Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'International law – Human rights'
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1
Legg, Andrew. "Deference in international human rights law." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:42fc2528-cf7c-4cd8-9ff6-0d0bd25b6220.
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Deference in international human rights law has provoked animated discussion, particularly the margin of appreciation doctrine of the European Court of Human Rights. Many commentators describe the practice of deference but do not explain how it affects judicial reasoning. Some approve characteristics of deference but do not provide a justification to defend the practice against criticism. Others regard deference as a danger to human rights because it betrays the universality of human rights or involves tribunals either failing to consider a case properly or missing an opportunity to set human rights standards. This thesis employs a different approach by focussing on deference as the practice of assigning weight to reasons for a decision on the basis of external factors. This approach draws on theories of second-order reasoning from the philosophy of practical reasoning. The thesis offers a conceptual account of deference that accords with the practice not only of the European Court of Human Rights, but also the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee. Additionally the thesis presents a normative account of deference, that the role of these tribunals entails permitting a measure of diversity as states implement international human rights standards. Deference in international human rights law then is the judicial practice of assigning weight to the respondent states’ reasoning in a case on the basis of three factors: democratic legitimacy, the common practice of states and expertise. This affects judicial reasoning by impacting the balance of reasons in the proportionality assessment. The account defended in this thesis dispels concerns that deference is a danger to human rights, whilst providing a theory that justifies the practice of the tribunals. The thesis thus provides the contours of a doctrine of deference in each of the three international human rights systems.
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Keith, Linda Camp. "The Law and Human Rights: Is the Law a Mere Parchment Barrier to Human Rights Abuse?" Thesis, University of North Texas, 1999. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2247/.
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This study is the first systematic global analysis of the impact of law on human rights, analyzing the impact of twenty-three constitution provisions and an international covenant on three measures of human rights behavior, over the period of 1976-1996. Three sets of constitutional provisions are analyzed, including 1) ten provisions for individual freedoms and due process rights, 2) nine provisions for elements of judicial independence and 3) four provisions that outline procedures for states of emergency. Additionally, the impact of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on actual human rights behavior is analyzed. Each of these areas of law are evaluated individually, in multiple models in which different elements vary. For example, some models control for democracy with different measures, others divide the data into the Cold War and post-Cold War eras, and some test constitutional indices. Finally, all provisions are simultaneously analyzed in integrated models. Provisions for fair and public trials are consistently shown to decrease the probability of abuse. An index of four freedoms (speech, religion, association, and assembly) decreases the probability of abuse somewhat consistently. Three of the provisions for judicial independence are most consistent in reducing the probability of abuse: the provisions for exclusive judicial authority, for the finality of judges' decisions, and banning exceptional courts. Two of four states of emergency provisions decrease abuse as international lawyers have argued: the provisions for legislative declaration of the emergency and the ban against dissolving the legislature during an emergency. However, two of the provisions are shown to hurt human rights practices: the duration and the derogation provisions. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights does not demonstrate a statistically significant impact. While the performance of the constitutional provisions is less than legal scholars would hope, their combined impact over time are shown to be quite large, relative to the impacts of other factors shown to affect human rights abuse.
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Sadeghi, Soraya <1995>. "Protecting Human Rights Defenders under International Law." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/17750.
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The main aim of this thesis is to analyse how international instruments and their corresponding mechanisms support and protect Human Rights Defenders and to which extent this support is useful. Human Rights Defenders have always faced difficulties due to their operate that is essential to promote and implement democracy and human rights. After a detailed introduction in which they are described the categories most at risk of HRDs, the first chapter is based on the crucial moment of the adoption of the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the consequent role of the UN Special Rapporteur. In the second chapter they are analysed the different regional mechanisms that the various human rights organizations in America, Africa and Europe have adopted to protect HRDs and how they have changed over time. Lastly, in the third chapter it has been made a comparison between the most influential cases about human rights defenders that have been submitted before the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-America Court of Human Rights.
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Owuor, Elijah. "Theory of International Law: Basic Human Rights Conception of the International Law." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2008. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/philosophy_hontheses/3.
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The incidents of human rights violations have increasingly captured the international attention. I think that part of the reasons for human rights violations is because of the foundational theories of the current international law. In this thesis project, I argue that basic human rights should be the moral foundation of the international law. I achieved my goal in several steps. In the first section, I introduced the thesis project; I also outline my objectives. In the second section, I briefly define human rights, basic human rights, and provided the scope of basic human rights. In the third section, I provided my argument that basic human rights should be the moral foundations of the international law; provide criterion of state legitimacy; I critiqued the United Nations in the context of my arguments. Finally, I concluded by formulating the international basic human rights law.
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Swanson, Alan D. "International human rights law and development : a human rights way to development." Thesis, University of Essex, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.341236.
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Owuor, Elijah Medego. "Theory of international law basic human rights conception of the international law /." restricted, 2008. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-05192008-125514/.
