Paradoxes of Personality: Transnational Corporations, Non-Governmental Organizations and Human Rights in International Law

2009 ◽  
pp. 381-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell A. Miller
Author(s):  
Binder Christina

This chapter highlights the relevance and impact of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the international law of global security. Security is a complex concept in today’s ever-complicated world. The traditional State-centric approach to security has been complemented, albeit not replaced, by a more human-oriented aspect. Today, NGOs may participate in the security discourse as increasingly relevant stakeholders, ensuring that a focus on human rights and the common interests of humankind is maintained in security debates. The chapter considers the role of NGOs in global and regional security arrangements. It then looks at their contribution in the field of global security in terms of standard-setting, norm application, and interpretation, as well as with regard to compliance and enforcement, in areas where the individual is centre stage: international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and international human rights law. Finally, the chapter examines the applicable international legal framework regulating engagement by NGOs and assesses whether NGO practice has been influenced by the ever-changing global security landscape.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (324) ◽  
pp. 421-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Gardam

The development in the last 50 years of the principles that comprise human rights law has had a major impact on international humanitarian law and indeed on international law generally. In more recent years, the movement for recognition of the equal rights of women has been exerting its own influence on human rights law and to some effect. In 1979, for example, the international community adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which 155 States are now party. Consideration is currently being given to the adoption of an Optional Protocol that will allow for individual and group complaints to be brought before the CEDAW Committee. Governmental and non-governmental organizations have increasingly focused on women's human rights. As a result, a wide range of studies, reports and recommendations on various aspects of the issue is available. The topic of women is thus firmly established on the international human rights agenda.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 42-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Janmyr

Refugee camps are often managed by a wide set of actors other than the Host State. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (unhcr), tasked under international law to provide “international protection” to refugees and to seek “permanent solutions for the problem of refugees”, often sub-contracts the daily management of camps to non-governmental organizations (ngo). In 2013, unhcr collaborated with 733 ngos worldwide. Together with unhcr, these “implementing partners” often perform public powers normally exercised by the Host State. But when human rights violations occur following the conduct of a unhcr implementing partner, which actor(s) are responsible under international law? This article focuses on unhcr’s international responsibility for the conduct of ngo implementing partners. By exploring unhcr’s standard sub-contracting agreements through the lens of the International Law Commission’s (ilc) Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations (ario), it answers questions such as: Which human rights requirements does unhcr place on implementing partners? Under what circumstances may unhcr be held responsible under the ario for the acts of its implementing partners? It finds that an application of the ario would make unhcr internationally responsible for the wrongful conduct of implementing partners, even when sub-contracting agreements include clauses absolving unhcr from any liability.


2011 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel de Jesús Butler

AbstractThe continuous transfer of authority from the national sphere to inter-governmental organizations gives rise to an increasing risk that States may be mandated by their obligations under these organizations to take measures that are inconsistent with their obligations under International Human Rights Law. Drawing on the approaches of various international, regional and national jurisdictions, this article explores two possible models for restructuring International Law that could ensure that human rights obligations remain effective. The ‘international constitutional’ approach would ensure that human rights are enshrined within the ‘constitutional’ instruments of IGOs, preventing incompatible rules from emerging. The ‘parochial’ approach would ensure that human rights as protected at the national or regional level would take precedence over conflicting international obligations.


Comma ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 139-150
Author(s):  
Romain Ledauphin ◽  
Claudia Josi ◽  
Rahel Siegrist

