The Future Of Un Human Rights Treaty Monitoring

Every state in the world has undertaken human rights obligations on the basis of UN treaties. Today's challenge is to enhance the effectiveness of procedures and institutions established to promote the accountability of governments. The six treaty bodies that monitor and evaluate state policies and practices play a vital role, but the whole system has been stretched almost to breaking point. It is under-funded, many governments fail to report or do so very late or superficially, there is a growing backlog of individual complaints, broad reservations have been lodged by many states, and the expertise of committee members has been questioned. This volume contains detailed analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of the system, written by leading participants in the work of the treaty bodies. Their recommendations provide a blueprint for far-reaching reform of a system of major importance for the future of international efforts to protect human rights.

Every United Nations member state is part of the human rights treaty system through the ratification of at least one of the six major human rights treaties, rendering universal participation a reality. For human rights victims, the treaty system is of central importance because international legal standards may offer benefits which political fora may not: the potential to generate remedies, attention, accessiblity. At the same time, the implementation mechanisms associated with the human rights treaties were designed at a time when the argument that international interest in human rights was an interference in domestic jurisdiction was at its peak. The challenge for the 21st Century is to move the theory of universality of international human rights standards towards effective implementation of human rights obligations. This book is a major contribution to the effort to focus attention on effective implementation of the human rights treaties. The contributors examine the major implementation shortfalls of the UN human rights treaty system, and offer concrete recommendations as to where future implementations efforts should be placed. The contributors are in a unique position to formulate and share their insights. They are drawn from among all of the constituencies involved in the human rights treaty system: the treaty bodies themselves, the NGO community, the UN secretariat, regional human rights regimes, UN agencies, UN human rights actors from the Human Rights Commission, the judiciary and academia. The book also includes, as a unique resource, all of the major documents concerning the UN human rights treaty system: the text of the treaties, the text of all amendments, statistics on individual communications to the treaty bodies, the text of all meetings of the chairpersons of the treaty bodies, reports and commentaries submitted to the UN Human Rights Commission, recent resolutions of the Human Rights Commission and the General Assembly on the human rights treaties, reform proposals by the International Law Association, regional human rights instruments. In the words of Philip Alston, the author of the UN report on enhancing the long-term effectiveness of the UN human rights treaty system, Professor Bayefsky's work `...has been more systematic and comprehensive, and has continued over a longer period of time, than any other comparable sholarly work on the subject.' (March 2000) In this volume Professor Bayefsky has collected the views of a range of authors immersed in the contribution and welfare of the UN human rights treaty system in the 21st century. It is necessary text for all those interested in the future of the international protection of human rights.

Human rights treaties are at the core of the international system for the promotion and protection of human rights. Every UN member state has ratified at least one of these treaties, making them applicable to virtually every child, woman or man in the world - over six billion people. At the same time, human rights violations are rampant. The problem is that the implementation scheme accompanying the core human rights standards was drafted during a period of history when effective international monitoring was neither intended nor achievable. Today there is a gap between universal right and remedy that is inescapable and inexcusable, threatening the integrity of the international human rights legal regime. There are overwhelming numbers of overdue reports, untenable backlogs, minimal individual complaints from vast numbers of potential victims, and widespread refusal of states to provide remedies when violations of individual rights are found. This landmark Report prepared by Professor Bayefsky envisions a wide-ranging number of reforms, most of which can be accomplished without formal amendment. The recommendations generally assume a six treaty body regime, and focus primarily on offering concrete suggestions for improvements in working methods of the treaty bodies and procedures at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Professor Bayefsky details numerous proposals for bolstering national level partnerships, and for following-up the output of the treaty monitoring system as a key missing component of the implementation regime. One major reform requiring amendment is ultimately recommended, namely, consolidation of the human rights treaty bodies and the creation of two permanent committees, one for the consideration of state reports and one for complaints. All individuals, agencies, and organizations involved in the promotion, implementation, review, analysis, and study of human rights protection for all peoples will find this Report an indispensable resource for their work. It contains a unique overview of all the working methods of the six human rights treaty bodies, a detailed and thorough statistical analysis of the operation of the human rights treaty system, and a number of additional annexes which together provide a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the treaty system. The international human rights legal system is at a crossroads, with the ideal of universality threatened by the fundamental shortfalls in effective implementation. This Report offers a clear and substantive path to moving universality beyond rhetoric and towards a treaty regime meaningful and effective in the lives of everyday people.

An analysis of the UN human rights treaty bodies, their methods of interpretation, their effectiveness and issues of legitimacy.

