Injecting Law into Politics and Politics into Law: Legislative and Judicial Perspectives on Constitutional Human Rights

2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Select Committee ◽  
Political Actions ◽  
Rule Making ◽  
Rights Issues ◽  
Do So

Law, unlike political theory, is capable of providing minimum standards for objective assessments of the rightness and wrongness of political actions. Constitutional rights can affect the rule-making process in Parliament by influencing legislators and the executive, as well as judges, with specific ideas of right and wrong. The Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has provided a means of injecting such ideas into the legislative process, allowing Parliament to address human rights issues and forcing the executive to do so. The article analyses the ways in which human rights law has been allowed to affect law-making. It then considers whether the need for judges to enforce human rights has led judges to undertake activities that are more political than previously. To this end the article examines the techniques of self-discipline developed to ensure that the judiciary stays within its constitutional authority, illustrates how the proper relationship between judges, Parliament and the executive depends on context, and explores the effect of these developments on possible criteria for judicial legitimacy, including accountability and representativeness. It concludes that the interplay of human rights law and political judgment has had a positive impact, helping to open up and structure legislation and policy-making.

Protecting Natural Resources

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérémie Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Conservation Of Natural Resources ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Do So

This chapter focuses on the connection between the international legal framework governing the conservation of natural resources and human rights law. The objective is to examine the potential synergies between international environmental law and human rights when it comes to the protection of natural resources. To do so, it concentrates on three main areas of potential convergence. It first focuses on the pollution of natural resources and analyses how human rights law offers a potential platform to seek remedies for the victims of pollution. It next concentrates on the conservation of natural resources, particularly on the interconnection between protected areas, biodiversity, and human rights law. Finally, it examines the relationship between climate change and human rights law, focusing on the role that human rights law can play in the development of the current climate change adaptation and mitigation frameworks.

The Human Rights Obligations of un Peacekeepers

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-450
Author(s):  
Conor Foley
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Disciplinary Action ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
The Right ◽  
Do So

Over 100,000 un peacekeeping personnel are deployed on missions with authority from the Security Council, under Chapter vii of the un Charter, to use force to protect civilians. Nevertheless, they have repeatedly failed to do so and yet there does not appear to be a single case where the un has taken disciplinary action against senior staff for failing to act in line with a mission mandate in this regard. This article argues that the ´positive´ and ´negative´ obligations of international human rights law, protecting the right to life and physical integrity, provide the most appropriate guidance to the tactical use of force by un peacekeeping soldiers. Mechanisms also need to be created to improve the accountability of un missions to those that they are responsible for protecting.

scholarly journals International Human Rights Law and the Response to the covid-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-269
Author(s):  
Sarah Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
Do So

Abstract States have duties under Article 12(2)(c) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to prevent, control and treat covid-19. Implementation of these three obligations is analysed, taking account of countervailing human rights considerations. Regarding prevention, lockdowns designed to stop the spread of the virus are examined. Control measures are then discussed, namely transparency measures, quarantine, testing and tracing. The human rights compatibility of treatment measures, namely the provision of adequate medical and hospital care (or the failure to do so), are then examined. Finally, derogations from human rights treaties in times of pubic emergency are discussed.

scholarly journals State investments and human rights? The case of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1742-1770
Author(s):  
Niklas Kreander ◽  
Ken McPhail
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Investment Fund ◽  
Sovereign Wealth Funds ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Conflict ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Rights Issues ◽  
Large Investment ◽  
Do So

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how the Norwegian Government incorporated its responsibility for human rights into the investment practices of its Global Pension Fund and how human rights issues were negotiated when exclusion was considered. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a series of interviews the authors analyse the way in which responsibility for human rights has been translated into the practices of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global. Findings The paper documents how a large investment fund used several mechanisms to address human rights risks. The authors demonstrate that different logics among actors sometimes impeded addressing human rights issues. The findings demonstrate that sovereign wealth funds (SWF) can be held accountable for human rights. Research limitations/implications The paper illustrates the difficulty of co-operation between actors with different logics. This can result in institutional conflict, but also in positive outcomes for human rights. Practical implications Attempts to introduce human rights into state investments may result in increased institutional complexity. The findings indicate that state investors can address human rights issues, but that the ability to do so is diminished where divestment creates political tension. Social implications Large investors can influence companies on specific human rights issues. Originality/value This is one of the first empirical investigations of the human rights practices of a SWF. The authors contribute to the literatures on accounting and human rights, SWF and institutional theory.

scholarly journals Judicial impartiality, decorative comparative law and the Human Rights Court: ECtHR, Alexandru Marian Iancu v. Romania, Application No. 60858/15

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-396
Author(s):  
Jaakko Husa
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Comparative Law ◽  
Case Note ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
European Court ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Rights Issues ◽  
Judicial Method

