International Human Rights in a Nutshell
Authors:
Buergenthal, Thomas / Shelton, Dinah / Stewart, David P.
Edition:
4th
Copyright Date:
2010
18 chapters
have results for International Human Rights in a Nutshell
Chapter 2. The United Nations Human Rights System 261 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Public International Law in a Nutshell
- The International Bill of Human Rights consists, in addition to the human rights provisions of the UN Charter, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the two International Covenants on Human Rights and their Optional Protocols. , Henkin, “The International Bill of Rights: The Universal Declaration and the Covenants,” in R. Bernhardt & J.A. Jolowicz (eds.),
- Modern international human rights law is largely a post-World War II phenomenon. Its development can be attributed to the monstrous violations of human rights committed during the Nazi era and to the belief that these violations and possibly the war itself might have been prevented had an effective international system for the protection of human rights existed in the days of the League of Nations.
- The Commission was frequently criticized for ineffectiveness and for being politically motivated or selective in responding to charges of human rights violations. Jack Donnelly, “Human Rights at the United Nations, 1955–1985: The Question of Bias,” 32 Int’l Stud. Q. 275, 277–96 (1988); Shelton, International Human Rights Law: Principled, Double, or Absent Standards?, 25 Law & Ineq. 467, 470 (2007). It was also noted that over time, states engaged in violations of human rights increasingly sought membership on the Commission in order to deflect efforts to investigate their abuses. Concerns were also expressed that the Commission focused on a progressive expansion in the scope of human rights rather than on effective implementation of existing norms. Although criticism was justified, it overlooked the fact that the Commission could do no more than the states comprising it—and those electing them—wanted it to do. ...the Commission was a political body, it should surprise no one...
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, created in 1945, includes human rights within its mandate to promote education, science and culture. , Partsch & Hufner, “UNESCO Procedures for the Protection of Human Rights,” in J. Symonides (ed.)
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Chapter 1. Historical Antecedents of International Human Rights Law 45 results (showing 5 best matches)
- As we shall see in the chapters that follow, modern international human rights law differs most significantly from its historical antecedents in today recognizing that individual human beings have internationally guaranteed rights as individuals and not as nationals of a particular state. A growing number of international institutions now have jurisdiction to protect individuals against human rights violations committed by their state of nationality as well as by any other state. Although the remedies often remain inadequate or ineffective, the vast body of international human rights law now in existence—as well as the mushrooming of international institutions designed to implement that law—have internationalized the subject of human rights beyond all expectations. This development in turn produced a political climate in which the protection of human rights has become one of the most important items on the agenda of the contemporary international political discourse involving... ...a...
- In the long run, the most important developments in the international human rights field can be attributed to the fact that human beings around the world have increasingly come to believe that states and the international community have an obligation to protect their human rights, be they civil and political rights or economic, social and cultural rights. The expectations that this phenomenon creates make it politically ever more difficult for states to deny the existence of this obligation. That, in turn, facilitates efforts to promote and protect human rights on the international plane. In other words, what we have been witnessing is a human rights revolution. The gains are many, but they remain to be consolidated. Much of the needed law has been enacted, but, unfortunately, the national and international institutions to enforce the law are still rather weak. Buergenthal, “The Evolving International Human Rights System,” 100 Am J. Int’l L. 783 (2006). One major task that remains...
- Although humanitarian law predates the development of international human rights law and had some influence on it, common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, various provisions of the most recent Protocols mirror the principles underlying modern international human rights instruments.
- This chapter describes the principal historical antecedents of the modern international law of human rights. As used in this book, the international law of human rights is defined as the law concerned with the protection of individuals and groups against violations of their internationally guaranteed rights, and with the promotion of these rights. This branch of the law is sometimes also referred to as the international protection of human rights or international human rights law. Although scholars might disagree over whether one or the other of these labels is more appropriate, they are used interchangeably in this book.