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Thesis (B.A. Honors)--Georgia State University, 2008.Title from file title page. Robert Sattelmeyer, Andrew Jason Cohen, committee members. Electronic text (34 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed October 26, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 34).
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Loos, Clemens. "The convergence and divergence of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_6236_1182745813.
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In this minithesis, I demonstrate that International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law are two distinct but related fields of law. First, the examination deals with the instance that the aim of both branches of law, the protection of human rights, is common, but the approach to reach this aim is different. In this regard, I show numerous points of divergence of both branches of law which have their origin in the fundamentally different historical developments of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law. I give the main attention to the application of both sets of law, whereby the contractions and legal gaps of the protection of human rights become apparent. The proposals dealing with the solution of these issues are discussed. I argue that a new legal instrument for a comprehensive and compatible protection of human rights is necessary, especially in times of internal strife. Regarding the question as to whether International Humanitarian Law or International Human Rights Law should apply if both branches are applicable, I take the view to apply the roman principle of law lex specialis derogat legi generali in such a way that the more specific rule whenever they have a specific justification for dealing with specific problems is applicable. Both branches of law do not merge to one, but they converge to a harmonious relationship, where they complement each other and provide the highest protection of human rights.
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Eick, Christophe N. "Enforcing international human rights law in domestic courts." Thesis, McGill University, 1987. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=63973.
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Anastasia, Federico <1994>. "Re-Framing Corruption under International Human Rights Law." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/16535.
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This thesis aims at studying the connection between corruption and human rights. By analyzing the complex issue of corruption and examining the current anti-corruption instruments, it investigates the added values that a human rights law conceptualization of corruption could provide to the current international anti-corruption agenda. The dissertation explores a threefold linkage between corruption and human rights. By exploring corruption’s roots, causes, and consequences, this thesis highlights the way in which corruption represents the negation of the idea of human rights. Therefore, it will be argued that corruption and human rights are conceptually linked. Progressively, the theoretical connection will be considered from a legal point of view. More specifically, the legal analysis aims to show how the various forms of corruption and the state’s tolerance of corrupt practices may violate the human rights contained in the existing international human rights treaties. Despite there is no shortage of attention to the issue of corruption, there is still the need to work on the effectiveness of the anti-corruption methods. Without criticizing the criminal law approach per se, a strategic link between corruption and human rights will be provided. Within this framework, the added values of the human rights integration will be outlined, and the human rights actors involved in the human rights fight against corruption will be presented.
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Motloung, Tebogo Wilfred. "Human rights and international environmental law: Towards the development of an international environmental right?" University of the Western Cape, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/6543.
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Magister Legum - LLMThe global state of the environment is deteriorating daily because of challenges posed by environmental degradation, including climate change. In recognition of the mounting global environmental crisis and its detrimental impact on the enjoyment of human rights, there is a growing call for the recognition of what is generally referred to as a human right to a clean environment, otherwise referred to in this study as an international environmental right. Proponents of an international environmental right hold a firm view that such a right will prevent or mitigate actions that are responsible for environmental degradation and thus contribute to environmental protection. This study seeks to determine the nature of the relationship between the environment and human rights and whether the proposal for the recognition of an international environmental right to address global environmental concerns that pose a threat to the enjoyment of human rights has merit. In determining the viability of recognising an international environmental right, a number of theories underpinning the recognition of new international human rights, the status of the right in existing international human rights agreements, political willingness and support of states, the notion of global constitutionalism, customary international law sources such as soft law instruments, international declarations etc., are considered.
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Kingsbury, Benedict. "Indigenous peoples in international law." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.334165.
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Baderin, Mashood A. "Modern Muslim states between Islamic law and international human rights law." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2001. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/10964/.
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This thesis examines the important question of whether or not Islamic law and international human rights are compatible and whether Muslim States can comply with international human rights law while they still adhere to Islamic law. The traditional arguments on the subject are examined and responded to from both international human rights and Islamic legal perspectives. The thesis formulates a synthesis between two extremes and argues that although there are some differences of scope and application, that does not create a general state of dissonance between Islamic law and international human rights law. It is argued that the differences would be easier to address if the concept of human rights were positively established from within the themes of Islamic law rather than imposing it as a concept alien to Islamic law. To avoid a simplistic generalisation of the arguments, each Article of the international bill of rights (ICCPR and ICESCR) and some relevant articles of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women are analysed in the light of Islamic law. The thesis theoretically engages international human rights law in dialogue with Islamic law and then evaluates the human rights policy of modern Muslim States within the scope of that dialogue. The State Practice of six Muslim States is examined as case studies to establish the arguments of the thesis. The thesis concludes, inter alia, that it is possible to harmonise the differences between Islamic law and international human rights law through the adoption of the margin of appreciation doctrine by international human rights treaty bodies and the utilisation of the Islamic law doctrines of maqâsid al-sharî‘ah (overall objective of Sharî‘ah) and maslahah (welfare) by Muslim States in their interpretation and application of Islamic law respectively. It is asserted that Islamic law can serve as an important vehicle for the enforcement of international human rights law in the Muslim world and recommendations are advanced to that effect in the conclusion.
