Reformative and rehabilitative programs for prisoners with cognitive impairments: Australia’s international obligations

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-106
Author(s):  
Emma Henderson ◽  
Nicole Shackleton ◽  
Stephanie Falconer

While there has been much recent controversy relating to the abusive treatment of young prisoners and the failure of the State to properly facilitate the rehabilitation and reformation of young detainees, little attention has been paid to similar failures in relation to prisoners with cognitive impairments. In this article, we argue that Article 10.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 26 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities require Australia to ensure that the conditions of detention of all prisoners are primarily reformative and rehabilitative. Analysing relevant jurisprudence, we argue that Australia is systematically failing to meet its human rights obligations to prisoners found ‘not guilty’ by reason of mental impairment.

2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 699-729
Author(s):  
Jacques Zylberberg

This essay undertakes a review of national and international law to demonstrate that law is mainly an ideological and variable instrument of the State and of the United Nations, which is a by-product of the states. In this perspective, the author opposes the pragmatical ideology of resistance against the sovereign state to the juridical legitimation and the behaviour of the States who reluctantly have conceded some civil and political rights. Those rights are endangered by the growing bureaucratization of the state, the inflation of the juridical norms and rules, in addition to the permanent repressive characters of the State. The criticism of the contradiction and the variation of the rule of law when it relates to "human rights" is also extended to international law as well as to the international organizations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur'aini Nur'aini

Legal politics in Interdiction of Member of Election Commission Resignation. Every regulation promulgated supposes to create legal certainty, public benefits and justice in society. It is a condition sine quo non form State deciding Law as its State foundation. This aims should be started in legislation that guarantee the sustainability of human rights values.  A regulation should not limit or even produce negative impact towards society. Moreover, the regulation concerning civil and political rights should guarantee the rights a person as to resign from member of Election Commission. It’s the challenge should be respond by the State. Keywords: State of Law, Politic Law Development and Civil and Political Rights.


2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Azadeh Dastyari

Michaela Banerji was a Commonwealth public servant when she was fired for sending up to 9000 messages on the public platform twitter criticising her employer; Australia’s human rights record; politicians; and public servants. The tweets did not disclose Ms Banerji’s name or occupation and all (except for one) tweet was sent in Ms Banerji’s private time. In 2019, the High Court confirmed that Ms Banerji’s tweets were not protected by the implied freedom of political communication in the Australian Constitution. Ms Banerji is not alone in having her ability to communicate her political views limited by her employment with the Australian public service. All Commonwealth public servants are bound by a legal framework that curtails their ability to criticise government policies. This article argues that the current regime restricting political communication by public servants in Australia is excessive and is not consistent with Australia’s international obligations under article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Botlhale

Abstract This paper argues that there is no hierarchy in the importance attached to the different categories of human rights. Hence, Civil and Political Rights (CPRs) and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCRs) are both human rights and must be placed on the same pedestal. In a democracy, it is imperative that all rights be accorded equal treatment. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether Botswana accords equal treatment to the two categories of human rights. Using a case study approach, the paper concludes that while the Constitution of Botswana provides for CPRs, ESCRs are absent from this instrument. Consequently, the provision of economic, social, and cultural goods is policy-based. The paper argues that this raises accountability and justiciability challenges because the state cannot be sanctioned for failing to provide non-rights. It recommends the constitutionalisation of ESCRs to maximise the accountability and justiciability of ESCRs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Broderick