Master's Thesis from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, grade: A, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), course: Jura - Internationale Menschenrechte und Humanitäres Recht, language: English, abstract: National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are cornerstones of strong domestic human rights protection systems. They play a crucial role in the promotion and protection of human rights at the national level. Within their broad mandate, they advise governments on various human rights issues, monitor the implementation of international human rights instruments, promote the harmonisation of national law and practice with the international human rights standards, disseminate human rights information, cooperate with regional and international human rights bodies, and remedy human rights violations. However, National Human Rights Institutions are primarily domestic instruments, they increasingly engage with the international human rights mechanisms. In the last 20 years, they became the practical link between international human rights standards and their concrete application at the national level. The institutions’ interaction with the UN Charter-based and Treaty-based Bodies is a relatively new phenomenon and as such, has its obstacles. In order to clarify the nature and ways of co-operation between NHRIs and the UN human rights monitoring mechanisms, this Handbook sets out the characteristics and role of National Human Rights Institutions in the UN human rights framework. Meanwhile, it is aiming to answer two main questions: what added value does the participation of NHRIs at the international level bring and how should the cooperation between NHRIs and the UN be strengthened in the future.

The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Law and Procedure examines the core UN human rights treaties that form the framework of international human rights law. This book describes the development of each treaty, along with the substantive rights enshrined in them, and analyses the nature and functions of their respective monitoring bodies. Topics discussed include periodic reporting procedures, investigative procedures and individual complaint procedures, with supporting case law analysed in great detail. This practical and indispensable reference resource: - Guides you through the structure of each of the core UN human rights treaties, explaining both the substance of the rights and the various procedures which may be drawn upon to implement those rights - Explains in detail how each of these procedures may be accessed, as well as critiquing their operation in practice - Covers a wide number of areas including civil and political rights generally, racial and gender-based discrimination and the prohibition against torture - Discusses proposals for reform of the UN human rights treaty monitoring system and the implications of these reforms The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Law and Procedure has been written for practitioners and students of human rights law in the UK, Ireland and abroad. Government bodies, non-governmental organisations, national human rights institutions and charities will also find this a great resource.

This revised and updated collection is intended to serve as a thematic textbook on the institutions and procedures devoted to the national implementation of human rights and to the international monitoring of State performance. Albeit not exhaustive, the coverage extends to most of the monitoring instances available at intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations: complaints, fact-finding and investigative procedures, State reporting obligations, good offices actions, dialogue functions, human rights education, dissemination of human rights information, letter campaigns, and technical co-operation. The target audience of the book is students of international human rights law, but the book can also serve as a guide for both officials and activists involved in the realization of human rights.The success of the first edition has allowed for this second edition. It demonstrates that there is a important demand for literature with a focus on human rights monitoring and follow-up activities.

With the growth of the UN's Treaty Body System, the harmonization and the coordination of working methods between the treaty bodies has become a pressing issue. Commentators spoke of a crisis of the system: a victim of its own success. In 2002, the UN Secretary-General considered that the development of the system had increased pressure on resources of both States and the secretariat, and had implication on the ability of the States to continue to meet their reporting obligations, while the secretariat struggled to continue to provide quality service to all treaty bodies. The UN invited States to reflect on a number of reform initiatives that could help to modernize the system. The possibility of replacing the reporting obligations owed to each of the treaty bodies, with a single report, was suggested. The UN also wished that strengthening and harmonization efforts could eventually lead to a single human rights Treaty Body, which could enhance human rights protection at national level. These suggestions were largely unacceptable to States parties, but the concept itself - of having States submitting single reports to a single human rights mechanism - was tried in the new Charter-based Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the new Human Rights Council, set up in 2007. While the new procedure had little impact on the challenges to the separate Treaty Body System which continued to grow, it certainly reinvigorated calls for a better coordination between the different elements of the UN Human Rights Machinery. In 2009, Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, gave new impetus to the discussions by addressing a renewed call on relevant stakeholders to initiate a process of reflection on ways of strengthening the Treaty Body System and, by extension, the UN Human Rights Protection System as a whole. This impressive collection of essays is a response to the High Commissioner's call, which joins initiatives by other stakeholders. The book has two parts, with one section reflecting on the Treaty Body System, and the second section on the Human Rights Council Procedures. M. Cherif Bassiouni, in April 2012, received the Wolfgang Friedmann Memorial Award which is given by the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law to a distinguished scholar or practitioner who has made outstanding contributions to the field of international law.