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Gondwe, Mtendere. "International principles and methods employed by National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) as a means of promoting and protecting human rights, a case study of the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC)." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20806.
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This study generally focuses on the important role that National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) play in promoting and protecting human rights at the domestic level, hence the need for NHRIs to be effective and efficient in the discharge of their mandate. One way of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of a NHRIs is by ensuring that it adheres to international principles and methods of promoting and protecting human rights as well as by adopting best practices from other NHRIs. The study therefore traces the evolution of NHRIs and their recognition at the international level. It also analyses the different forms in which NHRIs exist and discusses the recommended international principles and standards that act as core minimum in terms of a NHRI's mandate, methods of operation, composition and other guarantees of independence. Due to the fact that states have a wide discretion to devise appropriate means of applying the core minimum principles, this study also presents several best practices from different NHRIs in their implementation of the international principles and standards. Particular attention has been directed at the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) by assessing whether the MHRC adheres to the international principles and standards in its operations, and to consider whether it could advance human rights better by improving its working methods.
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Tehrani, Maryam Moazezi Zadeh. "Women's rights in Islam and current discourse of international human rights law." Thesis, University of Hull, 2007. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:6643.
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The international norm of non-discrimination on the basis of sex as reflected in the UN human rights instrument culminated in 1979 with the adoption of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. With the adoption of the Convention, the separate concepts of women's rights were recast in a global perspective, and supervisory machinery with terms of reference similar to those of existing human rights organs was provided for. Although the Convention is considered as the most important binding document for elimination of discrimination against women, it met with a large number of reservations by member states. The number of far reaching reservations entered to the Women's Convention has been the subject of a global debate and the Convention is seen as the most 'political' of all the human rights instruments. Muslim member states to the Convention have entered reservations to its substantive provisions based on Islamic Law and emphasise that the formulation and interpretation of these rights in Sharia is very different from the concept of human rights in international human rights instruments. Reservations of Muslim state parties to the substantive provisions of the Women's Convention and present gender discriminatory laws in Muslim states based on some jurists' interpretation of a few verses in the Quran and the existence of a few ahadith, including qawwamun (the superiority of male over female in marriage), divorce, guardianship and custody, women's testimony which is worth half that of a man in financial transactions; inheritance rights of women where women are entitled to half the share of a man in a comparable situation; polygamy and some issues in Islamic penal law which are undesirable from the perspective of women's human rights in international law have led to the belief that women in Islamic societies are second citizen and Islamic principles are an obstacle to eliminating discrimination against women. They also reinforce the view in the West that the concept of women's human rights in Islam is entirely irreconcilable with international human rights norms on the subject, such as those expressed in the Women's Convention. By studying the origin of the religion and Islamic sources, the present author, however, seriously doubts the validity of the Western view and Muslim parties' reservations to substantive provisions of the Convention, based solely on their interpretation of the Sharia. Contrary to the common perception, the principles of Islamic law do not consist of an immutable, unchanging set of norms, but have an inbuilt dynamism that is sensitive and flexible so that Islamic law can remain up-to-date and respond to the questions and demands of people at different times and places. This project, in the light of Islamic sources and interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence from both schools of thought, Sunni and Shi'a, is designed in four parts to discuss and explore the place of women's rights in Islam and the current discourse of women's human rights in modem international law in order to determine whether Islamic law is reconcilable with international women's human rights such as those expressed in the Women's Convention.
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Provost, Rene. "International human rights and humanitarian law : fusion or confusion?" Thesis, University of Oxford, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.285439.
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Blake, C. K. "Whither solidarity? : international law, human rights and global poverty." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.596713.
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This thesis looks at the engagement of international law with the issue of global poverty. It examines the legal discourses that have arisen in this context, and how they construct, narrate and consequently address the problem of impoverishment. It begins by examining the principle of ‘international co-operation’, which is argued represents the dominant paradigm within legal discourse on poverty. It concludes, however, that this paradigm is not only problematic, but may prove counter-productive in efforts to address poverty. In light of this conclusion, the thesis turns to examine nascent conceptual shifts within legal discourse that see a move from a focus on ‘co-operation’ towards a focus on ‘solidarity’ within the discourse on poverty. In particular, it examines suggestions that solidarity represents a substantive principle of international law, and that it offers a more transformative normative alternative to co-operation in response to poverty. The thesis therefore turns to analyse the principle of solidarity. It emerges, however, that rather than transformative, present readings of solidarity are largely re-iterative of the problems associated with the principle of co-operation. It is argued that if the notion of solidarity is to prove productive to international law, it must be re-thought and re-cast. The final chapter considers the possibilities for re-casting the concept of solidarity in international law. It suggests the writings of Karl Marx on solidarity may provide productive lines along which legal engagement with the notion of solidarity may be re-conceived. In so doing, it joins a growing body of legal scholarship which has begun to argue that the ideas of Marx have not exhausted themselves, and that a critical reading potentially offers insights and tools for international legal enquiry.
