The United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights

In this first systematic examination of the role of the top United Nations human rights official, editors Felice Gaer and Christen Broecker analyze the achievements, leadership styles of, and obstacles encountered by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and propose recommendations for the future. The editors are joined by 18 expert contributors including present and former UN policymakers, human rights practitioners, legal scholars, and current High Commissioner Navi Pillay. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Conscience for the World examines how the six individuals who have served in this post have worked to end atrocities, hold perpetrators of abuses to account, promote equality and justice, and provide protection and redress to victims.

In this book, John P. Pace provides the most complete account to-date of the United Nations human rights programme, both in substance and in chronological breadth. Pace worked at the heart of this programme for over thirty years, including as the Secretary of the Commission on Human Rights, and Coordinator of the World Conference on Human Rights, which took place in Vienna in 1993. He traces the issues taken up by the Commission after its launch in 1946, and the methods undertaken to enhance absorption and domestication of international human rights standards. He lays out the special procedures carried out by the UN, and the emergence of international human rights law. The book then turns to the establishment of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the mainstreaming of human rights across the United Nations system, eventually leading to the establishment of the Human Rights Council to replace the Commission in 2006. Many of the problems we face today, including conflict, poverty, and environmental issues, have their roots in human rights problems. This book identifies what has been done at the international level in the past, and points towards what still needs to be done for the future.

Ever since its creation, the United Nations has sought to protect as well as to promote human rights. Those who campaigned for decades for the establishment of the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights did so in the hope that the High Commissioner would spearhead the efforts of the United Nations and the international community to protect those at risk or whose rights are being violated. How has the High Commissioner contributed to international protection since the establishment of the office in 1993? This book, the first-ever written on the office since its establishment, presents the protection role of the High Commissioner. It argues that limited protection functions are carried out by the Security Council, the Secretary-General, the Commission on Human Rights and its special procedures, and the High Commissioner. However, international protection is still in its infancy and much more remains to be done to bring about a protection system that effectively anticipates and prevents gross violations, contributes to mitigation and cure, and facilitates remedies and compensation. This is a valuable pioneering work in the area of the international protection of human rights.

prospects of the High Commissioner proposal with careful scholarship and shrewd judgment. Mr. Clark wrote the first draft of this book under my supervision for the degree of Doctor of the Science of Law at Columbia Law School before returning to take up his career as a law teacher in his native New Zealand. I am delighted that his work, in this improved and updated version, is now being published. It fills a real need, since it is the first book on this important subject. On this occasion it might be appropriate to add a few comments on the history of the High Commissioner proposal. As Mr. Clark indicates, I had something to do with its "revival" in the United States Government during the closing months of the Kennedy Administration. A few details as to how this "revival" took place may perhaps be useful to students of international relations and international organization.

Since its establishment the work of the Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has been subject to many interpretations, theories, comments or conclusions. This comprehensive book dissects every aspect of the UNHRC’s work and analyses the efficiency of, and interactions between, its mechanisms. Authored by the first Secretary of the UNHRC, this book provides unique practitioner insights into the complex decision making processes of the Council alongside the core variations from its predecessor.

Julie Mertus’ highly acclaimed text continues to be the only completely up-to-date comprehensive yet succinct guide to the United Nations human rights system. Today, virtually all UN bodies and specialized agencies are undertaking efforts to incorporate the promotion or protection of human rights into their programs and activities. The United Nations and Human Rights examines these recent initiatives within the broader context of human rights practice, including the promotion of individual rights, management of international conflict and the advancement of agendas of social movements. The fully revised and updated second edition not only provides a complete guide to the development, structure and procedures within the UN human rights system, but also reflects the vital changes that have occurred within the UN system, devoting considerable attention to expanding the range of issues discussed, including: new developments in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights the current controversy surrounding the new Human Rights Council expanded treatment of economic and social rights. A superb addition to any human rights syllabus, this book maintains its position as essential reading for students and practitioners of human rights, international relations and international law.

Few names are so closely connected with the cause of human rights as that of Mary Robinson. As former President of Ireland, she was ideally positioned for passionately and eloquently arguing the case for human rights around the world. Over five tumultuous years that included the tragic events of 9/11, she offered moral leadership and vision to the global human rights movement. This volume is a unique account in Robinson's own words of her campaigns as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. A Voice for Human Rights offers an edited collection of Robinson's public addresses, given between 1997 and 2002, when she served as High Commissioner. The book also provides the first in-depth account of the work of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights. With a foreword by Kofi Annan and an afterword by Louise Arbour, the current High Commissioner for Human Rights, the book will be of interest to all concerned with international human rights, international relations, development, and politics.