Records and archives containing information relating to grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law represent a fundamental source for, and can become trustworthy documentary evidence within, Dealing with the Past (DWP) processes including truth commissions, criminal tribunals, reparation programs, vetting processes and outreach projects. Those intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) working in the fields of human rights and peace and security are themselves important observers and actors in DWP processes and hence their records and archives are highly relevant to DWP initiatives. Such organizations should therefore be transparent and be able to facilitate DWP processes by granting access to their records. Given the International Council on Archives’ definition of “access” as relating to “… the availability of records for consultation as a result both of legal authorization and the existence of finding aids”, and the experience of swisspeace in advising DWP initiatives on collecting evidence and improving records management capacity, swisspeace together with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs developed a roadmap which centres on the development of an “archives accessibility maturity model”. This tool will not only improve hands-on access in practice, but will ultimately improve knowledge about the multi-layered complexity of archives’ accessibility, strengthening the capacity of IGOs, INGOs and DWP initiatives to design and implement their access regulations, and thereby improving DWP initiatives’ ability to make successful access requests.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheshadri Chatterjee ◽  
Sreenivasulu N.S. ◽  
Zahid Hussain

Purpose The applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in different sectors have become agendas for discussions in the highest circle of experts. The applications of AI can help society and can harm society even by jeopardizing human rights. The purpose of this study is to examine the evolution of AI and its impacts on human rights from social and legal perspectives. Design/methodology/approach With the help of studies of literature and different other AI and human rights-related reports, this study has taken an attempt to provide a comprehensive and executable framework to address these challenges contemplated to occur due to the increase in usage of different AI applications in the context of human rights. Findings This study finds out how different AI applications could help society and harm society. It also highlighted different legal issues and associated complexity arising due to the advancement of AI technology. Finally, the study also provided few recommendations to the governments, private enterprises and non-governmental organizations on the usage of different AI applications in their organizations. Research limitations/implications This study mostly deals with the legal, social and business-related issues arising due to the advancement of AI technology. The study does not penetrate the technological aspects and algorithms used in AI applications. Policymakers, government agencies and private entities, as well as practitioners could take the help of the recommendations provided in this study to formulate appropriate regulations to control the usage of AI technology and its applications. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive view of the emergence of AI technology and its implication on human rights. There are only a few studies that examine AI and related human rights issues from social, legal and business perspectives. Thus, this study is claimed to be a unique study. Also, this study provides valuable inputs to the government agencies, policymakers and practitioners about the need to formulate a comprehensive regulation to control the usage of AI technology which is also another unique contribution of this study.


1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (293) ◽  
pp. 94-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Doswald-Beck ◽  
Sylvain Vité

International humanitarian law is increasingly perceived as part of human rights law applicable in armed conflict. This trend can be traced back to the United Nations Human Rights Conference held in Tehran in 1968 which not only encouraged the development of humanitarian law itself, but also marked the beginning of a growing use by the United Nations of humanitarian law during its examination of the human rights situation in certain countries or during its thematic studies. The greater awareness of the relevance of humanitarian law to the protection of people in armed conflict, coupled with the increasing use of human rights law in international affairs, means that both these areas of law now have a much greater international profile and are regularly being used together in the work of both international and non-governmental organizations.


Author(s):  
Hannah Smidt ◽  
Dominic Perera ◽  
Neil J. Mitchell ◽  
Kristin M. Bakke

Abstract International ‘naming and shaming’ campaigns rely on domestic civil society organizations (CSOs) for information on local human rights conditions. To stop this flow of information, some governments restrict CSOs, for example by limiting their access to funding. Do such restrictions reduce international naming and shaming campaigns that rely on information from domestic CSOs? This article argues that on the one hand, restrictions may reduce CSOs’ ability and motives to monitor local abuses. On the other hand, these organizations may mobilize against restrictions and find new ways of delivering information on human rights violations to international publics. Using a cross-national dataset and in-depth evidence from Egypt, the study finds that low numbers of restrictions trigger shaming by international non-governmental organizations. Yet once governments impose multiple types of restrictions, it becomes harder for CSOs to adapt, resulting in fewer international shaming campaigns.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Ruiz ◽  
Oriana Bernasconi

This study analyzes socio-discursive categories used to define and classify the political violence exerted in Chilean human rights reports (1974–1978) to understand the emergence of the repertoire of repression and the construction of victimhood as a social recognition and communicative process in Latin America during the 1970s. These reports are addressed as a professional discursive genre produced by non-governmental organizations whose purpose is to denounce the violation of human rights in the context of political controversies as well as in the Chilean totalitarian context. The discursive genre is characterized by objectivity, the credibility of the information, the event-based approach, the use of statistics to establish the type and magnitude of the violation of human rights. The corpus analyzed consists of 44 reports belonging to human rights archives. The statistical section and comments were coded according to narrative categories (participants, action, cause, time and space). The results show the predominance of the legal perspective to classify the violation of human rights, the emergence of the category of enforced disappearance, the relationship with the socio-political context and the categories elaborated to identify patterns of violation of human rights.