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Aloisi, Rosa. "The Threats to Compliance with International Human Rights Law." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2011. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc103282/.
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In this project I investigate the factors shaping compliance with international human rights agreements and I provide a definition of compliance, which goes beyond “ratification.” I argue that compliance is a multistage process, built upon three different steps: ratification/accession, implementation, and what I call “compliant behavior.” As an alternative to the dominant structural and normative explanation of compliance, I suggest that the factors affecting compliance are not only endogenous to state characteristics, such as the democratic/non-democratic nature of governments, but also exogenous, such as the perceived level of threat to national security. I offer a twofold theory that looks at leaders’ behavior under conditions of stability and instability and I suggest that under certain circumstances that threaten and pressure government leaders, state compliance with international human rights law becomes more costly. I suggest that regardless of regime type, threats shape leaders’ behavior toward international law; states are faced with the choice to abide by international obligations, protecting specific human rights, and the choice to protect their national interests. I argue that when the costs associated with compliance increase, because leaders face threats to their power and government stability, threats become the predictor of non-compliant behavior regardless of the democratic or non-democratic nature of the regime.
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Ozdan, Selman. "The human rights challenge to immunity in international law." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2016. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.709867.
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The aim in this Thesis is to present a detailed analysis of the immunity versus impunity debate within the framework of a human rights-based challenge to immunity. There are two essential interests in international law: preserving the immunity of States and those who represent them, such as Heads of State and diplomatic agents; and protecting fundamental human rights which fall within the scope of peremptory norms of general international law. Several cases which are recently before international and national courts demonstrate that the protection of fundamental human rights is a significant challenge to the immunities. This Thesis focuses on the tension between the protection of fundamental human rights on the one hand, and the bestowal of immunity on the State and its representatives on the other. It examines the extent to which the tension affects the sovereign structure of the State, and seeks to ascertain how these immunities can be gradually eroded, if not fully abolished, in order to maintain full protection of fundamental human rights under international law. It argues that immunity should not equate to impunity when violations of fundamental human rights recognised as jus cogens norms are committed by States, Heads of State, or diplomatic agents. To make the case, this Thesis sets out the organic structures of the concepts of sovereignty and fundamental human rights. It then examines the human rights-based challenge to immunity in three instances: State immunity, Head of State immunity, and diplomatic immunity. This Thesis, in so doing, puts the notion of fundamental human rights at the centre of the immunity versus impunity debate; and, the transition from a State-centric system to a human-centric system under the microscope.
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Hessler, Kristen M. "A theory of interpretation for international human rights law." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/279864.
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A complete theory of interpretation for human rights law must answer two kinds of questions. First: Who should interpret international human rights law? Second: What principles should guide the interpretation of human rights law? Individual governments frequently claim the right to interpret international law as it applies to them, but this claim is contested by many United Nations subgroups and by nongovernmental organizations like Amnesty International. I argue that international institutions are more likely to give a fair hearing to people's human rights than are their own governments. Accordingly, we can conclude as a general rule that international institutions should be assigned authority to interpret international human rights law. The general rule has an exception, however. Democratic states that protect basic freedoms of speech and assembly will promote and protect their own citizens' human rights better than undemocratic states. Moreover, free democratic states, by giving a voice to all citizens, can take advantage of local knowledge about particular human rights problems and solutions, and so are more likely than international institutions to interpret human rights law with a sensitivity to the human rights of all citizens and to the locally important human rights issues. Therefore, unlike other states, liberal democratic states should have the authority to interpret international human rights law as it applies within their borders. What principles should guide the interpretation of human rights law? The answer depends on whether we take a short- or long-term perspective. Currently, the institutions of international law are relatively ineffective when compared to most domestic legal systems. While this remains the case, a principle allowing interpreters to use their judgment about moral human rights in interpreting human rights law can be justified on the basis of the contribution this would make to global deliberation about the proper understanding of moral human rights. As human rights law develops more effective, less voluntaristic institutions, this principle of interpretation should be phased out.
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Maiutto, Mirko <1992>. "Non-Human Animal Rights in International and EU Law." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/19548.
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In the last century animal welfare has started to receive increasing attention around the world. In order to meet the skyrocketing demand for animal products, the animal industry is mass-producing meat, dairy and eggs in intensive farms where animals live in terrible conditions before being slaughtered. Furthermore, scientific research has not moved away from experimenting on animals, and wild animals continue to be object of exploitation, an increasing number of wild species becoming endangered or even extinct. This work analyses the protection animals enjoy internationally, at the European Union level, and in some domestic constitutions and legislations, exploring how anthropocentrism and speciesism are reflected in legislations.