- Traditional international law developed various doctrines and institutions designed to protect different groups of human beings: slaves, minorities, certain native populations, foreign nationals, victims of massive violations, combatants, etc. That law and practice provided the conceptual and institutional underpinnings for the development of contemporary international human rights law. Moreover, many of the older institutions and doctrines continue to exist side-by-side with, or form an inherent part of, the modern international law of human rights. For certain matters, that law has been profoundly influenced by its antecedents. An awareness of the historical roots of modern international law of human rights will consequently give the reader a deeper understanding of that law.
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Chapter 7. The United States and International Human Rights 138 results (showing 5 best matches)
- As a general proposition, treaties and customary international law are the principal sources of international human rights law. States incorporate these principles and provisions into their domestic law in different ways. To understand how American courts deal with international human rights law, it is necessary to review the place given to treaties and customary international law in U.S. law.
- Still, the question is whether, and to what extent, customary international law may play a role in domestic litigation in the absence of an applicable human rights treaty provision. A growing list of international human rights can be characterized as customary international law (e.g., genocide, torture, and prolonged arbitrary detention). § 702. Much of that law has evolved from rights and principles proclaimed in international human rights instruments that have their basis in the Charter of the UN and other treaties of a universal character. . In fact, U.S. courts have from time to time relied on this law to grant judicial relief.
- Here it is important to note that the legislation requires the State Department, in determining whether a State is a gross violator of human rights, to take into account, among other considerations, “the relevant findings of appropriate international organizations, including nongovernmental organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross….” Section 502B(b)(1). Similar language is found in § 116(c)(1). Both laws also attach considerable weight to the extent to which the particular country cooperates with and permits such organizations “an unimpeded investigation of alleged violations of internationally recognized human rights.” of public and private human rights institutions that investigate and judge violations. Hence, findings—for example, by the UN Human Rights Council or a regional human rights body such as the Inter–American Court or Commission on Human Rights—that a government has engaged in large-scale violations of human rights, should be taken into...
- Overall, the position of the United States respecting international human rights has been marked by contradictions. On the one hand, protection of individual rights and liberties has been a guiding national principle since the nation’s founding. The United States was among the strongest proponents of the human rights movement and a leader in the formulation of the essential human rights instruments in the period following World War II. However, for decades it refused to ratify any major international human rights treaty and, although it has adhered to an increasing number of them in recent years, it still lags behind most Western democracies. On the whole, the United States has strongly supported UN efforts to promote human rights, yet for some years it refused to participate in the newly established Human Rights Council (finally standing for election in early 2009). As a matter of policy, it gives short shrift to economic, social and cultural rights while strongly endorsing civil...
- The legislative and bureaucratic underpinnings of contemporary U.S. human rights foreign policy have their origin in the efforts of the Fraser committee and the policies of President Jimmy Carter, who was elected in 1976. The latter enthusiastically espoused many of Congressman Fraser’s recommendations and made the promotion of human rights the cornerstone of his Administration’s foreign policy. Weissbrodt, “Human Rights Legislation and U.S. Foreign Policy,” 7 Ga. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 231 (1977); Schneider, “A New Administration’s New Policy: The Rise to Power of Human Rights,” in P. Brown & D. MacLean (eds.),
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Foreword 4 results
- This book has almost doubled in size since the publication of its first edition in 1988. There is so much more material to cover: more human rights instruments have been adopted, new human rights institutions have come into being, and a growing body of human rights practice has enlarged the reach and scope of contemporary international human rights law. Unfortunately, the world’s human rights situation has not improved to the same extent. Serious human rights violations continue in many parts of the world. It is no doubt also true that much progress has been made and that international human rights law is today playing an increasingly more important role in helping to prevent such violations.
- This book seeks to provide a thorough overview of the institutional and normative elements of contemporary international human rights law. Without an understanding of this vast body of law and how it is created and applied, one cannot really address the question that must remain central to the study of this subject: how to make human rights law an ever more effective weapon against human rights violations around the world.
