The Political Conception of Human Rights and Its Rule(s) of Recognition

The political conception makes sense of human rights strictly in light of their role in international human rights practice, more specifically by describing how they justify interventions against states that engage in or fail to prevent human rights violations. This conception is, therefore, normative and fact-dependent. Beyond this, it does not seem to have much to say about the actual nature of international human rights practice. The argument sustained here reinterprets the political conception by resorting to a heuristic device that explains how normativity can be fact-dependent: the Hartian model. The characteristics of H.L.A. Hart’s rule of recognition are useful to determine the characteristics of human rights practice from the viewpoint of the political conception. Also, they help to overcome some of the problems typically faced by the political conception, such as whether there is only one practice or many, whether the notion of human rights becomes too contingent on the way the world is currently organised, how agents can violate content-changing practices, or how reliance on current states of affairs leaves room for criticism of those states of affairs.

The heritage of the League of Nations’ minority protection system

This paper discusses the system of minority protection of the League of Nations. Minority protection occupied a prominent place on the League’s agenda, which developed a significant expertise in the field. The League’s system of minority protection is often regarded as an experiment. With regard to both material and procedural aspects this assessment is certainly correct. In particular, minority protection based upon legally binding treaties and declarations gave rise to the question of how individual and group rights should be treated within the frame of an international political organization. The paper further examines whether at least some of the elements of the League’s minority protection system still persist in the context of contemporary international human rights law.

Die Rechte indigener Völker im Menschenrechtssystem

This textbook offers insights into the recently established special rights regime on indigenous peoples’ rights at international level. The reader is guided from the early beginnings of this issue in the 1970s to current jurisprudential developments. International and regional norms are introduced and contrasted with societal and political challenges. The book also opens broader debates on the politics of recognition and decolonisation, multilateral systems and global governance, the pluralisation of society and its institutions, collective rights and the meaning of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. This group-specific field of the international human rights protection system is viewed through the lenses of international law and socio-political approaches.

Article 9: The Right Not to Be Separated from Parents

The Travaux Préparatoires insist upon the close nexus between Articles 9, 10, and 11 along with the several other provisions of the UNCRC that protect the close bond between child and parent. This chapter analyses the content of Article 9 in relation to the general principles of Child rights, related provisions in other international human rights treaties and materials, and sets out four main attributes of the right, as a child, to not be separated from one’s parents against one’s will. These four attributes are: (1) no separation from parents unless necessary for the child’s best interests; (2) no separation from one’s parents without due process before competent authorities; (3) the right to maintain relations and personal contact with both parents, if separated; and (4) the right to be informed of the whereabouts of one’s parent or child, if detained.

Queering Reparations Under International Law: Damages, Suffering, and (Heteronormative) Kinship

It is a long-standing principle of international law that every breach of an international obligation that results in harm gives rise to a duty to make adequate reparation. Reparations can take different forms, from the ideal of full restitution to the provision of satisfaction, and the payment of compensation. Notwithstanding reparation's main aim––to ameliorate, if not eradicate, the detrimental consequences of an internationally wrongful act–– it also serves other purposes, such as reinforcing the authority of the norm breached, acknowledging the injury, and recognizing the bearer of harm (the victim). This essay adopts a queer approach to examine the role played by reparation–– in particular, compensation––in determining what (and whose) suffering matters to international law. With a focus on internationally wrongful acts that result in deprivation of life, this piece discusses who is seen as worthy of redress when a violation of the right to life has taken place, as this, in turn, speaks volumes about who is seen as legally entitled to suffer, to mourn and, ultimately, to love. This essay argues that reparation orders from international human rights courts offer a valuable opportunity for re-evaluating––and perhaps even overcoming––heteronormative understandings of kinship.

Article 16: The Right to Protection of Privacy

This chapter provides a brief overview of article 16 of the UN Convention on the rights of the child and of its legislative history as outlined in the Travaux Préparatoires. It outlines the principle threats to children’s privacy today and summarizes the substantive content of Article 16, particularly in relation to the General Principles of child rights in Articles 2, 3, 6, and 12, as well as the nexus between the right to privacy and several other rights of children under the Convention as well as other international human rights instruments. It then puts forward four main attributes of the child’s right to privacy as aspects of the right which State Parties should monitor as a means of measuring the effective implementation of Article 16. The essential attributes of Article 16 and the child’s right to privacy are State protection against: (1) interference with privacy; (2) interference with family, home or correspondence; (3) unlawful attacks upon honour and reputation; and (4) protection of the law against unlawful interference or attacks.

Article 10: The Right to Family Reunification

Article 10 provides international human rights codification of basic principles that apply in related Hague Convention treaties regarding international travel by children or parents for the purpose of family reunification and visits to maintain relations and personal contact. This chapter looks at the drafting history of Article 10 and related international legal materials, as well as the general principles and related provisions of the UNCRC to outline the substantive content of Article 10. It sets out three main attributes of Article 10, from which indicators of child rights implementation can be derived. These are: (1) the need to treat requests to enter or leave a country for family reunification in a positive, humane, and expeditious manner; (2) ensuring that requests to leave or enter a country entail no adverse consequences for parents, children, or their families; and (3) maintaining relations and personal contacts with both parents if residing in separate states.

CCTV Cameras Surveillance, Data Protection & Privacy Under International Human Rights Laws

The study aims to find out and suggest that how equilibrium among surveillance through CCTVs, right of privacy and personal data protection regime can be maintained. With the objective in mind, it discusses the CCTVs’ surveillance, its purposes, and scope of privacy in public or private domains under International Human Rights Law. It also focuses on General Data Protection Regulations, 2018 and its amplifications on CCTV surveillance.