Today science tells us that at least many of the human-exploited animals are sentient beings who, just like people, can suffer, feel pain, and experience a vast variety of emotions. Many have a high level of intelligence, possess self-awareness, and are part of incredibly complex social structures made of family and friendship bonds not much different from those characterizing human societies. The philosophical case for giving animals inalienable rights to life, freedom, and freedom from torture will be presented, implying the need to stop exploiting animals all around the world at least when it comes to food production. Until this doesn’t happen, the law will continue to promote an injustice not very different from others such as racism and sexism.
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Simonsen, Natasha. "Rethinking torture in international law." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a30e1900-4417-4ef2-b426-d614c9cda644.
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This thesis seeks to identify the moral wrong of torture, and to trace the relationship between that wrong and the definition of torture in international law. Because understanding a concept's modern manifestation requires an understanding of its history, the thesis begins by tracing the historical trajectory of legal prohibitions of different forms of ill-treatment beginning with the English Bill of Rights in 1689, subsequently articulated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that 'no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment'. This prohibition, almost universally accepted by States, has come to be interpreted as embodying a hierarchy with torture at the apex. The shift towards a hierarchical interpretation of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment in international law was remarkable, both for its decisiveness and for its surprisingly recent occurrence. The reasons for that shift are examined, before turning to a consideration of the competing accounts of what it is that makes torture wrong. Two predominant accounts of the moral wrong of torture are identified, described here as the 'dignitarian' and the 'defencelessness' accounts. Although most international instruments and judicial decisions on torture implicitly reflect the dignitarian account, the thesis argues that this account is open to challenge on normative grounds. Instead, it argues that the preferable account of the moral wrong of torture is a modified form of the defencelessness account, according to which torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering in the context of a profoundly asymmetric power relation. Finally, the thesis turns to a consideration of the definitions of torture in international law. It contends that there are distinct conceptions of torture operating in the criminal paradigm, and in the human rights paradigm, respectively. While both conceptions of torture at present reflect the dignitarian account, the thesis argues that there is scope in the human rights paradigm for a more expansive 'defencelessness' conception of torture to be adopted.
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Pevato, Paula Monica. "International law and the right to environment : encouraging environmental cooperation via the international protection of human rights." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.286363.
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This thesis revolves around one central question, the thesis' leilmotif. 'What is a right to environment in contemporary internationalegal theory and practiceT In the course of determining a right to environment's legal status, historical and modem human rights theories are considered. The author demonstrates that most writers have fallen into various rights traps, for instance, when they refrain from considering a right to environment as something other than a human right, such as a non-right, a concept of international environmental cooperation (IEC), or simply one of many goals of international human rights and environmental law and policy (Chapter 2). The author continues the examination of the leitmotif by consulting the sources of internationall aw enumeratedin Article 38(l) of the Statuteo f the InternationalC ourt of Justice, viz., custom, convention, general principles of law, and subsidiary sources Oudicial decisions and teachings of highly qualified publicists), from the perspective of the policy science school of thought. From this legal philosophical perspective, international law is viewed as a process, a system of authoritative decision-making wherein policy choices play a role, thereby expanding the analysis from a strict positive law perspective. Thus, in addition to the 'traditional' sources, the author conducts an exhaustive analysis of 'soft law' sources, including resolutions and declarations; conventional and extra-conventional mechanisms to international human rights treaties (States parties periodic reports, concluding observations, summary records, views in communications, general comments); conference reports, background studies; and conceptso f EEC,p articularly sustainabled evelopment,a mong others,f or indications of any consensuso n a right to environment( Chapters3 and 4). t The author's research is completed by a thorough analysis of many human rights tensions, such as the inherent restrictions within human rights treaty regimes themselves (viz., derogations, limitations, reservations, the principle of legality, drittwirkung, among others), or due to other tensions in public international law, most notably sovereignty issues and competing interests manifested as anthropocentricity, property rights, international trade, development, and aboriginal issues (Chapter 5). These tensions add further hurdles to a human right to environment's fulfilment. The author deduces from an examination of specific human rights, IEC concepts, case law, States parties' periodic reports, and other sources of international law, that the characteristicsa genericr ight to environmentm ight possessa lready exist within various substantive and procedural rights, whilst other attributes are more suitably addressed via a plethora of conventional mechanisms and policies pertaining to international law for the environment. A right to environment does not exist in international law, whether described as a human right, general principle of law, or otherwise. Its recognition would merely duplicate rights and obligations and is thereforeu nnecessaryT. he author concludes that the ultimate goal of a right to environment -- the attainment of a satisfactory quality of life within a healthy, ecologically balanced environment for present and future generations, all thriving in the human and natural worlds -- are encouraged without an expressly recognized right to environment.