The traditional dichotomy of rights between civil and political rights, on the one hand, and economic, social and cultural rights, on the other hand, has been increasingly eroded in scholarly and judicial discourse. The interdependence of the two sets of rights is a fundamental tenet of international human rights law. Nowhere is this interdependence more evident than in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD or UN Convention). This article examines the indivisibility and interdependence of rights in the CRPD and, specifically, the positive obligations imposed on States Parties to the UN Convention, in particular the reasonable accommodation duty. The aim of the paper is to analyse, from a disability perspective, the approach adopted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or ‘Strasbourg Court’) in developing the social dimension of certain civil and political rights in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), namely Articles 2 and 3 (on the right to life and the prohibition on torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, respectively), Article 8 (on the right to private and family life) and Article 14 ECHR (on non-discrimination). Ultimately, this paper examines the influence of the CRPD on the interpretation by the Strasbourg Court of the rights of persons with disabilities under the ECHR. It argues that, while the Court is building some bridges to the CRPD, the incremental and often fragmented approach adopted by the Court could be moulded into a more principled approach, guided by the CRPD.


2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 99-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelias Ncube

This paper examines the implications of Zimbabwe's 2013 harmonised elections on the opposition's continued deployment of the rights-based discourse to make moral and political claims against and demands of the state. Since 2000, two polarising strands of the human rights discourse −1) the right to self-determination and 2) civil and political rights – were deployed by the state and the opposition, respectively, in order to challenge extant relations and structures of power. The acutely strained state–society relations in post-2000 Zimbabwe emanated from human rights violations by the state as it responded to challenges to its political power and legitimacy. However, the relative improvement in the human rights situation in the country since the 2009 coalition government came into office, and during and since the recently concluded peaceful 2013 elections – the flawed electoral process itself notwithstanding – suggests a need for alternative new ways to make moral and political demands of the state in the future.


Author(s):  
Penny Weller

On the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights (UDHR) the Commonwealth Attorney General announced a national public consultation concerning the need for better human rights protection in Australia and the viability of a federal human rights charter. Whether or not the anticipated Charter includes social, economic and cultural rights is directly relevant to questions of social justice in Australia. This paper argues that the legislative acknowledgment of civil and political rights alone will not adequately address the human rights problems that are experienced in Australia. The reluctance to include economic, social and cultural rights in human rights legislation stems from the historical construction of an artificial distinction between civil and political rights, and economic social and cultural rights. This distinction was articulated and embedded in law with the translation of the UDHR into binding international law. It has been accepted and replicated in judicial consideration of the application on human rights legislation at the domestic level. The distinction between the two forms of rights underpins a general ambivalence about the capacity of human rights legislation to deliver social justice and echoes a critical tradition in legal philosophy that cautions against the reification of law. Coming into force early in the 21st century, the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities illustrates the effort of the international community to recognize and eschew the burden of the false dichotomy between civil and political and economic, social and cultural rights. Acknowledging the indivisible, interdependent and indissociable nature of human rights in Australia is a crucial step toward achieving human rights based social justice.


2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-392
Author(s):  
Alexius Andang L. Binawan

One of controversial issues in Indonesia regarding human rights is concerning religious freedom. There were two contradict opinions on the issue, i.e. those who preferred Indonesia as an Islamic state, with a consequence that there is only very limited religious freedom and those who preferred secular state with a wider religious freedom. Though finally Indonesia adopted Pancasila (five pillars) as the state ideology, as a mid-way between the two, final agreement on the problem is from being finalised as debates are still carried out. This paper is aimed at analysing how and where the ‘pendulum’ is swinging between two contrasting views since Indonesia has signed both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and also the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights. I argue that during the New Order Indonesia, the pendulum on religious freedom swung closer to Islamic view.[Salah satu isu terkait Hak Asasi Manusia di Indonesia adalah mengenai kebebasan agama. Setidaknya ada dua cara pandang yang saling bertentangan, yaitu (1) yang menghendaki bentuk negara Islam, konsekuensinya adalah kebebasan agama sangatlah terbatas, dan (2) yang menginginkan negara sekuler yang mengindikasikan kebebasan agama lebih luas. Indonesia mengadopsi Pancasila sebagai ideologi negara dan sebagai jalan tengah antara kubu negara Islam dan sekuler, namun perdebatan mengenai bentuk negara tersebut terus saja bergulir. Artikel ini menganalisis bagaimana dan ke mana ‘pendulum’ bergerak di antara dua pandangan yang saling bertentangan di atas. Semasa Orde Baru, pendulum tersebut condong ke kubu Islam.]


