International Law And Fact Finding In The Field Of Human Rights

This work offers a multidisciplinary approach to the study of fact-finding, including rigorous and critical analysis of the field of practice, as well as providing a range of accounts of what actually happens. It deepens the study and practice of human rights investigations, and fosters fact-finding as a discretely studied topic, while mapping crucial transformations in the field.

This book offers a portrait of the practice of monitoring, reporting, and fact-finding in the domain of human rights, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law. By analyzing the experiences of fifteen missions implemented over the course of the past decade, the book illuminates the key issues that these missions face and offers a roadmap for practitioners working on future missions. This book is the result of a five-year research study led by the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University, Massachusetts. Based on extensive interviews conducted with fact-finding practitioners, this book consists of two parts. Part I offers a handbook that details methodological considerations for the design and implementation of fact-finding missions and commissions of inquiry. Part II - which consists of chapters written by scholars and practitioners - presents a more in-depth, scholarly examination of past fact-finding practices.

A comprehensive study of the topical issue of fact-finding which makes realistic proposals to address the ICJ's problematic practice in this area.

This book provides a comparative assessment of the procedural law governing facts and evidence with references to over 900 judgments and decisions of the European and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as well as the UN Human Rights Committee. It identifies underlying principles which govern the procedural law of these international human rights institutions. Based on the premise of a contextualized procedural law governing facts and evidence, the book analyzes where current approaches lack a foundation in the contextualization premise and offers solutions for recurring procedural problems relating to questions of subsidiarity in fact-finding, burden and standard of proof, as well as the admissibility and evaluation of evidence.

This work outlines available resources and proposed standards for international NGO fact-finding missions: Chapter One presents an introduction to the issue of NGO fact-finding. Chapter Two discusses the problems caused by the lack of any generally-accepted guidelines for NGO fact-finding, in contrast with contexts where NGOs have achieved consensus. Chapter Three surveys proposed guidelines for human rights and humanitarian NGOs. In addition, this section examines United Nations fact-finding standards, as well as examples of internal fact-finding standards for major NGOs. Chapter Four analyzes the fact-finding standards used in five specific cases: the International Crisis Group (Kosovo, 1999), the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (Georgia, 2008), United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Mapping Exercise on the Democratic Republic of Congo (1993-2003), Conflict Analysis Resource Center/University London study on Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (Colombia, 1988-2004), and Human Rights Watch (Lebanon, 2006). The final chapter offers conclusions and recommendations.