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Addo, M. K. "The implications for some aspects of contemporary international economic law of international human rights law." Thesis, University of Essex, 1987. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.378354.
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Obokata, Tomoya. "Trafficking of human beings as a human rights violation : obligations and accountability under international human rights law." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.408594.
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Godoy, Wilson Magdalena Sofia. "Sexual violence in armed conflict under international law: The interplay between international humanitarian law human rights law and international criminal law." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/56998.
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Burneo, Labrín José. "International Law on Human Rights contribution to constitutionalization of law after 1945." Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2013. http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/handle/123456789/116271.
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This article base line bears on the relevance of the process– developed after 1945– of law’s constitutionalization, its foundations established and main characteristics. This process is framed by HumanRights fully implementation, such as rejection of impunity concerning serious human rights violations, respect to due process, the integrality and indivisibility of human rights, also respect to indigenous people and limits to state of emergency. Finally, through reviewing laws for compliance, the author highlights the importance of jurisdictional bodies for an effective fulfillment of constitutional and supranational rules signed by the States.El artículo toma como punto de partida la relevancia del proceso de constitucionalización del derecho desarrollado luego de 1945, los fundamentos que consagra y sus principales características. Este proceso se enmarca en lavigencia de los derechos humanos que se enarbolan, como el rechazo a la impunidad respecto de violaciones graves de derechos humanos, el respeto al debido proceso, la integralidad de los derechos humanos, el respeto a los pueblos indígenas y los límites del Estado de excepción. Finalmente, mediante el análisis del control de convencionalidad, el autor resalta la importancia de los órganos jurisdiccionales en el efectivo cumplimiento de las normas constitucionales y supranacionales suscritas por los Estados.
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Bjoerkan, Maren. "International displacement and state compliance with international human rights standards: the current protection of internally displaced persons' right to physical security in Nigeria." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28030.
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There are approximately 65.3 million forcibly displaced people in the world. A large majority of these people are internally displaced. Of the 40.8 million internally displaced persons' (IDPs) worldwide, Nigeria had a total of 1,955,000 IDPs at the end of 2016. Consequently, Nigeria is among the countries with the highest number of displaced persons globally. A wide range of political, economic, social, and environmental factors, including poverty, corruption, and internal armed conflict, affect the population in Nigeria and contribute to internal instability. Thus, as Nigeria represents a complex and multi-layered situation of internal displacement, it makes for an interesting case study to understand international protection of IDPs. This dissertation asks whether the current protection of IDPs' right to physical security in Nigeria complies with international human rights standards. The current international legal framework in place for the protection of IDPs is relatively extensive, and undergoes continuous development. The United Nations Guiding Principles for the Protection of Internally Displaced People and the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), as well as general human rights mechanisms, comprehensively set out the rights and guarantees for the protection of the physical security of IDPs. Although there has been great improvement in recent years relating to the legal protection of and assistance to IDPs, the de facto implementation and enforcement of these frameworks in Nigeria is not in full compliance with international human rights standards.
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Fuentes, Carlos. "Normative plurality in international law: the impact of international human rights law in the doctrine of sources of international law." Thesis, McGill University, 2014. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=123029.
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This dissertation attempts to provide a theoretical framework for explaining the choices made by international decisions-makers as to what constitutes law. It is proposed that the practice of international human rights courts recognises that different normative instruments coexist in an un-ordered space, and that meaning can be produced by the free interaction of those instruments around a problem. Based on such practice, the author advances his normative plurality hypothesis, which states that decision-makers must survey the acquis of international law in order to identify all the instruments containing relevant normative information for a particular situation. The set of rules of law applicable to the situation must then be complemented with other instruments containing specific normative information relevant to the situation, resulting in a complete system of norms advancing a common purpose.Cette thèse vise à fournir un cadre théorique pour expliquer les choix effectués par les décideurs internationaux sur ce qui constitue la loi. Il est proposé que la pratique des tribunaux internationaux des droits de l'homme reconnaît que différents instruments normatifs coexistent dans un espace non-ordonné, et que le sens peut être produit par le libre jeu de ces instruments autour d'un problème. Sur la base de cette pratique, l'auteur avance son hypothèse de la pluralité normative qui stipule que les décideurs doivent étudier l'acquis du droit international afin d'identifier tous les instruments contenant des informations normatives pertinents pour une situation particulière. L'ensemble des règles de droit applicables à la situation doit ensuite être complété par d'autres instruments contenant des informations normatives spécifiques relatives à la situation, résultant en un système complet de normes avançant un objectif commun.
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Moyo, Khulekani. "Water as a human right under international human rights law : implications for the privatisation of water services." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/80062.
