scholarly journals The Libyan Uprising and the Right of Revolution in International Law

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-32
Author(s):  
Thomas Keenan

Abstract Despite the ubiquitous coverage of the Libyan revolution throughout the last six months, very little has been said regarding the legal foundations for the rebels’ actions. Within the international legal framework, it must be asked whether the Libyan people even had a legal right in the first place to overthrow the Gaddafi regime. In fact, the existence of a right to rebel under international law is very much an unsettled matter. Among the sources of international law, a right to rebel is not enumerated in any of the principal international instruments. In truth, the only significant mention of the right is a passing but ambiguous reference in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A customary right of revolution is similarly absent, as many nations criminalize treason and other insurrectionary activities. Instead, if such a right exists in international law, it must derive from the well-enshrined right of self-determination. Th is right would thus constitute an additional exception to international law’s general prohibition on the use force, standing alongside self-defense and Security Council peace enforcement. Yet establishing a right of revolution would mark a significant departure from these other exemptions. In essence, the right of revolution represents an allowance for non-state actors to resort to force unilaterally for the protection of human rights. For this very reason, contemporary international law likely does not recognize a popular right to revolt. In light of international law’s fi rm restrictions on lawful uses of force, there is no evidence that the law currently acknowledges a novel exception for the individual enforcement of human rights. Th us, in the absence of a change in the law, the proper legal remedy for the Libyan people was not rebellion but rather an appeal to the international community.

Author(s):  
Carla Ferstman

This chapter considers the consequences of breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law for the responsible international organizations. It concentrates on the obligations owed to injured individuals. The obligation to make reparation arises automatically from a finding of responsibility and is an obligation of result. I analyse who has this obligation, to whom it is owed, and what it entails. I also consider the right of individuals to procedures by which they may vindicate their right to a remedy and the right of access to a court that may be implied from certain human rights treaties. In tandem, I consider the relationship between those obligations and individuals’ rights under international law. An overarching issue is how the law of responsibility intersects with the specialized regimes of human rights and international humanitarian law and particularly, their application to individuals.


Author(s):  
Goodwin-Gill Guy S ◽  
McAdam Jane ◽  
Dunlop Emma

This chapter explores the nature of movement occasioned by the impacts of disasters and climate change. There is scientific consensus that the effects of climate change are aggravating and amplifying many ‘natural’ environmental hazards. This, in turn, may threaten a range of human rights including the right to life, health, housing, culture, means of subsistence, and the right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment. Moreover, disasters linked to sudden-onset natural hazards continue to trigger the largest number of new internal displacements annually. The chapter then considers the law as it pertains to internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as the limits and capacity of the international and regional legal frameworks that may apply to those who were displaced across an international border (refugee law, human rights law, and the law on statelessness). While a number of international instruments now include language on climate change, disasters, and displacement, including the 2018 Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, more is required to give full effect to these undertakings, both with regard to the capacity to anticipate displacement, and to determine what kind of ‘protection’ is called for, by whom, and where.


TheHandbookconsists of 32 Chapters in seven parts. Part I provides the historical background and sets out some of the contemporary challenges. Part II considers the relevant sources of international law. Part III describes the different legal regimes: land warfare, air warfare, maritime warfare, the law of occupation, the law applicable to peace operations, and the law of neutrality. Part IV introduces key concepts in international humanitarian law: weapons and the notion of superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering, the principle of distinction, proportionality, genocide and crimes against humanity, grave breaches and war crimes, internal armed conflict. Part V looks at key rights: the right to life, the prohibition on torture, the right to fair trial, economic, social and cultural rights, the protection of the environment, the protection of cultural property, and the human rights of the members of the armed forces. Part VI covers key issues such as: the use of force, terrorism, unlawful combatants, the application of human rights in times of armed conflict, forced migration, and issues of gender. Part VII deals with accountability issues including those related to private security companies, the need to focus on armed groups, as well as questions of state responsibility brought before national courts, and finally, the book addresses issues related to transitional justice.


2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Erasmus

Socio-economic rights are those human rights that aim to secure for all members of a particular society a basic quality of life in terms of food, water, shelter, education, health care and housing. They differ from traditional civil and political rights such as the right to equality, personal liberty, property, free speech and association. These “traditional human rights” are now found in most democratic constitutions and are, as a rule, enshrined in a Bill of Rights; which is that part of the Constitution that is normally enforced through mechanisms such as judicial review. The victims of the violation of such rights have a legal remedy. Individual freedom is a primary value underpinning civil and political rights.


