Accountability for Human Rights Violations by International Organisations


Book Description

With the proliferation of international organizations and their ever increasing role in a wide range of policy fields, situations multiply in which human rights are threatened or violated through the actions, operations, or policies of such organizations. This book is the first to explore these problems in a comprehensive manner and to examine the accountability mechanisms that are available. In the first section, the contributions study general concepts, such as the accountability of international organizations as an evolving legal concept, international organizations as independent actors, the logic of sliding scales in the law of international responsibility, and the relations between the international organizations and their Member States in regard to their respective obligations and responsibilities. Subsequent parts of the book focus on the accountability for human rights violations attributable to international organizations in four areas: peace and humanitarian operations, international civil administration, economic governance, and the staff of international organizations.




Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law Volume 19, 2016


Book Description

The general theme of this volume of the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Lawis armed groups and the challenges arising from the participation of such groups incontemporary armed conflicts. It is elaborated upon in several chapters, addressingthe organisation criterion, respect for and compliance with international humanitarianlaw and international human rights law, targeted sanctions and accountability issues,among other things. Besides these chapters that can be connected to the general theme,the book also contains a chapter dedicated to the ‘knock on the roof ’ practice, a Year inReview, describing the most important events and legal developments that took place in2016, as well as the final report from the ILA Study Group ‘The Conduct of HostilitiesUnder International Humanitarian Law - Challenges of 21st Century Warfare’. The Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law is the world’s only annual publicationdevoted to the study of the laws governing armed conflict. It provides a truly internationalforum for high-quality, peer-reviewed academic articles focusing on this crucialbranch of international law. Distinguished by contemporary relevance, the Yearbookof International Humanitarian Law bridges the gap between theory and practice andserves as a useful reference tool for scholars, practitioners, military personnel, civilservants, diplomats, human rights workers and students.




Human Rights of Women


Book Description

Rebecca J. Cook and the contributors to this volume seek to analyze how international human rights law applies specifically to women in various cultures worldwide, and to develop strategies to promote equitable application of human rights law at the international, regional, and domestic levels. Their essays present a compelling mixture of reports and case studies from various regions in the world, combined with scholarly assessments of international law as these rights specifically apply to women.




The Accountability of Armed Groups Under Human Rights Law


Book Description

Today the majority of the armed conflicts around the world are fought between States and armed groups, rather than between States. This changed conflict landscape creates an imperative to clarify the obligations of armed groups under international law. While it is generally accepted that armed groups are bound by international humanitarian law, the question of whether they are also bound by human rights law is controversial. This book brings significant new understanding to the question of whether and when armed groups might be bound by human rights law. Its conclusions will benefit international law academics, legal practitioners and political scientists and anthropologists working on issues related to rebel governance and civil wars. This book addresses the debate on this topic by employing a theoretical, historical, and comparative analysis that spans international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and international human rights law. Embedding these different perspectives in public international law, this book brings several key points of clarification to the legal framework. Firstly, the book draws upon social science literature on armed conflict to present a new viewpoint on the role that human rights law plays vis-a-vis international humanitarian law in non-international armed conflicts. Secondly, the book sheds light on the circumstances in which armed groups acquire obligations under human rights law. It brings illumination to these topics by combining historical and comparative research on belligerency, insurgency, and international humanitarian law with a theoretical analysis of legal personality under international law. In the final part of the book, the author tests the four most utilised theories of how armed groups are bound by human rights law, examining whether armed groups can be bound by virtue of (i) treaty law (ii) control of territory (iii) international criminal law and (iv) customary international law. In the book's conclusions, the author presents final remarks that are designed to provide concrete guidance on how the issue of armed groups and human rights law can be dealt with more thoroughly in practice.




Responding to Human Rights Violations, 1946-1999


Book Description

This volume maps out the response of states to human rights violations. It covers the period 1946-1999 and offers a complete and unmatched record for this period. Its starting point is that such responses are not established and accepted state practice. Traditional, if unwritten, norms of states' behaviour developed through centuries of silence and inaction; the prevalent reaction to human rights violations by another state remains the absence of any response. Furthermore, this book probes into evidence of active and passive complicity by reviewing aid to countries in which violations have been taking place and diplomatic initiatives undertaken to shield violators from public opprobrium. Since international law is generated through state practice, the book highlights the ongoing tussle between the pre-1946 heritage of silence and inaction and the 1946-1999 haphazard pattern of responses to violations.




International Human Rights Law


Book Description

This timely and valuable book explores the development of international human rights law over the last six decades. The volume brings together leading experts to reflect on different aspects of human rights law, not only considering and evaluating the developments so far, but also identifying relevant problems and proposing relevant possible perspectives for the continued positive future development of human rights law. The book is international in perspective, both in scope and context, and covers developments in the international protection of human rights since the adoption of the UDHR in 1948. The developments considered include the United Nations system of protecting human rights as well as regional human rights systems in Africa, America and Europe. It also considers some key themes relevant to human rights including globalisation, protecting human rights in emergency situations and trade sanctions, the development of human rights NGOs, and many others. The book will be an invaluable resource for students, academics and policy-makers working in the field of international human rights.




The International Law of Migrant Smuggling


Book Description

Whether forced into relocation by fear of persecution, civil war, or humanitarian crisis, or pulled toward the prospect of better economic opportunities, more people are on the move than ever before. Opportunities for lawful entry into preferred destinations are decreasing rapidly, creating demand that is increasingly being met by migrant smugglers. This companion volume to the award-winning The International Law of Human Trafficking presents the first-ever comprehensive, in-depth analysis into the subject. The authors call on their experience of working with the UN to chart the development of new international laws and to link these specialist rules to other relevant areas of international law, including law of the sea, human rights law, and international refugee law. Through this analysis, the authors explain the major legal obligations of States with respect to migrant smuggling, including those related to criminalization, interdiction and rescue at sea, protection, prevention, detention, and return.




The Execution of Strasbourg and Geneva Human Rights Decisions in the National Legal Order


Book Description

In practice and legal doctrine, little attention has so far been paid to the position of the applicant who has taken the long road to the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg) or a UN Human Rights Committee (Geneva) and finally won his/her case there. Does he or she see any improvement in his/her position? Does the applicant obtain real reparation? The purpose of this book is to demonstrate how individual case decisions from Strasbourg and Geneva are implemented in the national legal order. Is there a need for improving this implementation, and if so, how can such an improvement be achieved? In this volume several legal practitioners and scholars deal with the issue of the execution of human rights decisions in the national legal order from different perspectives. Emphasis is laid on the execution of Strasbourg decisions in the Dutch legal order, but solutions in other Council of Europe member states are also discussed. The book is intended for lawyers having a special interest in human rights, both at the national and international level.




Diversity in Secondary Rules and the Unity of International Law


Book Description

This book is a direct result of the publication of the 1994 Netherlands Yearbook of International Law, published in 1995. It was decided that the publication of the 25th Yearbook should be marked by a special volume written by current and former members of the Board of Editors, omitting the usual documentation sections. The central theme of this special volume is whether the secondary rules form a potential risk, constituting a threat to the global unity and efficacy of the international legal order. As many fields of international law as possible have been included: diplomatic law, the law of war, human rights, environmental law, and the law of international organizations (e.g. GATT/WTO and the European Communities). The research methods used are presented in an introductory paper, and results and conclusions are provided. The UN legal system is also accorded its rightful place in the research.