scholarly journals Misogyny: Are Personal Laws Androcentric?

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
Pearl Monteiro

The age-old prejudice of misogyny is still retained in insidious form even in legislations. There are numerous international conventions, as well as Constitutional provisions which claim to set man and woman on an equal plane. In India, one legislative sphere which prima facie appears to perpetuate the gender divide are the personal laws. In India, except for the State of Goa, personal matters are determined on the basis of religion. Different religions follow different laws, but what is common to them all, is the secondary position accorded to women. This paper discusses the international provisions dealing with equal human rights such as, Charter of the United Nations, 1945, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1948, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 and The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The paper elaborates on the Constitutional provisions providing for equality as well investigates whether the personal law provisions applicable to the Hindu, Muslim, and Christian women dealing with marriage, divorce, guardianship, and inheritance are discriminatory and misogynistic in nature. The paper studies the laws from date of enactment till the present day. The method of study is doctrinal. As a road map or suggestion, the analogous provisions of the Uniform Civil Code in Goa are highlighted. Judicial precedents are cited, suggestions are put forward.

Author(s):  
Rhona K. M. Smith

This chapter analyses the history and principles of the International Bill of Human Rights, which is the ethical and legal basis for all the human rights work of the United Nations. The Bill consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, two Optional Protocols annexed thereto, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and Protocol. The chapter also assesses whether the Bill of Human Rights has lived up to the expectations of the original proponents.


Author(s):  
Pace John P

This chapter describes the formation of the Commission on Human Rights following the coming into force of Charter of the United Nations. It then discusses the developments immediately following the launch of the Commission on Human Rights, notably the unsuccessful attempt to maintain an integral, holistic concept of human rights. It describes the role of the Commission in drafting the International Bill of Human Rights during the first seven years of its existence. It dwells on the challenge of maintaining a unitary Convention and the eventual separation of civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights into two Covenants, and the related challenge of implementation. It describes the initial setting up of Sub-Commissions, followed by the emergence of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, and its fluctuating relations with the Commission in the years that followed.


1982 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 754-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodor Meron

One of the characteristic phenomena of contemporary international life is the proliferation of human rights instruments and systems of supervision. In addition to the Charter of the United Nations and comprehensive global conventions such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Economic Covenant) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Political Covenant), instruments have been adopted within the United Nations or the specialized agencies to govern particular aspects of human rights (e.g., racial discrimination, rights of women) and within regional organizations (e.g., the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States) to govern both general and particular aspects of human rights. In the United Nations, the general practice has been for each normative instrument to create its own system of supervision whenever such systems have been established. Typically, each organ of supervision applies only the norms adopted in the specific “founding” instrument, rather than the entire corpus juris of international human rights or even all of the instruments comprising the International Bill of Human Rights, i.e., the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration), the Economic Covenant, the Political Covenant, and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This proliferation of normative instruments and systems of supervision, which is similar to the proliferation that has given rise to difficult questions of coordination within and between international organizations in the fields of budget, programming, and administration, has led to overlapping jurisdiction and even to conflicts between the legislative and supervisory competence, or claims of competence, of various international bodies. The object of this article is not to compile or map out all the possible conflict areas or to undertake a detailed analysis of the conflicts, whether real or imaginary. Its more modest purpose is to present a broad panorama of the problems, directions, and policy. These matters merit attention, even though political and institutional reasons may make major reforms impossible for the time being. The questions to be discussed are relevant to three major fields of international law: treaties, human rights, and international organizations. While substantive problems of “legislation” or norm making are closely related to problems of supervision or implementation, normative problems will be focused upon first, and problems of supervision second.


Author(s):  
Rhona K. M. Smith

This chapter analyses the history and principles of the International Bill of Human Rights, which is the ethical and legal basis for all the human rights work of the United Nations. The Bill consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, two Optional Protocols annexed thereto, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and Protocol. The chapter also assesses whether the Bill of Human Rights has lived up to the expectations of the original proponents.


1990 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-223
Author(s):  
Robert W. Schaaf

Included among the documentation prepared for the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana August 27-September 7, 1990, is an item that should be of interest to readers of this journal. This is a Compendium of United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Issued with the date May 11, 1990, the document carries the symbol A/CONF.144/INF.2 and covers 140 pages. Part I on “Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice” includes the text of 22 norms and standards and runs to 80 pages. Part II, entitled “Human Rights,” is not detailed here, but includes the texts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two International Covenants—on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights (instruments collectively known as the International Bill of Human Rights). Also included in Part II are the two optional protocols to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, the recently adopted Convention on the Rights of the Child (see below) and two other norms concerning the rights of prisoners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-132
Author(s):  
Shane Darcy

AbstractInternational law has not traditionally recognised individuals as victims of the crime of aggression. Recent developments may precipitate a departure from this approach. The activation of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the crime of aggression opens the way for the future application of the Court's regime of victim participation and reparation in the context of prosecutions for this crime. The determination by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in General Comment No. 36 that any deprivation of life resulting from an act of aggression violates Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights serves to recognise a previously overlooked class of victims. This article explores these recent developments, by discussing their background, meaning and implications for international law and the rights of victims.


2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-134
Author(s):  
Alexandre Peñalver i Cabré

Human Right to Environment is one the most relevant Third Generation Human Rights which includes new universal needs arisen from the last third of 20th century. These new human rights add as an additional layer to the First Generation Human Rights (civil and political rights from the end of 18th century) and to the Second Generation Human Rights (economic, social and cultural rights from 19th century).


Author(s):  
K. S. Loboda

The article is devoted to the United Nations Organization, which turns 75 this year. The article reveals the cooperation between Ukraine and the UN. Despite the ongoing aggression by the Russian Federation, Ukraine pays special attention to the UN's efforts to maintain international peace and security, considering participation in it as an important factor in its foreign policy. Ukraine is an active participant in the activities of the UN system in the field of human rights, a party to all major UN human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Optional Protocols and the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. Since March 2014, at the invitation of our state, the UN Monitoring Mission in the field of human rights has been operating in Ukraine, recording the human rights consequences of Russian aggression. Our country receives significant technical, advisory and financial assistance from UN specialized agencies, its funds and programs, in particular, in the areas of democratic governance, poverty alleviation, achieving the National Sustainable Development Goals, supporting public administration, combating HIV / AIDS and other serious diseases, environment. In connection with the above, it should be emphasized that Ukraine, as a founding member of the United Nations, does not stand aside, but actively cooperates with this respected international organization in all areas of its activities. Ukraine remains a supporter of strengthening and increasing the effectiveness of the UN and adapting to modern challenges in the world. Keywords: United Nations Organization, Ukraine, Security Council, human rights, peacekeeping.


1997 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 812-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Mason

Of all the rights of indigenous people, none is more central to the survival of their culture than the claim to their ancestral lands. The resolution of their claims to ancestral lands is one of the fundamental issues of our time—indeed of all time. Often called a human rights issue—a description apt to reinforce the strong moral foundations of the claims of the indigenous peoples—it is an issue which we cannot ignore. Throughout the world people of all races and all colours have a powerful emotional attachment to their ancestral lands. That attachment is the very core of a people's culture and is vital to the survival of the culture. As the UN Human Rights Committee has recognised, in the context of the exercise of cultural rights protected by Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “culture manifests itself in many forms, including a particular way of life associated with the use of land resources”.


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