Housing as a Human Right within an Era of International Exceptionalism

The right to adequate housing is an internationally recognized human right, yet it has been incontrovertibly desecrated by a lack of recognition, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups. Economic, social, and cultural rights have encountered many challenges in an ever-increasing era of international exceptionalism and challenges arise in the protection of these rights. The right to housing is achieved in two ways: as a normative right and as a derivative right encompassed within economic, social, and cultural rights. This article introduces: (1) the normative development of economic, social, and cultural rights as recognized human rights, and their regulatory implementation through international instruments; (2) the concept of individuals as right-holders and duty-bearers of economic, social, and cultural rights; (3) understanding how the restriction of the right to housing leads to the violation of other human rights, including (a) the right to life, (b) the right to freedom from discrimination, and (c) the right to humane treatment – and the types of vulnerable groups that face the most discrimination, such as indigenous persons and women; and (4) protection against forced evictions, through an examination of the jurisprudence of the Inter-American System, European Court of Human Rights, and African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Shaping new interregionalism: The EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and beyond

The article examines the theoretical concept of interregionalism in the context of the evolving framework between the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As the EU’s first free trade agreement (FTA) with an ASEAN country, the EU-Singapore FTA is a pathfinder agreement that signifies a new phase of interregionalism and the EU’s new Asia strategy after the Treaty of Lisbon. The article argues that the innovative designs of the EU-Singapore FTA will shape the normative development of EU-ASEAN relations in the post-pandemic era. It also cautions that a comparative analysis of EU and US agreements reveals deficiencies in the FTA that require remedies. To buttress the contention, key provisions on ASEAN cumulative rules of origin, banking and legal services and non-tariff barriers are analysed in light of contemporary Asian agreements. The research further provides insight into the effectiveness of new-generation rules on geographical indications, competition, and investor-state arbitration and mediation. Hence, the findings contribute to the understanding of interregionalism and the EU’s Asia-Pacific trade and investment agreements from global and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Part IV Normative Development, Ch.26 Private and Quasi-Private Standards

This chapter discusses the concept of private and quasi-private standards in the environmental domain. While many of these standards involve the labelling of compliant products, others do not. The chapter begins by defining the concept of private and quasi-private standards, examining their rise and the reasons for this. A standard is considered to be private when the document in question is adopted by one or more non-governmental entities, including for example firms, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and trade unions. Private standards may be firm- or sector-specific, or they may focus on a particular commodity such as sugar, palm oil, or soy. Meanwhile, the concept of a quasi-private standard is less clear and needs to be carefully defined. The chapter then looks at how these standards interact with international law in a variety of important ways. It also assesses the effectiveness and legitimacy of private and quasi-private standards.

Part IV Normative Development, Ch.27 Judicial Development

This chapter examines the role of international judicial bodies' primary role with respect to the environment, which is to resolve disputes by deciding contentious cases and to guide the application of international law by issuing advisory opinions. International court and tribunals (ICTs) can influence the development of international environmental law by providing an authoritative articulation of a legal rule or principle. The chapter then looks at the development of legal norms for governing Earth's environment through ICT judgments. It describes the range of courts available, the remedies that they can offer, the capacity of ICTs to handle environmental problems, and problems that challenge their effectiveness in the overarching objective of providing a high degree of environmental quality. It does this whilst recognizing that courts and law are but one part of the system of governance, technology, politics, and economics that shapes human interactions with the environment.

Part IV Normative Development, Ch.23 Customary International Law and the Environment

This chapter highlights how, despite the large number of environmental agreements at all levels, the role of customary international law remains key in practice. First, many treaties in force remain largely unimplemented. Secondly, treaties only bind those states parties to them, and that introduces sometimes important variations in the scope of environmental agreements. Thirdly, there is at present no treaty formulating binding overarching principles interweaving sectorial environmental agreements. As a result, it is often necessary to revert to customary norms when difficulties of interpretation or implementation arise. Fourthly, custom is important to mediate between a range of environmental and non-environmental interests governed by different treaties. Finally, custom plays an important role in disputes concerning a disputed area or where there is no applicable treaty. The chapter then analyses the process of custom formation with reference to environmental norms in order to show both the ‘banality’ and the peculiarities of this process. It also looks at the content of customary international environmental law as recognized in the case law.

Part IV Normative Development, Ch.25 Soft Law

This chapter reviews how soft law has become a significant part of the evolutionary system of environmental law-making for three main reasons. First, it may be easier to reach agreement when the form is non-binding. The soft law approach allows states to tackle a problem collectively at a time when they do not want to shackle their freedom of action too firmly. Secondly, soft law instruments will normally be easier to supplement, amend, or replace than treaties, since all that is required is the adoption of a new resolution by the relevant international institution. Thirdly, it may be easier for some states to adhere to non-binding instruments because they can avoid the domestic treaty ratification process, and perhaps escape democratic accountability for the policy to which they have agreed. Whether soft law instruments have the same effect as a treaty, or any legal effect at all, will depend on the particular instrument and its relationship to customary international law and to specific treaties.

Part VI Actors, Ch.36 International Institutions

This chapter maps the different roles of international institutions involved in the development of international environmental law by considering the initiating roles that some institutions play, the institutional structure of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), and the roles of scientific and financial institutions. It charts how MEAs link to each other substantively by focusing on the relationships between global and regional MEAs and the synergies and contestations between global MEAs. These mapping processes result in the identification of patterns that illustrate the different roles and types of links that exist between international institutions. International institutions, together with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), engage in two types of activities in developing international environmental law. First, they engage in normative development. That is the development of rules and standards that are to regulate human activity. Second, they engage in implementing these rules and standards.

Part IV Normative Development, Ch.24 Multilateral Environmental Treaty Making

This chapter reflects on multilateral environmental treaty making. From its inception, international environmental law has consisted primarily of treaties and other forms of negotiated instruments, which offer several advantages over more informal mechanisms of international cooperation. Traditionally, treaties were comparatively static arrangements, memorializing the rights and duties of the parties as agreed at a particular point in time. Today, environmental agreements are usually dynamic arrangements, establishing ongoing regulatory processes. The result is that, in most environmental regimes, the treaty text itself represents just the tip of the normative iceberg. Most norms are adopted through more flexible techniques, which allow international environmental law to respond quickly to the emergence of new problems and new knowledge. The chapter then introduces the basic types of international instruments, analysing why states negotiate and accept them. It describes the process by which agreements are created, from the inception of negotiations to the adoption and entry into force of the resulting instrument. The chapter also explores various design issues in developing international environmental agreements.

Effects of Adversity on Sexuality in Emerging Adulthood

Adverse experiences in childhood include negative events directed toward the child, including abuse, mistreatment, or neglect, as well as indirect events such as family conflict, parental distress, and community disadvantage. All these events can disrupt normative development and may lead to maladaptive sexual outcomes in emerging adulthood. This chapter explores the links between experiences of childhood adversity and maladaptive sexual outcomes in emerging adulthood, including engagement in high-risk sexual activities and negative sexual health outcomes. Underlying processes that have been theorized to account for these effects are discussed, especially the role of cumulative stress and emotion dysregulation. The implications of the research findings for promoting sexual health are considered, and future research directions are proposed.