scholarly journals Wolności i prawa polityczne dziecka

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-25
Author(s):  
Marek Bielecki

The subject matter of the present paper is the analysis of particular normative solutions as well as the position of the judiciary and the interpretations of the doctrine in the scope of political freedom and rights that may be applied by a child. A child, as an entity equipped with the attribute of inherent and inalienable dignity, is a benefciary of the guarantees concerning the protection of human rights and freedoms proclaimed in both the national and international standards. Due to the existence of some objective obstacles such as age or developmental issues, certain rights cannot be fully applied by a child. While analyzing the indicated issues, the author of the study evaluates existing regulations as well as presents proposals for changes that could have a positive impact on children’s situation concerning the implementation of his/her political rights.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Pacholski

The subject matter of this commentary, which instigates the Views of the Human Rights Committee of 27 January 2021, is the protection of one of the fundamental human rights – the right to life. The Committee, as an authority appointed to oversee compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, had to decide on the issue of Italy’s responsibility for failing to provide assistance to a boat in distress, even if the area in which the vessel was located was not within the territory of this state and other acts of international law attribute the responsibility for executing the rescue operation to a third country. According to the Committee’s views, which applied extraterritorial approach to the protection of the right to life, whenever states have the opportunity to take action for the protection of human rights they should do everything possible in a given situation to help people in need.


1997 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 390-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine J. Redgwell

On 2 November 1994 the Human Rights Committee adopted General Comment No.24(52) relating to reservations made on ratification or accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is addressed to States party to the Covenant and indicates the manner in which reservations to Covenant guarantees will be treated. The fact that the Committee has issued a general comment on the topic of reservations is clear expression of the Committee's concerns regarding the number and scope of reservations which have been made. In its view these threaten to undermine the effective implementation of the Covenant as well as impair the performance of the Committee in respect of the subject matter to which the reservations apply. Though not as seriously afflicted by reservations as some other human rights treaties, most notably the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Covenant has nonetheless been the object of some sweeping reservations to which few objections have been made. There is the concern that the integrity of the Covenant may have been sacrificed in order to ensure widespread participation. “Indeed”, suggests Higgins, “one might almost say that there is a collusion to allow penetrating and disturbing reservations to go unchallenged.”


Author(s):  
Oleg V. Voronin ◽  

The subject matter of the penitentiary oversight of the Prosecutor's Office in terms of the range of acts includes: Universally recognised (i.e. recognised by the vast majority of states) norms (principles) of international law in terms of establishing basic natural (inalienable) human rights, including in relation to persons held in places of detention and (or) serving measures of detention, which are part of the Russian Federation legal system and are directly incorporated into Russian national law: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16 December 1966. Constitution of the Russian Federation. Duly ratified international treaties and agreements, which may be divided into two groups A) duly ratified multilateral international treaties and agreements (conventions). B) bilateral treaties and agreements on international legal assistance (cooperation) in terms of defining the procedure and conditions of extradition (transfer) of convicts for serving the sentence and other measures of compulsory isolation, as well as application of measures of preliminary isolation from society to those suspected or accused of committing a crime. Some 60 such treaties have now been ratified. At the national legislative level, the Office of the Procurator-General also supervises implementation of and compliance with federal laws, in addition to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The laws may be conventionally divided into two groups. The first includes laws directly regulating the execution (serving) of penitentiary isolation measures. The second group covers laws that regulate activities directly related to compulsory isolation, as well as the activities of state bodies and institutions for which the execution of sentences serves as an additional function to the main activity. The next set of laws and regulations that form the subject matter of the penitentiary over-sight of the Public Prosecutor's Office are the subordinate laws and regulations. The subject is covered by by-laws of both general and departmental nature. The main peculiarity of deter-mining the scope of supervision in relation to departmental acts is that, on the one hand, the prosecutor supervises the implementation and compliance with the requirements contained in these acts, on the other hand, they themselves serve as a subject of supervision in terms of their compliance with the legislation in force. In this regard, the adoption of key ones usually requires the approval of the Prosecutor's Office, represented by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation or relevant subordinate prosecutors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-106
Author(s):  
ASTEMIR ZHURTOV ◽  

Cruel and inhumane acts that harm human life and health, as well as humiliate the dignity, are prohibited in most countries of the world, and Russia is no exception in this issue. The article presents an analysis of the institution of responsibility for torture in the Russian Federation. The author comes to the conclusion that the current criminal law of Russia superficially and fragmentally regulates liability for torture, in connection with which the author formulated the proposals to define such act as an independent crime. In the frame of modern globalization, the world community pays special attention to the protection of human rights, in connection with which large-scale international standards have been created a long time ago. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international acts enshrine prohibitions of cruel and inhumane acts that harm human life and health, as well as degrade the dignity.Considering the historical experience of the past, these standards focus on the prohibition of any kind of torture, regardless of the purpose of their implementation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-80
Author(s):  
Wolfgang S. Heinz