- The dramatic growth of the international human rights field in the past two decades has made it almost impossible for one person alone to cover the material. The willingness of Professors Dinah Shelton and David Stewart to join me as co-authors has greatly improved the third and now the fourth edition of this book. It has proved to be not only an effective scholarly collaboration, but also most satisfying on the personal level. Unlike the reported experiences of others engaged in such joint ventures, we have remained good friends. I am therefore very pleased to report that my co-authors were recently elected to two important regional international bodies: Professor Shelton became a member of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and Professor Stewart joined the Inter-American Juridical Committee, both organs of the Organization of American States.
- Our approach in producing this edition has remained the same as that employed in the earlier editions: each of us was assigned a roughly equal number of chapters or sub-chapters of the book. The new drafts were circulated, enabling each of us to comment on and suggest changes and/or additions. The result is a book which is in its entirety a joint effort rather than a patchwork of chapters authored by three different persons.
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Chapter 8. Non–Governmental Human Rights Organizations 35 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The functions human rights NGOs perform differ depending upon the purpose for which they were established, their resources, the geographic regions in which they operate and the nature of their membership. Some NGOs are interested in the worldwide promotion of human rights. Others limit their activities to human rights problems in specific regions or sub-regions (for example, Central America, Africa, Asia) or to specific countries or issues. Amnesty International, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, the International League for Human Rights, the International Commission of Jurists, the Watch Committees, to cite but a few well-known NGOs, have worldwide interests. The Andean Commission of Jurists and the Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA), for example, are organizations with regional and sub-regional agendas.
- The NGOs on various occasions succeeded in getting the former UN Commission on Human Rights and its Sub–Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and other UN bodies to focus on specific human rights violations, which they would otherwise not have done. The NGOs also deserve a great deal of credit for the creation by the UN and its Specialized Agencies of institutions and procedures for dealing with human rights violations. This has been accomplished by NGOs through their written and oral interventions in the proceedings of these bodies and by lobbying key representatives and delegations. Clark, “The International League for Human Rights and South West Africa, 1947–1957: The Human Rights NGO as Catalyst in the International Legal Process,” 3 Hum. Rts. Q. 101 (1981); Steiner,
- Whether or not they have a formal affiliation with an intergovernmental organization, the NGOs often resemble domestic pressure groups or lobbies. Human rights NGOs have played a particularly important role in the evolution of the international system for the protection of human rights and in trying to make it work.
- Human rights NGOs devote a great deal of time and resources to activities designed to influence the human rights policies and diplomacy of various countries. In the United States, for example, human rights NGOs are very active in promoting U.S. ratification of international human rights instruments. Hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, S. Hrg. 102–478, November 21, 1991 (1992) (containing the various submissions favoring U.S. ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). They advocate legislation to deny U.S. economic and military assistance to governments that engage in large-scale violations of human rights. They also monitor compliance with that legislation by the Executive Branch. To this end, they present evidence to Congressional committees, publish reports critical of Executive action, launch public information campaigns and institute legal proceedings. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights,
- Many contemporary human rights instruments can be traced to proposals and/or drafts prepared by NGOs, including the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the regional African and Arab Charters. Leary, “A New Role for Non–Governmental Organizations in Human Rights: A Case Study of Non–Governmental Participation in the Development of International Norms on Torture,” in A. Cassese (ed.),
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Chapter 4. The Inter–American Human Rights System 125 results (showing 5 best matches)
- On different occasions during its existence, the Commission has played an important role in mediating and protecting human rights in civil war situations, in international armed conflicts, and hostage seizures. I–ACHR, “Reports of the Activities of the Inter–American Commission on Human Rights in the Dominican Republic (June 1 to August 31, 1965 and September 1, 1965 to July 6, 1966),” in
- During the first decade and a half of its existence, few contentious cases were referred to the Court. Much of its jurisprudence during that period was developed through advisory opinions concerning the interpretation and application of the Convention and international human rights law in general. These are widely cited opinions and have shaped the Court’s approach to contentious cases. In one of its first opinions, the Court declared that “modern human rights treaties, in general, and the American Conventions in particular, are not multilateral treaties of the traditional type concluded to accomplish the reciprocal exchange of rights for the mutual benefit of the contracting States.” Advisory Opinion, OC–2/82, I.–A. Court H.R., Series A: Judgments and Opinions, No. 2, para. 29 (1982). The object and purpose of these treaties, instead, “is the protection of the basic rights of individual human beings, irrespective of their nationality, both against the State of their nationality and...