Legal Ukraine ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 14-23
Author(s):  
Vasyl Datsenko

On today’s international law, there is a broad consensus on the idea of ​​those who want to talk about all the children and the importance of guilty mother’s interests. Buti and the court at the right are guilty of the arrest of nikrashchikh іnterestіv ditini. Vrakhovuchi is the issue of clear legislative regulation of the law and practice of legal practice of securing terminology of the interest of children, the author has analyzed the law of international law. At the statutory international legal order, there is a need for ECHRL, in some ways there is a lack of food for the protection of interested children in case of a viable dispute about it. Analyzed the keys to the position of the court regarding disputes regarding the child’s privacy Order No. 14 (2013) of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child «On the right of a child to receive respect for the rest of the world». Вased on a systematic analysis of the provisions of General Comment No. 14, the author identified two blocks of key positions that the court must adhere to when resolving a child dispute to ensure its best interests: 1) basic positions; 2) the procedure for assessing and determining the best interests of the child. The Committee underlines that the child’s best interests is a threefold concept: a substantive right; A fundamental, interpretative legal principle; A rule of procedure. Another main point is the idea of how to apply it to each child individually. One more fundamental principle of the application of the Convention is that the State has no discretion to determine whether to prioritize the best interests of the child and give them due weight in any action. When assessing and determining the best interests of the child in order to make a decision on a specific measure, the following steps should be followed: (a) First, within the specific factual context of the case, find out what are the relevant elements in a best-interests assessment, give them concrete content, and assign a weight to each in relation to one another; (b) Secondly, to do so, follow a procedure that ensures legal guarantees and proper application of the right. As a result of this scientific research, the author has come to the conclusion that providing the best interests of the child are not universal. It must be obtained by the court as a result of identifying and assessing the individual needs of the child, taking into account the specifics of the subject matter of the case being considered by the court. If the court correctly identified and assessed such needs, followed certain legal guarantees, then the decision taken as a result of the case should be considered to be made in the best interests of the child. Key words: concept of the best interests of the child, family law relations, evaluation and determination of the best interests of the child, legal guarantees.


JAHR ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-85
Author(s):  
Sonja Trgovčić

The concept of international solidarity has been developing since the second half of the 20th century within the scope of international charters, conventions and declarations of protection of human rights. It has earned the qualities of the principle of international law and has been given a meaning of the key human right which binds together human rights of the first, second and third generation. With this work the author provides an explanation and gives a postulate to the legal nature of international solidarity and its legal feasibility. Furthermore, the author speaks about international cooperation, shared responsibility and the prevention of factors of climate change, hunger, inadequate health care, polarity in the economic development, and achieving equality. The author dedicates special attention to the right to health, its aspects and connections with international solidarity in protection of vulnerable groups.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Zuryati Mohamed Yusoff

<p>In Malaysia, the rights and liberties of the individual are recognised in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. However, the right to privacy does not have the express constitutional recognition enjoyed by other rights such as the right to life and liberty and freedom of expression. This thesis identifies gaps in the protection of privacy interests in the current legal framework. There is no self-standing law on privacy in Malaysia, though there are several laws which provide limited rights to privacy such as the laws on data protection and criminal law. The existing laws are inadequate to protect private information and to protect against the intrusion of privacy. The importation of foreign principles through the reception of English Common Law offers only limited protection. Malaysia should, therefore, have a specific law to protect privacy. With a view to attaining that goal for Malaysia, this thesis undertakes a comparative analysis of two different experiences of the development of the law of privacy. They are the privacy law in England, which is largely based on the law of breach of confidence, and the privacy law in New Zealand, which has a distinct privacy tort recognised in its case law. The conclusion is that those countries’ experience can inform developments in Malaysia, and that the best way for Malaysia to develop its law now is by the enactment of a specific Privacy Act.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Robert Deuchars