This case-note analyses the case of Alexandru Marian Iancu v. Romania, decided by the European Court of Human Rights in February 2020. The comment addresses two essential issues involved. The first issue concerns potential partiality of a judge who has been involved in overlapping proceedings. The second issue concerns the judicial method the Court uses in its reasoning. The note explains the background to the judgment, summarizing the facts leading to the judgment and the human rights issues before the Court. Then the proceedings before the Court and the Court’s decision are reviewed, before commenting on the judgment’s key points of significance for human rights law and use of comparative law as a part of human rights reasoning. The critical focus is on the comparative approach deployed by the Court.

scholarly journals Topical issues of ensuring human rights on digital platforms

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 532-541
Author(s):  
Snezhana V. Simonova
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Security And Privacy ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Privacy Rights ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Practice ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The Status

The article deals with the constitutional understanding of the place modern Internet platforms play in ensuring human rights. Some problematic aspects of the topic are illustrated through the lens of Russian and foreign legal practice, which has developed in connection with the functioning of wellknown digital platforms and promotion of information rights, digital security and privacy rights, freedom of speech within the boundaries of popular social networks, video hosting platforms, online services. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the latest novelties of Russian legislation aimed at regulating the status and new grounds for responsibility of digital platforms. The cornerstone question proposed by the author for discussion is the question of the best model of interaction between the state and digital platforms, as well as the conditions and limits of their responsibility for violations of human rights. The article analyzes the problem of inconsistency of terms of services with generally recognized standards of international human rights law, examines options for unifying the platform’s policies in relation to the content published on them, examines the phenomenon of “refusal of constitutional rights by contract”. Taking into account the deduced features of digital platforms as a space for the realization of human rights, the author’s view of the system of legal measures aimed at improving the standards of protecting human rights on digital platforms, is proposed as conclusions.

Implementation of Methods of Work

2020 ◽  
pp. 125-160
Author(s):  
Elvira Domínguez-Redondo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Induction Programs ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
Multiple Scenarios ◽  
Rights Issues ◽  
Selection Of

This chapter explores the implementation of methods of work developed by mandate holders of Special Procedures, focusing on those that stand out for their interference with the sovereignty of states, their adaptability to multiple scenarios, and their accessibility. This includes: (1) the handling of communications; (2) visits on the ground; and (3) development of normative standards in the field of human rights. Perhaps paradoxically, Special Procedures have drawn on the vagueness of mandates determined by political negotiations as a basis to develop quasi-judicial methods of work and contribute to the codification of international human rights law. However, the differences in implementing methods of work and interpreting mandates unravels the challenges inherent to combining political and legal approaches to human rights issues. Some of those challenges can be overcome with better communication strategies, standardization of generic information, and better induction programs, which should be included in the process of selection of new mandate holders. Others are inevitable to persevere the features that have permitted the unique methods of work and influence of Special Procedures.

The Liebman Board: The NLRA, at Its Heart a Human Rights Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Gross
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Representation Election ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Election Process ◽  
Rule Making ◽  
Case Decisions

This chapter emphasizes Chairman Liebman’s Board’s efforts to bring the statute’s workers’ rights emphasis back to life through case decisions, fuller use of the NLRB’s remedy power, and rule-making that would have required most private sector employers to post a notice at the workplace informing workers of their rights under the Act and would have streamlined the NLRB’s representation election process by eliminating unnecessary delays.

Constitutional Rights and their Relationship with International Human Rights in Ghana

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 677-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kodzo Paaku Kludze
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Past History ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Human

Particularly in developing nations, the movement has been toward the articulation of elaborate provisions in constitutions which guarantee the basic human and peoples' rights of the citizenry. In many cases these are reflections of the immediate past history of the young nations which were strewn with ugly spectacles of dictatorships on their path to democracy. The history of Ghana is unfortunately an illustrative example. The Ghana Independence Constitution of 1957—a very brief document—was brief to a fault and bereft of any provision for human rights. It is clear that the experience of years of abuse of human, political, and civil rights in Ghana explains many of the current constitutional guarantees of basic rights spelt out in the 1992 Constitution in order to protect citizens against future abuses.In the past, treaty obligations under municipal laws of Ghana were such that even ratification of human rights treaties did not directly confer enforceable legal rights in the domestic courts of Ghana and implementing legislation was necessary to make a treaty right justiciable. In the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, as well as others, are entrenched as constitutional provisions, are to be interpreted as such, and enforceable under the laws of Ghana. To the extent that drafters of the Ghana Constitution relied on the principles of the international human rights law enshrined in treaties and declarations, there are many similarities between the domestic law and some principles of international human rights law.

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