scholarly journals THE RIGHT TO HOUSING IN THE CONTEXT OF NIGERIAN LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICE

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23
Author(s):  
Emeke Chegwe

Every society needs a set of laws which stipulates the rights and duties of citizens, aswell as regulate the conduct of the society. But law is often perceived as repressive andunpopular by majority of the urban poor in many developing countries who feel that the lawhas done little or nothing to ameliorate their sufferings. For example, new evidence fromsatellite images has revealed the true extent of forced evictions going on in Badia East-Lagos,one of Nigeria’s mega cities. The pictures taken during and after the demolitions carried outby the Lagos State government on 23rd February 2013, clearly shows that a densely populatedarea containing concrete housing and other structures was razed to the ground. Given theimportance of housing to the overall development and existence of mankind, it is necessary tofirst determine the existence of a legal right to adequate housing to warrant a demand by thecitizen to fulfil this right and in order to appreciate the need for government intervention inthis area.

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 368-385
Author(s):  
Yana Litins’ka ◽  
Oleksandra Karpenko

Abstract COVID-19 became a stress-test for many legal systems because it required that a balance be found between rapid action to prevent the spread of the disease, and continued respect for human rights. Many states in Europe, including Ukraine, chose to enforce an obligation to self-isolate. In this article we review what the obligation to self-isolate entails in the case of Ukraine. We also analyse whether such an obligation should be viewed as a deprivation or a mere restriction of liberty, and if it is permissible under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.


Author(s):  
Ahmad Masum

The right to development is a fundamental right, the precondition of liberty, progress, justice and creativity. This right has raised many expectations and controversies over the years. Developing countries claim that the international economic and political order constitutes an obstacle to the enjoyment of the right to development for their citizens. They therefore see a need for action in the international dimension of the right to development. In their view, they are able to provide the necessary basis for the enjoyment of the right to development only if the international order becomes more conducive to the economic development of developing countries. This paper aims to examine the concept of the right to development as a ‘human right’ focusing mainly on the position of developing countries as to whether they have an obligation to work towards the realization and implementation of this right. The paper concludes that the right to development is now recognized as a ‘human right’ like other internationally accepted human rights. Thus, being a right, it entails obligations of some agents in the society, who have the power to deliver the right or adopt policies that have a high likelihood of delivering the right.  


Author(s):  
Andriy Kuchuk

The article is devoted to the issue of understanding freedom of expression and reputation protection by the European Court of Human Rights. New opportunities to exercise the right to freedom of expression arise and opportunities to implement the right to freedom of expression as well as the possibilities for defamation increase within a democratic and information society. It is emphasized that within a law-based state guarantees provided to the press are of particular importance, as the media should disseminate information and ideas of public interest, and the public has the right to receive such information and ideas. A clear understanding of the content of the right to freedom of expression and the right to reputation protection is the basis for resolving the issue of finding a balance between them, which designates the relevance of the study. The paper elucidates the results of the European Court of Human Rights decisions analysis under Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression). Emphasis is placed on the various features of these rights and the peculiarities of their implementation in different circumstances. It is pointed out that the domestic judicial system actively uses the European Court of Human Rights practice in resolving cases related to reputation protection. Attention is placed on the fact that freedom of expression does not extend to hate speech. The spread of the right to reputation protection as for defamation of family members and relatives is analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the dynamic approach of the European Court of Human Rights towards the interpretation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Even before the beginning of 2000, the European Court of Human Rights noted that the protection of reputation does not fall under the protection of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The study describes the genesis of the positions of the European Court of Human Rights on a person’s reputation protection. It is stated that a person’s right to protection of his or her reputation is covered by Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as part of the right to respect for private life (provided that causing considerable damage to reputation if it affects a person’s private life).


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-488
Author(s):  
Kresimir Kamber

This article looks into the architecture of remedies for breaches of the right of prisoners not to be subjected to inadequate conditions of detention under the revised 2020 European Prison Rules (EPR). It seeks to expound the consistency and rationality of the relevant provisions of the 2020 EPR from the perspective of relevant principles and specific prescriptions of European prison law. For the purpose of the present article, the term ‘European prison law’ encompasses rules and standards set out in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, practice of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the provisions of the EPR. The article finds that, in this context, there is sufficient coherence in the relevant principles of European prison law – faithfully codified in the 2020 EPR – providing clear guidance to European States on how to put in place a system of remedies for breaches of prisoners’ rights and how to ensure its effective operation in practice.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Mallon

Chapter 14 critically analyses the idea of education as a universal human right. It outlines existing international human rights mechanisms relevant to education as a right and critically assesses their ability to make that right a reality in a diverse world with different levels of ‘peace’, stability, conflict, cultural and socio-economic contexts. While recognising that the right to education includes all people regardless of age, the chapter mainly focuses on education as a right for children and, in particular, how the right to education for children in developing countries can be affected by violent conflict. In this regard, the work of UNESCO and the influence of Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are assessed along with a range of other rights mechanisms.


Temida ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 145-166
Author(s):  
Milica Kovacevic

The paper deals with rights and position of victims in international documents, with special reference to the standards created by the European Court of Human Rights through its practice. This paper aims to provide brief analysis of some of the most important international documents, which set forth basic rights for victims, including: right to participate in the criminal proceedings, right to protection and the right to compensation. The paper intends to analyze these key right (standards, principles) through relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights, given that the wording of the relevant documents does not determine what entails the realization of a specific standard in real life. The main purpose of the article is to examine the compliance of regulations and practices in Serbia with international standards on the status and the rights of victims, from which some recommendations for improvement might arise.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A.L. Rheeder

The 2005 UNESCO Universal Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights (UDBHR) is specifically aimed at Africa and developing countries from other regions. The acceptance of this UNESCO instrument shows that global bioethics and human rights have become part of the bioethics discourse of today. It is clear that there is a certain affinity between human rights and bioethics, which makes such a link desirable. The value of this link lies in the fact that human rights facilitate a normative universal expansion of bioethical principles. The human rights framework provides bioethical principles with some authority and political influence, an instrument that can protect people in our broken context. Human rights practice and a reformed understanding of natural law both show that humanity can reach consensus on ethical principles such as those found in the UDBHR. Consensus on the theoretical foundation of human rights is not a prerequisite for the successful utilisation of these principles.


2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Viehoff

Abstract Among the functions of state borders is to delineate a domain within which outsiders may normally not interfere. But the human rights practice that has sprung up in recent decades has imposed significant limits on a state’s right against interference. This article considers the connection between human rights on the one hand and justified interference in the internal affairs of states on the other. States, this article argues, have a right against interference if and because they serve their subjects. Interference by outsiders threatens to set back their capacity to serve and thus ultimately harms those over whom the state exercises power. Human rights, in turn, circumscribe the outer limits of what any state can do while plausibly claiming to be serving its subjects. On this view, human rights are distinguished from other rights because they function as cancelling conditions on the state’s right against outside interference: while interfering in the internal affairs of a state normally wrongs that state, interfering where the state fails to respect human rights does not. Contrary to what is often thought, human rights violations do not justify outside interference. They merely make a state liable to such interference. The further considerations that must enter into an all things considered judgment in favor of interference are irrelevant for determining what human rights we have.


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