- Another important pronouncement by the Court is to be found in its Advisory Opinion OC–16/99, I.–A Court H.R., Series A: Judgments and Opinions, No. 16 (2000). The Court was asked by Mexico to interpret Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which deals with the rights of nationals of the States Parties to the Convention who are detained in the territory of another State Party. The Court ruled, , that the right of the detained aliens to be informed “without delay” of their rights under the Consular Convention is a human right complementing the due process provisions of international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Court also concluded that the right to be informed “without delay” must be understood to mean that the information is to be provided at the time of the alien’s arrest or, in any case, before the detainee is required to make a first statement to the authorities. See also ...–A. Court H.R.,...
- The Declaration was adopted as a non-binding conference resolution that was deemed by those who drafted it to have no legal effect. Buergenthal, “The Revised OAS Charter and the Protection of Human Rights,” 69 Am. J. Int’l L. 828, at 829 (1975). Very gradually, however, the legal status of the American Declaration began to change. Today it is deemed to be the normative instrument that embodies the authoritative interpretation of “the fundamental rights of the individual,” which Article 3( ) of the OAS Charter proclaims. On this subject, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has found that “for the member states of the Organization, the Declaration is the text that defines the human rights referred to in the Charter…. [T]he Declaration is for these States a source of international obligations related to the Charter of the Organization.” Advisory Opinion OC–10/89, I–A. Court H.R., Series A: Judgments and Opinions, No. 10, para. 45 (1989); As such, the Court will apply the... ...I–A....
- The Convention provides for the establishment of the Inter–American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter–American Court of Human Rights, and confers on them “competence with respect to matters relating to the fulfillment of the commitments made by the States Parties” thereto. Art. 33. Shelton, “Implementation Procedures of the American Convention on Human Rights,” 26 Germ. Y.B. Int’l L. 238 (1983); Buergenthal, “Implementation in the Inter–American Human Rights System,” in R. Bernhardt & J.A. Jolowicz (eds.),
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Chapter 6. International Humanitarian Law 78 results (showing 5 best matches)
- As regards the relationship between international humanitarian law and human rights law, there are thus three possible situations: some rights may be exclusively matters of international humanitarian law; others may be exclusively matters of human rights law; yet others may be matters of both these branches of international law. In order to answer the question put to it, the Court will have to take into consideration both these branches of international law, namely human rights law and, as lex specialis, international humanitarian law.
- The Humanization of International Law
- First, all derogation clauses list certain specific fundamental rights which may not be suspended even in time of war or other emergency. Although the three human rights treaties mentioned above do not establish an identical catalog of non-derogable rights, each prohibits the suspension of the same core group of basic rights. Among these are the right to life, the right not to be tortured or to be held in slavery, and the right not to be subjected to laws or punishment. Second, the derogation clauses also limit the manner in which states may exercise their power to suspend the rights that are derogable. They all provide, that the derogating states may not adopt measures which are “inconsistent with their other obligations under international law.” CP Covenant, Art. 4(1). This stipulation has a special significance for states which have ratified humanitarian law treaties and one or more of the principal human rights instruments. For these states, the humanitarian law treaties form an
- As indicated at the beginning of this chapter, debate continues over whether humanitarian law and human rights law today remain conceptually distinct or have converged into a single body of law. The question has been posed, for example, whether human rights treaties apply at all times, including during the active conduct of armed hostilities, or are displaced by the principles of international humanitarian law functioning as
- Of special interest to any study of the manner in which international human rights law evolves is Section III, Part IV of the Protocol. Entitled “Treatment of Persons in the Power of a Party to the Conflict,” Section III declares that the obligations it establishes to be “additional to the rules concerning humanitarian protection of civilians … contained in the Fourth Convention … as well as to other applicable rules of international law relating to the protection of fundamental human rights during international armed conflict.” Art. 72. This provision applies, to captured guerilla fighters and mercenaries, who do not benefit from more favorable treatment under other provisions of the Geneva Conventions or Protocols. The express acknowledgement of the interrelationship between human rights norms and humanitarian law demonstrates the ever greater confluence of these once distinct areas of the law.