2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gauthier de Beco

AbstractThis article argues that a new understanding of the indivisibility of human rights has emerged through the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The CRPD has blurred the distinction between civil and political rights, on the one hand, and economic and social rights, on the other. After showing how this distinction has been blurred in the Convention, the article critically analyses the impact this has had on the concept of indivisibility, as well as its consequences for international human rights law more generally. It shows that there is now a shift away from a preoccupation with different categories of rights and towards concern for the real and actual enjoyment of human rights.


KPGT_dlutz_1 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-48
Author(s):  
Vivianny Galvão

O direito estatal à suspensão das obrigações do Pacto Internacional de Direitos Civis e Políticos Resumo: Este artigo dedica-se à análise do artigo 4.º do Pacto Internacional de Direitos Civis e Políticos de 1966, com especial atenção à interpretação do direito estatal à suspensão das obrigações internacionais. Cabe, atualmente, ao Conselho de Direitos Humanos das Nações Unidas a tarefa de investigar os casos em que esta suspensão acontece, bem como fiscalizar os motivos da suspensão e estabelecer os parâmetros considerados legítimos. Os direitos humanos trazidos pelo Pacto Internacional sobre os Direitos Civis e Políticos, além dos demais tratados em matéria de direitos humanos, limitam o direito estatal de suspensão. As medidas aplicadas pelo Estado que evocam o direito de derrogação precisam ser consideradas estritamente necessárias e sua adoção, fundamentada e temporária; caso contrário, o Estado derrogador será considerado violador das obrigações assumidas na ordem internacional. Somente o instrumento da denúncia é capaz de desobrigar o Estado dos acordos firmados e, ainda assim, essa desvinculação não alcançariam em tese certos costumes internacionais nem, tampouco, as normas de ius cogens ou obrigações erga omnes. Infere-se que a lógica do artigo 4.º, também presente na Convenção Europeia de Direitos Humanos, está norteada pela preservação do Estado Democrático de Direito conforme se extraiu da criação da categoria dos direitos irrevogáveis. Além disso, mesmo diante da possibilidade de suspensão parcial e temporária dos direitos, o Conselho de Direitos Humanos não deixa de fiscalizar a atuação do Estado, pelo contrário, esse Conselho passa a emitir recomendações mais contundentes contra o Estado. Palavras-chave: Direito de suspensão. Direitos humanos. Direito Internacional. Pacto Internacional de Direitos Civis e Políticos. _____ The state right to the suspension of the obligations of the international covenant on civil a: nd political right Abstract: This article is devoted to the analysis of the article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, with special attention to the interpretation of state law to the suspension of international obligations. The UN Human Rights Council is now responsible for investigating the cases in which this suspension takes place, as well as monitoring the reasons for the suspension and establishing the parameters considered legitimate. The human rights brought by the ICCPR, in addition to the other human rights treaties, limit the State's right to suspend. The measures applied by the State that evoke the right of derogation must be considered strictly necessary and the adoption, substantiated and temporary. Otherwise, the derogating State shall be considered as violating the obligations assumed in the international order. Only the instrument of denunciation can release the State from the agreements reached and, even so, that untying would not achieve in theory certain international customs nor the norms of jus cogens or obligations erga omnes. It is inferred that the logic of Article 4, which is also present in the European Convention on Human Rights, is guided by the preservation of the Democratic Rule of Law as derived from the creation of the category of irrevocable rights. Moreover, even in the face of the possibility of partial and temporary suspension of rights, the Human Rights Council does not cease to supervise the actions of the State; on the contrary, this Council is issuing more forceful recommendations against the State. Keywords: Human rights. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. International Law. Right of suspension.


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