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Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.Bibliography
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The worsening scarcity of fresh water resources has led to an increasing number of people without sustainable access to safe water across the globe. Water privatisation has been presented as the panacea to addressing the global water crisis. Privatisation of water has heightened the impetus for the explicit recognition of water as a human right. This dissertation seeks to establish the legal status of the right to water under international human rights law. The dissertation further attempts to ascertain the scope and normative content of such a right. In order to answer these questions, this dissertation carries out a detailed analysis of the possible legal basis, scope and normative content of the right to water under international human rights law. The principal question that arises is how a State can ensure compliance with its human rights obligations in the event of involvement of non-State actors such as private corporations in the management and distribution of water services. This dissertation‘s main hypothesis is that although privatisation of water services does not relieve the State of its legal responsibility under international human rights law, such privatisation imposes certain obligations on private actors consistent with the right to water. The dissertation goes beyond articulating normative considerations and looks at implementation at the national level by highlighting good practices on the practical implementation of the right to water consistent with the normative standards imposed by the right. The dissertation‘s key contribution is its development of an accountability model to ensure that States and private actors involved in the provision of water services have clearly designated roles and responsibilities consistent with the human right to water. If properly implemented, the model has the potential to give greater specification to the normative commitments imposed by the right to water in privatisation scenarios.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die verergerende skaarste van vars water bronne het aanleiding gegee tot die toename in die hoeveelheid mense sonder volhoubare toegang tot veilige water oor die hele aarde. Dit word aangevoer dat die privatisering van water die wondermiddel is om die globale water krisis aan te spreek. Die privatisering van water het aanleiding gegee tot 'n verskerpte aandrang om water uitdruklik te erken as 'n mensereg. Hierdie proefskrif poog om die regsstatus van die reg tot water te vestig binne die raamwerk van internasionale menseregte. Die proefskrif probeer verder om vas te stel wat die omvang en normatiewe inhoud van so 'n reg sal wees. Vervolgens voltrek hierdie proefskrif 'n uitvoerige analise van die moontlike regsbasis, omvang en normatiewe inhoud van die reg tot water binne die raamwerk van internasionale menseregte. Die vernaamste vraag wat opduik is hoe 'n Staat kan verseker dat sy menseregte verpligtinge nagekom word waar nie-Regeringsrolspelers soos korporasies betrokke is by die bestuur en distribusie van waterdienste. Die kern hipotese van hierdie proefskrif is dat alhoewel die privatisering van waterdienste nie die Staat verlig van sy regsverpligtinge in terme van internasionale menseregte nie, sodanige privatisering sekere verpligtinge aan privaatrolspelers voorskryf wat in lyn is met die reg op water. Hierdie proefskrif gaan verder as die artikulering van normatiewe oorwegings en kyk ook na die implementering op nasionale vlak deur goeie praktyke uit te lig met betrekking tot die prakiese implementering van die reg tot water wat konsekwent is met die normatiewe standaarde wat die reg voorskryf. Die kern bydrae van hierdie proefskrif is die ontwikkeling van 'n aanspreeklikheismodel wat versker dat Regerings en privaat rolspelers wat betrokke is by die voorsiening van waterdienste duidelik aangewysde funksies en verantwoordelikhede het wat in lyn is met die reg tot water. Indien hierdie model behoorlik implementeer word, het dit die potensiaal om grooter spesifikasie te gee aan die normatiewe verpligtinge wat deur die reg tot water voorgeskryf word in privatiserings scenarios.
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Oraa, Jaime. "Human rights in states of emergency in public international law." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.385608.
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Lee, Yoke-Lian. "Sovereignties, subjectivities and feminist critiques of international human rights law." Thesis, Keele University, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.545747.
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Xiao, ShuQiao. "International human rights law and abused women in contemporary China." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.403139.
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Amit, Roni. "Judges without borders : international human rights law in domestic courts /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/10732.
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GILLERI, GIOVANNA. "Sexed/gendered subjectivities inside and outside international human rights law." Doctoral thesis, European University Institute, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10281/333616.
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This thesis investigates the interrelationship between sex and gender under international human rights law and how this influences individual subject formations. The research combines feminist, queer and psychoanalytical theories to scrutinise the sexed/gendered human rights discourse, starting from the theoretical assumptions underpinning the interpretations of sex, gender, and the related notions of gender identity, sex characteristics and sexual orientation. Specific interpretations of these categories outline the definition of victims and perpetrators of sex/gender-based abuses. Human rights law has so far accounted for the diversity of sexed/gendered subjectivities only to a limited extent, being based on four axioms: there are only two sexes and two genders (m/f); sex is a natural fact and gender is a social construct (sex ≠ gender); gender is the metonymic signifier for women (gender = women); gender power relations take the asymmetrical shape of male domination versus female oppression (m > f). Interpretations of domination and subordination in relation to femininities and masculinities determine the scope of human rights protections. Gender-based analysis on subordination has predominantly concentrated on women as the vulnerable group subject to men’s domination. However, such a focus excludes the consideration of differences within the same groups of men, women and any other gendered individuals, and thereby the multiple, nuanced gendered dynamics between gendered subjects. In contrast, this research maintains that dominative and subordinate postures interchangeably attach to femininities and masculinities, depending on the subjects’ roles, their positionalities and the situational meanings of their acts. The examination of two case-studies, on the UN human rights treaty bodies’ vocabulary on medically unnecessary interventions upon intersex children and on the European Court of Human Rights’ narrative on sadomasochism, shows the limits of an approach to gender which is based on rigid dichotomic pairs of masculinity/femininity, domination/subordination and perpetrator/victim. Such an approach can hardly reveal the assumptions of gendered interplays and their impact on subject formation.