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Chapter 3. The European System for the Protection of Human Rights 169 results (showing 5 best matches)
- In 1994, the Council of Europe adopted and opened for signature the Framework Convention for § 3–20. These new United Nations and Council of Europe instruments strengthen the normative framework within which the High Commissioner on National Minorities discharges his mandate. Here we also have a good example of the manner in which regional and international institutions interact and complement each other in confronting human rights problems. Buergenthal, “International and Regional Human Rights Law and Institutions: Some Examples of Their Interaction,” 12 Texas Int’l L.J. 321 (1977); Cançado–Trindade, “Co–Existence and Co–Ordination of Mechanisms of International Protection of Human Rights (At Global and Regional Levels),” 202 Recueil des Cours 9 (1987); Shelton, “The Promise of Regional Human Rights Systems,” in B. Weston and S. Marks
- While UNESCO has addressed bioethics through a declaration and studies, § 2–31, the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, adopted April 4, 1997, in force December 1, 1999, is the first legally-binding international text designed to preserve human rights through a
- What distinguishes the rights catalog of the OSCE from that of traditional human rights treaties—the European Convention of Human Rights or the International Covenants, for example—is that in addition to proclaiming basic individual human rights, it also deals with the rights of minorities, rule of law issues, democratic values, elections, etc. In short, when one looks at the entire body of commitments that have found expression over a period of years in the various concluding documents and in the HFA, what emerges is a blueprint for a free and democratic Europe where human rights and the rule of law are observed. This being said, it should be obvious that it is one thing to draw up a blueprint and quite another to put it into effect. At the same time, however, it cannot be denied that the OSCE has pioneered a holistic approach to human rights, which proceeds on the assumption that individual rights are best protected in States which adhere to the rule of law and democratic values...in
- For a discussion of the relevant caselaw, see Weiler, “Protection of Fundamental Human Rights within the Legal Order of the Communities,” in R. Bernhardt & J.A. Jolowicz (eds.),
- In the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the participating States will act in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They will also fulfil their obligations as set forth in the international declarations and agreements in this field, including inter alia the International Covenants on Human Rights, by which they may be bound.
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Chapter 5. The African and Other Regional Systems 99 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The System in Practice, 1986–2006
- For information regarding human rights developments in Asia, see the website of the Asia–Pacific Forum, . Generally, on the problems and prospects for a regional human rights system in Asia, Hao Duy Phan, “A Blueprint for a Southeast Asian Court of Human Rights,” 10 Asian–Pac. L. Pol’y J. 384 (2009); Yash Ghai,
- The African Charter differs from the European and American Conventions on Human Rights in a number of respects. First, the African Charter proclaims not only rights but also duties. Second, it codifies peoples’ as well as individual rights. Third, in addition to guaranteeing civil and political rights, it protects economic, social and cultural rights. Fourth, the treaty is drafted in a form that permits the States Parties to impose very extensive restrictions and limitations on the exercise of the rights it proclaims. Flinterman & Ankumah, “The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” in H. Hannum (ed.),
- The powers that Article 45 confers gain special importance because of the unusual lawmaking mandate embodied in Articles 60 and 61 of the Charter. Article 60 declares that “the Commission shall draw inspiration from international law on human and peoples’ rights….” It then lists, by way of illustration, the normative sources of that law, making specific mention of the UN and OAU Charters, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, African instruments on human and peoples’ rights and “other instruments adopted by the United Nations and by African countries in the field of human and peoples’ rights as well as from the provisions of various instruments adopted within the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations of which the parties to the present Charter are members.” This provision is amplified by Article 61, which permits the Commission “to take into consideration, as subsidiary measures to determine the principles of law,” various other human rights agreements to which the Member...
