Human Rights Protection

All institutions have human rights responsibilities. Some have been set up with this function and others have had human rights principles thrust upon them. This book explores how different institutions, from state entities, national human rights commissions and the judiciary, to the United Nations agencies and international courts, have engaged in human rights protection. There is analysis of their evolution in this role and the methods that they use. Northern Ireland and Bosnia & Herzegovina are illustrative of what can happen to human rights when societies are in conflict. Other chapters consider the development of international criminal law, the trouble with treaties, and the increasing pressure on corporations to demonstrate social responsibility. There is plenty of evidence that human rights protection is as important as ever and this book looks at what is required to achieve this effectively. The British Institute of Human Rights aims to further the protection of human rights through education and research. It is a charity based at King's College London.

At a time when human rights are coming under increasing pressure, in-depth knowledge and understanding of their foundations, conceptual underpinnings and current practice remain crucial. The second edition of Walter Kalin and Jorg Kunzli's authoritative book provides a concise but comprehensive legal analysis of international human rights protection at the global and regional levels. It shows that human rights are real rights creating legal entitlements for those who are protected by them and imposing legal obligations on those bound by them. Based, in particular, on a wide-ranging analysis of international case-law, the book focuses on the sources and scope of application of human rights and a discussion of their substantive guarantees. Further chapters describe the different mechanisms to monitor the implementation of human rights obligations, ranging from the regional human rights courts in Africa, the Americas and Europe and the UN treaty bodies to the international criminal tribunals, the International Court of Justice and the UN Security Council. The book is based on an understanding of human rights as legal concepts that address basic human needs and vulnerabilities, and highlights the indivisibility of civil and political rights on the one and economic, social and cultural rights on the other hand. It also highlights the convergence of international human rights and international humanitarian law and the interlinkages with international criminal law as well as general international law, in particular the law of state responsibility.

International Human Rights Protection is addressed to judges and lawyers, diplomats and civil servants, researchers and students. It is based on the author's personal research and personal involvement with a wide range of subjects, such as: the basic concepts of civil and social rights; discrimination and affirmative action; issues of procedure and jurisdiction; the death penalty; and issues such as the protection of refugees, minorities and victims of armed conflicts. At the universal level, the book introduces the reader to the labyrinth of United Nations Charter-based and treaty-based procedures. As well as an overview of the Inter-American and African systems, it deals at the regional level-particularly with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and also looks at the national level at the case law of the US Supreme Court and the South African Constitutional Court. This book adopts a particularly critical approach to the so-called "dynamic" interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights by the Court of Strasbourg. It is the author's feeling that judges, in particular those belonging to courts specialising in human rights, have a tendency to systematically support interpretations benefitting the applicants, while overlooking too easily the far-reaching implications of judgments for society as a whole. The author, instead, puts forward a more balanced and more realistic approach which takes into account the difficulties democratic governments face in coping with the challenges of our present time and with the pressing needs of the realities of today's world. Subject: International Law, Human Rights Law]

The value and legitimacy of using courts to limit the powers of governments in the domain of human rights is a significant ongoing debate. This book provides a critical review that explores the alternative means for protecting and promoting human rights. This group of twenty-four leading human rights scholars from around the world present a variety of perspectives on the disappointing human rights outcomes of recent institutional developments and consider the prospects of reviving the moral force and political implications of human rights values.

Rethinking the Meaning of Human Rights

Every year tens of millions of individuals suffer grave abuses of their human rights. These violations occur worldwide, in war-torn countries and in the wealthiest states. Despite many of the abuses being well-documented, little seems to be done to stop them from happening. The United Nations was established to safeguard world peace and security, development, and human rights yet it is undeniable that currently is it failing to protect the rights of a great many people from the victims of ethnic cleansing, to migrants, those displaced by war and women who suffer horrendous abuse. This book looks at the reasons for that failure. Using concrete examples intertwined with explanations of the law and politics of the UN, Rosa Freedman offers clear explanations of how and why the Organisation is unable, at best, or unwilling, at worst, to protect human rights. Written for a non-specialist audience, her book also seeks to explain why certain countries and political blocs manipulate and undermine the UN s human rights machinery. Failing to Protect demonstrates the urgent need for radical reform of the machinery of human rights protection at the international level.

This open access book critically explores what child protection policy and professional practice would mean if practice was grounded in human rights standards. This book inspires a new direction in child protection research – one that critically assesses child protection policy and professional practice with regard to human rights in general, and the rights of the child in particular. Each chapter author seeks to approach the rights of the child from their own academic field of interest and through a comparative lens, making the research relevant across nation-state practices. The book is split into five parts to focus on the most important aspects of child protection. The first part explains the origins, aim, and scope of the book; the second part explores aspects of professionalism and organization through law and policy; and the third part discusses several key issues in child protection and professional practice in depth. The fourth part discusses selected areas of importance to child protection practices (low-impact in-house measures, public care in residential care and foster care respectively) and the fifth part provides an analytical summary of the book. Overall, it contributes to the present need for a more comprehensive academic debate regarding the rights of the child, and the supranational perspective this brings to child protection policy and practice across and within nation-states. .