Author(s):  
Андрій Матвійчук

Сформульовано визначення поняття «міжнародна неурядова організація» (МНУО) як організоване об'єднання представників громадськості різних країн, створене відповідно до національного законодавства для досягнення цілей і завдань розвитку громадянського суспільства й міжнародних відносин, що діє відповідно до загальновизнаних принципів Уставу ООН і норм міжнародного права на території двох і більше держав і володіє консультативним статусом. З’ясовано, що видовими ознаками, які містять у собі: цілі й завдання, характер діяльності, форму організації, наявність консультативного статусу тощо визначається відмінність міжнародної НУО від інших суб'єктів міжнародних відносин. Такі родові ознаки (як от: факт об'єднання людей, наявність постійних органів управління, Статуту тощо) є загальними для всього класу (роду) організацій. Обгрунтовано, що МНУО як учасник міжнародних відносин, є суб'єктом міжнародного права, однак їх правосуб'єктність має функціональний характер, тобто обмежений її консультативним статусом. Продемонстровано, що МНУО є неофіційною сполучною ланкою між національними урядами й міжнародним співтовариством, беруть активну участь у розробці міжнародних стандартів, методів, моделей і співвідносять їхню національну значимість з міжнародно-правовою. Зазначається, що у національному законодавстві України спостерігається тенденція оптимальної розробки питань, що стосуються правового статусу МНУО з огляду на міжнародні принципи й стандарти. Водночас, не можна йти шляхом повного їхнього копіювання, оскільки держава, ґрунтуючись на своєму суспільно-історичному досвіді, досвіді функціонування правової системи, на існуючих суспільних відносинах і своїх національних інтересах, сама має право визначати правовий статус МНУО. Пропонується у змінах до закону «Про неурядові організації» відобразити основну ідею, яка полягає в тому, що неурядові організації є ядром громадянського суспільства, найважливішим фактором розвитку демократичної держави й міжнародних відносин, засобом реалізації громадянами своїх прав і свобод. Matviichuk Andriy V. Activities of international nongovernmental organizations in the legislative and legal space of Ukraine The definition of the concept of "international non-governmental organization" (international NGO) as an organized association of representatives of the public of different countries, formulated in accordance with the national legislation for the achievement of the goals and objectives of the development of civil society and international relations acting in accordance with the generally recognized principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international law on the territory of two or more states and has consultative status. It was found out that the specific features that include: goals and objectives, the nature of activity, the form of organization, the presence of consultative status, etc., is determined by the distinction of the international NGO from other subjects of international relations. Such generic attributes (such as the fact of association of people, the presence of permanent bodies of government, the Statute, etc.) are common to the entire class (kind of) organizations. It is substantiated that international NGO as a participant in international relations is a subject of international law, but their legal personality is functional, that is, limited by its consultative status. It has been demonstrated that the international NGO is an informal link between national governments and the international community and is actively involved in the development of international standards, methods, models and their national relevance with international legal law. It is noted that in the national legislation of Ukraine there is a tendency for the optimal development of issues related to the legal status of the international NGO, taking into account international principles and standards. At the same time, it is impossible to go through the full copying of them, since the state, on the basis of its socio-historical experience, the experience of functioning of the legal system, in existing social relations and its national interests, has the right to determine the legal status of the Ministry of the Interior. The proposed amendments to the law "On Non-Governmental Organizations" reflect the basic idea that non-governmental organizations are the core of civil society, the most important factor in the development of a democratic state and international relations, as a means of citizens' realization of their rights and freedoms.


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