- The provisions of the Charter reflect the influence of UN human rights instruments as well as African traditions. Thus, it bears a stronger resemblance to the International Covenants of Human Rights than to the two other regional human rights treaties. The emphasis that the Charter places on African tradition finds expression in its preamble as well as in the form in which many of its rights and duties are articulated. The preamble speaks of “the virtues of [African] historical tradition and the values of African civilization which should inspire and characterize their reflection on the concept of human and peoples’ rights.” Other principles that inform the African Charter are referred to in the following provision of the preamble:
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Preface 4 results
- The international community continues to strengthen the normative and institutional framework for dealing with human rights problems. The United Nations adopted new agreements addressing forced disappearances and protecting the rights of migrant workers and the disabled. At the regional level, the Council of Europe adopted a Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings, while the African system concluded agreements on the rights of women and the rights and welfare of children. The revised Arab Charter on Human Rights entered into force, while the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted a basic treaty containing human rights provisions and also adopted a convention on migrant workers. Institutionally, the United Nations human right treaty bodies have continued to strengthen their monitoring functions while the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has further promoted the world-wide enjoyment of human rights through the creation of numerous field...
- The third edition was published in 2002. While the political changes that have occurred in the past six years are less dramatic than those that took place during the interval between the first and second editions (which saw the collapse of the Soviet empire, the end of the Cold War, and the abolition of apartheid in South Africa), they are nonetheless important in the evolution of international human rights law. Internal and international armed conflicts have brought increased attention to the interaction of humanitarian law and international human rights law. In this context, the entry into force of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, along with the increased caseload of the ad hoc and mixed criminal tribunals, reflects an
- The fourth edition of this book follows the basic format of the previous editions. The purpose of the book remains the same: it is designed both to serve as a self-contained introduction to the international law of human rights and to complement other course materials by providing the reader with a concise overview of human rights norms and the institutional context within which they evolve. The book continues to grow in size, however, to take account of many new developments in the field.
- The increased size of this book is attributable to the expansion of international human rights norms and institutions that the above developments have produced. Some chapters had to be extensively revised and new sections added. This is true in particular of the chapter on the United Nations. The chapters dealing with the regional systems also had to be substantially expanded. In short, the revisions take account of many developments and institutions that are new or that have gained greater importance since the publication of the second edition.
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Outline 78 results (showing 5 best matches)
Copyright Page 4 results
- Nutshell Series, In a Nutshell
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Subject Index 490 results (showing 5 best matches)
Title Page 4 results
Acknowledgments 3 results
- Dinah Shelton would like to thank persons at the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights who provided information on recent developments in the European system. Particular thanks are owed to Andrew Drzemczewski, Michael O’Boyle, Caroline Ravaud and Hans Christian Kruger. Similar gratitude must be expressed to Carlos Villan Duran of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and to Martin Oelz and Lee Swepston of the International Labour Organization.
- A book of this scope is generally the product of efforts beyond those of the authors; this volume is no exception.
- Finally we would like to thank each other for an exceptionally pleasant collaboration and the opportunity to work together.
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Author Index 46 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Publication Date: October 14th, 2009
- ISBN: 9780314184801
- Subject: International Human Rights
- Series: Nutshells
- Type: Overviews
- Description: This guide offers a reliable source on international human rights law for students, practitioners, and professors. It provides an overview of the international, regional, and domestic human rights systems. It reviews recent developments in the field of international humanitarian law, including decisions of the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the establishment of the International Criminal Court. It discusses the history behind international human rights, including the institutional context from which they evolved. It also features expert review of human rights norms and identifies new developments in this area.