scholarly journals HUMAN RIGHTS IN MODERN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: EVOLUTION OF DEVELOPMENT, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Introduction. At the present stage of development of the world political process, one of the main problems has been to ensure the effective operation of human rights protection mechanisms, both at the national and international levels. The main vocation of legal science in this area is to provide expert assessments of problematic issues and scientifically developed recommendations for improving the mechanisms of human rights protection in modern international relations and especially in crisis situations that have become almost permanent in the life of the world community. The purpose of this publication was to implement a retrospective analysis of the evolution of the development of legal consolidation of human rights at the international level and the thorny problems in this area. Summary of the main research results. Thus, this publication considers the main stages of human rights, highlights the main problems of development, outlines the place of human rights in modern international relations and presents the main characteristics of the challenges facing states in the implementation of cooperation in the field of human rights. Finding the specifics of human rights and identifying mechanisms for their formation is a separate problem for jurists. The legal aspect of enshrining human rights in international legal instruments is important in the context of modern reality. It is through the disclosure of this issue that it is possible to identify the main stages of the evolution of the consolidation of human rights in international law. Conclusions. The development of international legal consolidation of human rights has significantly influenced the evolution of international law as a whole. Under the influence of these processes, national sovereignty, as a basic principle of international law, began to take on new forms, and the individual acquired many features of international legal personality. Thanks to non-state rule-making, the sphere of consolidation and protection of human rights tends to self-development and constant adaptation to the changing needs of society in the social and moral spheres. Human rights are a cultural phenomenon that reflects the system of value orientations of a person rooted in a particular historical epoch and depends on the ideology of the world legal community. The problem of human rights, their protection from external and internal threats requires an immediate solution, making it a priority to consider legal issues among a wide range of global problems of mankind. At the same time, it must be emphasized that the democratic development of modern society and human rights are inextricably linked. This connection also implies that human rights must be recognized as legitimate as a result of democratic procedures, but outside the national legal systems there is a moral justification necessary to convince the subjects of international law that everyone, even outside the national legal system must enjoy all guaranteed rights and freedoms.

Author(s):  
Bożena Drzewicka

Conceptions And Interpretations of Human Rights in Europe and Asia: Normative AspectsThe issue of confronting values between civilizations has become very important. It influences not only the level of international politics but also the international normative activity. It is very interesting for the modern international law and its doctrine. The most important factor of causing huge changes in the system of international law is still the international human rights protection and the international humanitarian law which is related to it. It is very difficult to create one catalogue of executive instruments and procedures but it is possible to influence the attitude toward the basic paradigms. The frictions appear from time to time and move to other planes. The West and Asia are still antagonists in the dialogue on the future of the world. The article is a contribution to the intercivilizational dialogue.


Author(s):  
Clapham Andrew

This chapter examines the General Assembly, which is the United Nations’ main deliberative organ. To the extent that it reflects the will of the majority of the UN members, it has some influence on the organization’s general direction. It is the organ generally mandated to discuss and make recommendations on any question within the scope of the UN Charter, and it is specifically asked to initiate studies and make recommendations to promote, among other things, human rights. However, the General Assembly is an assembly of state representatives. This political composition can make it difficult to find agreement on which human rights deserve promotion, and which states, or rather which governments, should be singled out for censure. Nevertheless, the General Assembly has developed the international law and universal standards which underpin the world of human rights protection, improved the United Nation’s institutional machinery, and authorized some important human rights-related field operations and investigative mandates.


2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 1359-1374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Schorkopf ◽  
Christian Walter

Both internationalists and national constitutionalists are currently reflecting on changes in the basic structures of public law. From the national perspective, the process of globalization puts into question the hitherto generally accepted position of constitutional law as being at the top of the pyramid of norms. In international law, the development of subject-oriented régimes has led to a proliferation of international courts and other bodies entrusted with the resolution of disputes. This tendency entails a danger of fragmentation which contrasts with the current tendency to discover processes of constitutionalization in international law. Starting from the functions of the constitution in national law, the following paper develops in the first part elements of constitutionalization in international law in general (I.). In the second part, the identified problems are elaborated upon in more detail with respect to the law of the World Trade Organization (II.).


2019 ◽  

This volume provides a wide range of gender analyses in various areas of international law. It is aimed at those interested in legal gender studies, feminist jurisprudence and international law, but through its interdisciplinary open contributions it will also appeal to other readers without a legal background who are interested in this subject. Its section on international human rights protection focuses on sexuality, paternity rights and human trafficking. Afterwards, the (women’s) human rights system in Africa is examined from both a legal and, with South Africa taken as an example, an ethnological perspective. In the section on international criminal law, two topics are examined: the question of essentialism and the possible persecution of the Yazidis by the ‘Islamic State’. Finally, the volume addresses international labour law and analyses the right to return to work after maternity and paternity leave as well as the provision of care work in private households in Germany.