Abstract: This article approaches the matter of institutional reform of the United Nations Human Rights Council from an international relations perspective. A well-known tension exists between State representatives acting for their governments in international organisations, but whose decisions are presented as UN policies. The latter should be guided primarily by the UN Charter and public international law. However, in reality, different worldviews and foreign policy considerations play a more significant role. In a comprehensive stock-take, the article looks at four major dimensions of the Council, starting with structure and dynamics and major trends, followed by its country and thematic activities, and the role of key actors. Council reform proposals from both States and civil society are explored. Whilst the intergovernmental body remains the most important authority responsible for the protection of human rights in the international sphere, it has also been the subject of considerable criticism. Although it has made considerable progress towards enlarging its coverage and taking on more challenging human rights crises, among some of its major weaknesses are the election of human rights-unfriendly countries into its ranks, the failure to apply stronger sanctions on large, politically influential countries in the South and North, and lack of influence on human rights crises and chronic human rights problems in certain countries. Whilst various reform proposals have emerged from States and NGOs, other more far reaching propositions are under sometimes difficult negotiations. In the mid- to long-term, the UN human rights machinery can only have a stronger and more lasting impact if support from national/local actors and coalitions in politics and society can be strengthened.


Author(s):  
Sandra Fredman

This chapter critically examines the ways in which civil and political rights have been distinguished from socio-economic rights, including differing ideologies, subject matter; obligations, resource implications, and justiciability. Instead of such bright-line distinctions, it suggests that all rights should be seen as giving rise to a cluster of duties: to respect, protect, and fulfil. The duty to fulfil is most challenging, especially when framed as a duty of progressive realization subject to maximum available resources. Section II assesses these concepts, particularly the attempt to establish a minimum core. It concludes that a thoroughgoing acceptance of socio-economic rights requires more than the label of ‘human right’. It also entails a re-characterization of human rights values, emphasizing inter-connectedness, mutual dependence, and a substantive conception of equality. Freedom and dignity need to be refashioned to ensure that individuals have genuine choices from a range of valuable options, within a framework of participative democracy.


Author(s):  
Andrew Burrows

The enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) has raised a number of novel issues for English law. But the impact of the Act on the subject matter of this book has been limited. That impact is best understood by clarifying that there are two main respects in which the Act is relevant to civil wrongs.


Author(s):  
Nigel Rodley

This chapter considers the background to, and current developments concerning the manner in which international law has engaged with the protection of human rights, including both civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights. It looks at historical, philosophical, and political factors which have shaped our understanding of human rights and the current systems of international protection. It focuses on the systems of protection developed by and through the United Nations through the ‘International Bill of Rights’, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN human rights treaties and treaty bodies, and the UN Special Procedures as well as the work of the Human Rights Council. It also looks at the systems of regional human rights protection which have been established.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-146
Author(s):  
Paul Taylor

The recent Review of Freedom of Speech in Australian Higher Education Providers (‘the Review’), overseen by the Hon Robert French AC, identified areas for improving freedom of speech and academic freedom, and to that end proposed the adoption of umbrella principles embedded in a Model Code. The Review’s engagement with international human rights law standards was confined, even though many are binding on Australia. As universities consider implementing the Review’s recommendations, this article reflects on the Model Code in the light particularly of  the standards established by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (‘ICCPR’). If the drafters of the Model Code had paid closer regard to the ICCPR and other international standards, the result may have been a scheme that more clearly and predictably distinguishes permissible from impermissible restriction on free speech and academic freedom, and gives greater priority to promoting the human rights of those in the academic community than to the institutional power to limit them.


2007 ◽  
Vol 76 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 217-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarina Månsson

AbstractWhile it has been claimed that no subject matter has been referred to as frequently in the United Nations (UN) Charter as human rights, a close analysis of its traveaux préparatoires reveals that it contains but a fragment of what was actually proposed during the drafting of the Charter in 1945. This article presents and analyses these 'lost proposals', particularly those seeking strong references to human rights, international law and justice in the Charter's preamble and chapters on the purposes and principles of the UN. Presented by smaller states, they include suggestions that respect for and protection of human rights constitutes a principle of the UN and that the maintenance of peace and security is conditioned on adherence to international law. It concludes that UN peacemakers of today struggle with the same conundrum as the drafters of the UN Charter 60 ago: "What comes first, justice or peace?"


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