consent, which is enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Thus, domestic courts not only implement international human rights law, but they also foster its development.

Decriminalising Consensual Heterosexual Conduct outside Marriage: The Women's Case under International Human Rights Law

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-314
Author(s):  
Livio Zilli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sexual Activity ◽  
International Law ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Male Dominance ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
The World

In many countries all over the world, women's real or alleged engagement in consensual sexual activity outside marriage can give rise to a criminal conviction, leading to the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment and/or corporal or even capital punishment. Criminalising women because of their real or alleged involvement in adultery or fornication is a form of discrimination against women and it serves to reinforce patriarchal dominance in the so-called ‘private sphere’ and contributes to women's vulnerability to abuse. Because of male dominance of law-making and its enforcement, traditional human rights discourses have – in the main – reflected societal attitudes and values as far as the criminalisation of adultery and fornication is concerned. As a result, human rights scholarship, monitoring and advocacy have largely ignored the plight of women accused of these ‘offenses’. However, as demonstrated by a feminist reformulation of human rights in international law, as well as by arguments pertaining to the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, it is possible to map out a course of action for scholars, advocates and campaigners to spearhead efforts to decriminalise consensual sexual activity outside marriage using human rights law as a more responsive tool.

Making Human Rights a Reality

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie M. Hafner-Burton
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
World Population ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
National Human ◽  
The World ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions

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.

The Idea of International Human Rights Law

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Wheatley
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Moral Concept ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
Fragmentation Of International Law

International Human Rights Law has emerged as an academic subject in its own right, separate from, but still related to, International Law. This book explains the distinctive nature of the new discipline by examining the influence of the moral concept of human rights on general international law. Rather than make use of moral philosophy or political theory, the work explains the term ‘human rights’ by examining its usage in international law practice, on the understanding that words are given meaning through their use. Relying on complexity theory to make sense of the legal practice in the United Nations, the core human rights treaties, and customary international law, The Idea of International Human Rights Law shows how a moral concept of human rights emerged, and then influenced the international law doctrine and practice on human rights, a fact that explains the fragmentation of international law and the special nature of International Human Rights Law.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document