Author(s):  
Emilie M. Hafner-Burton

In the last six decades, one of the most striking developments in international law is the emergence of a massive body of legal norms and procedures aimed at protecting human rights. In many countries, though, there is little relationship between international law and the actual protection of human rights on the ground. This book takes a fresh look at why it's been so hard for international law to have much impact in parts of the world where human rights are most at risk. The book argues that more progress is possible if human rights promoters work strategically with the group of states that have dedicated resources to human rights protection. These human rights “stewards” can focus their resources on places where the tangible benefits to human rights are greatest. Success will require setting priorities as well as engaging local stakeholders such as nongovernmental organizations and national human rights institutions. To date, promoters of international human rights law have relied too heavily on setting universal goals and procedures and not enough on assessing what actually works and setting priorities. This book illustrates how, with a different strategy, human rights stewards can make international law more effective and also safeguard human rights for more of the world population.


2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-245
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Yahyaoui Krivenko

AbstractInternational constitutionalism relates to processes of limiting traditionally unrestricted powers of states as ultimate subjects, law-makers and law-enforcers of international law. Human rights occupy a central, but very confusing and confused role in the theorisation of international constitutionalism. If feminist scholars have criticised the inadequacies, shortcomings and gaps of international law of human rights at least since 1991, the doctrine of international law theorising constitutionalisation of international law until now has remained blind to these critiques idealising human rights and often using them as the ultimate legitimating factor. Thus, legitimacy and legality become confused and the distinction between them blurred in the doctrine of international constitutionalism. This in turn creates a danger of failure of the constitutionalists project itself, as it will serve to reinforce existing inadequacies and gaps in human rights protection. To illustrate this argument, I discuss some examples related to the protection of women's and migrants' rights. In order to avoid this dangerous development, I argue that international lawyers theorising international constitutionalism shall adopt an adequate, inclusive notion of legitimacy. In order to develop this adequate understanding of legitimacy, they should first take seriously feminist and other critiques of international human rights law and international law more generally. In the final parts of this article I develop my own more detailed proposals on the future of legitimacy and international constitutionalism. In doing so, I draw on the 'self-correcting learning process' developed in the writings of Jürgen Habermas, 'democracy to come' and more general views on the nature of sovereignty and human rights expressed by Jacques Derrida, as well as Levinasian 'responsibility-to-and-for-the-Other'.


Author(s):  
Lenzerini Federico

This chapter focuses on the practice of deliberate destruction of cultural heritage, which has represented a plague accompanying humanity throughout all phases of its history and has involved many different human communities either as perpetrators or victims. In most instances of deliberate destruction of cultural heritage, the target of perpetrators is not the heritage in itself but, rather, the communities and persons for whom the heritage is of special significance. This reveals a clear discriminatory and persecutory intent against the targeted cultural groups, or even against the international community as a whole. As such, intentional destruction of cultural heritage, in addition of being qualified as a war crime, is actually to be considered as a crime against humanity. Furthermore, it also produces notable implications in terms of human rights protection. Protection of cultural heritage against destruction is today a moral and legal imperative representing one of the priorities of the international community. In this respect, two rules of customary international law exist prohibiting intentional destruction of cultural heritage in time of war and in peacetime.


2020 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-93
Author(s):  
Miriam Bak McKenna

This article considers the ways in which geo-political and legal concerns materialised in debates over self-determination in the years following decolonisation, and how they impacted on its’ possibilities, objectives and conception. During this period, self-determination was not, as some scholars have argued, a declining norm, but one central to the competing visions of reinventing international law after empire. These varying articulations were largely shaped by the experience of colonialism and its ongoing effects, along with the ideological confrontation between East-West and North-South. One articulation stressed the primacy of political and economic sovereignty, prominently seen in calls for the establishment of a New International Economic Order. The other sought to integrate self-determination into the elevation of democratic governance and individual human rights protection. Examining these alternative formulations of self-determination, underlines the incompleteness of mainstream historical accounts, and may throw light upon continuing anxieties over its current legal status.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 753-777
Author(s):  
Vera Shikhelman

Abstract In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of research about the implementation of international law. However, there has been almost no empirical research about implementing decisions of international human rights institutions. The decisions of those institutions are usually regarded as soft law, and states do not have a clear legal obligation to implement them. In this article, I bring original empirical data about how and when states implement decisions of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) in individual communications. I hypothesize that the following factors influence the readiness of states to implement the views of the HRC: (i) the level of democracy and human rights protection in the state; (ii) internal capacity; (iii) strength of civil society; (iv) type of remedy; (v) representation on the HRC; (6) subject matter of the communication. I find that the most important factor for implementing remedies granted by the Committee is the high human rights score of the state. The internal capacity of the state is also significant but to a lesser extent than found in previous studies. Also, I find a certain connection between the state being represented on the HRC and its willingness to implement the remedies.


2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Júlia Mink

Abstract The principal objective of the article is to examine the EU legal framework and international law parameters of legal harmonisation processes in a specific field of human rights protection: asylum legislation. In particular, it is to provide an in-depth analysis of the compatibility of EU asylum legislation with existing international norms in relation to the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment. It also aims at exploring the correspondence and controversies of relevant legal principles and norms under international law. Similarly, it attempts to provide an analysis of the incomplete and inefficient implementation of these international norms and principles by EU asylum law as well.


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