<p>When the words good or bad are uttered the user generally takes their meaning derived from a system of ethics or morals. In this sense good and bad are particularist in nature and also socio-culturally specific. Let us take a simple example from Antiquity. At school in the West we learn of a figure called Alexander the Great, the Macedonian. By all accounts we are taught that he was a great, and by extension a good man. In modern day Iran Alexander of Macedonia is known as Alexander the Devil. So the question arises: was Alexander good or bad, or both? Is it possible to state unequivocally that the actions of Alexander were as a matter of fact morally good or morally bad? I think the answer to this question is fairly straightforward: it depends. Now this answer is not a simple descent into postmodern territory and moral relativism; there are genuine and empirical reasons to believe all three possibilities pertaining to the actions of Alexander. In short it is not possible to extrapolate from the particular to the general and it is not a question of semantics or even of critical hermeneutics. There is no either/or for Alexander of Macedonia. The binary opposition of good and bad cannot be applied to the particular actions of an individual and furthermore cannot be generalized as a principle, rule or otherwise. This distinction or argument between what can be deemed good and what can be deemed bad may at first sight seem irrelevant to the law but it is not. In moral philosophy natural law theory states that law is based on morality, therefore negating the possibility of a bad law. It is at this point that Jeremy Bentham comes to our attention. Bentham believed that law and morality, although connected need not necessarily be so. Under the principle of utility, which I will explore in more detail later in this essay, Bentham believed that individual intent of an action could be disassociated from the intent that ought to be in place. The principle of utility was this test. In other words when determining the right course of action and what laws should be obeyed for all circumstances and systems, the principle of utility was the foundation. And I will argue later on in this essay that although Bentham is identified as a legal positivist and a philosophical realist his negative idealism is based on an error, much in the same way that he thought he had identified the fallacy of natural law. Bentham’s foundations may not be on stilts but perhaps, more accurately, they were built on silt. Moreover Bentham’s position as a moral philosopher is rather unusual in that although he was indeed interested in the behavior of the individual he was insofar as that behavior might have some bearing on a general system of law. This essay is therefore concerned with this troubling problem. I will proceed as follows. Firstly, I will give an overview of Bentham’s criticism of natural law and of William Blackstone in particular. Secondly, I will look at Bentham’s contribution to the internationalization of the law and his use of the “principle of utility”; he coined the neologism “international” as one of many. I will then move on to see how Bentham expected to actualize his foundational principle through his efforts to persuade others of the efficacy of codifying international law as a form of ‘science’. I conclude by arguing that Bentham’s philosophical realism was, in fact a form of idealism, bordering on the religious; his ‘cosmic calculus’.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 307
Author(s):  
Muhammad Hameedullah Md Asri ◽  
Md Khalil Ruslan

The development of the law on piracy under two major international treaties; the Geneva Convention, 1958 and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 has witnessed great acceptance and application of the law with many coastal states have crafted specific anti-piracy law as a manifestation of their commitments to the international treaties. However, up until today, Malaysia has yet to come out with a single and unified statute against piracy despite being a member to both treaties. The law is scattered in a different set of documents and carried out by various agencies that are responsible to each respective law. It is argued that given this is the position in Malaysia, the prosecution of piracy would be a critical problem for the law enforcement. In this paper, we address this concern by looking at both Malaysian legal framework as well as the experience of the country against international piracy, particularly the case of Bunga Laurel. The findings suggest that there are more than twenty Acts that might be used against piracy. As a sovereign state under the international law, Malaysia also has the right to resort to principles of international law for the apprehension and prosecution of high sea pirates. To this effect, the case of Bunga Laurel has really manifested the successful application of Malaysian law by the High Court of Malaya against international piracy. The paper concludes that the absence of a single anti-piracy law is not necessarily an obstacle, but instead an advantage with great choice of law available for the prosecution in this country.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 281
Author(s):  
Andrejs Gvozdevičs

Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms provides for the right of everyone to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. An important guarantee, such as the enforcement of a court judgment, is also enshrined in human rights theory and practice, as unenforced judgments pose a threat to legal stability, which is one of the fundamental basis for the sustainable development of society. The institute of law of the securing a claim serves in cases where execution of the future judgment may be impossible or made substantially more difficult. The aim of the research is to study the legal framework, which determines the regulations of the securing a claim in Latvia in order to make proposals for enhancement of the legal framework. The research deployed descriptive, analytical and deductive-inductive methods as well as the methods of interpretation of legal norms. Using these methods, legal acts, views of legal scientists and case law were reviewed and analyzed, and subsequently conclusions and recommendations were made. Analyzing the development of the securing a claim it can be admitted that this institute of law in Latvia has problems as the application of the securing a claim in court practice within the framework of limited adversarial and dispositivity principles, as well as shortcomings in the theoretical foundations of the securing a claim which are based on the findings of legal scientists of the last century. As a result of the research, the author drew the conclusions, that Latvia does not make sufficient use of the long-standing successful procedural solutions for securing a claim in others states, such as court mortgages, bank guarantee or mortgage of the plaintiff to secure the defendant's losses, defendant's protection letter to protect against unjustified securing a claim, a possibility to secure a claims which are not financial in nature and many more that can make legal regulation of the securing a claim more modern and effective.


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