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Bradlow, Daniel David. "Doctoral degree by virtue of publications : international development law." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/23630.
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Bishop, Julia. "Gender-based violence and gender stereotyping in international law." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12671.
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Includes bibliographical references.As Rashida Manjoo, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, suggests, women who are empowered “understand that they are not destined to subordination and violence; they resist oppression; and they develop their capabilities as autonomous beings and they increasingly question the terms of their existence in both public and private spheres.” By altering stereotypes and empowering women, GBV could be prevented from occurring in the first place, and discrimination and inequality could be mitigated or, hopefully, eradicated. Women’s human rights, and women in general, have been consistently marginalized in international and regional binding documents. This, in many ways, is a product of the stereotype that women are less important than men, and that their rights should therefore be accorded less significance – a twisted logic that only leads to women being further marginalized. The hypothesis of this dissertation is that in order to eradicate GBV in times of so-called peace, it is essential that discriminatory stereotypes of women be altered. This dissertation will examine stereotyping as an underlying cause of GBV, and whether the international and regional normative frameworks provide sufficient protections for women in regards to GBV. There will also be discussion about whether or not States comply with the obligations that do exist, and how States have (or have not) altered the behaviours and attitudes which characterize a stereotyped view of gender roles.
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Huang, Yingliang. "Reservations to multilateral human rights treaties." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/27374.
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Reservations to multilateral human rights treaties have become an important issue since the case of the Genocide Convention in 1951. Although the compatibility principle upheld by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was codified in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Vienna Convention), the current reservations mechanism is problematic and detrimental to human rights treaty-making.
I will argue that the logical relation between the two standards comprising the compatibility principle has been lost under the Vienna Convention and it should be reintroduced by a competent body.
For this purpose, I will analyze the characteristics of human rights treaties, clarify the permissibility of making reservations, go through the origin and development of the compatibility principle, and identify the problem of the current reservations mechanism, namely that the determination of the compatibility of reservations is left to individual States. The solution I will propose is that the ICJ should be conferred the competence to objectively determine the compatibility of reservations.
Key words. the compatibility principle; the objective determination of compatibility
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Gabriel, Mark A. "Reforming Hudud ordinances to reconcile Islamic criminal law with international human rights law." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23724.
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International human rights laws are grossly violated by the hudud ordinances, with their extremely cruel punishments, including stoning for adultery, beheading for apostasy, and amputation for theft. Pakistan, Sudan, Brunei Darussalam and Saudi Arabia, for example, follow the doctrines of the four main Sunni schools of jurisprudence and enforce hudud ordinances, thereby violating some of the core international human rights law instruments to which they are State Parties. Orthodox Muslims generally defend the hudud ordinances, claiming that they are divine and immutable. This study refutes the aforementioned claim and demonstrates that it is legitimate and possible to reform hudud punishments to reconcile them with international human rights law. The thesis differentiates between Shariah and Islamic law. It argues that Shariah refers to the divine rulings recorded in the Qur'an and correct Sunnah, while Islamic law is not fully divine, for it includes also such prescriptions that have been developed by the human effort of Islamic jurists. The thesis demonstrates that reformation is an Islamic concept that requires that Muslims read the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah in the context of their own time and environment. It is postulated, therefore, that the rulings of Islamic law need to be examined in the light of the Qur'an, the correct Sunnah and the Islamic core values promoted in them. These include several internationally protected human rights, such as the right to life, equality, and freedom of religion. The thesis points out that the main purpose of Shariah is to serve the benefit of the people and to protect them from harm. To this end, Shariah has provided the Islamic principles of reality and necessity. These require that the reality of life and the needs of the people be considered at all times. If necessary for the sake of the people, the principles allow for exceptions to be made to even definite provisions. It, further, demonstrates how these principles can be applied to reform the hudud ordinances to reconcile them with international human rights law.
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Guntrip, Edward John. "The 'de-fragmentation' of international investment law and international human rights law : a procedural basis for a host state human rights defence in ICSID arbitration." Thesis, Brunel University, 2016. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/13855.
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This thesis considers the intersection of international investment law and international human rights law in ICSID arbitration by reference to the ‘fragmentation’ of public international law. More specifically, it argues that it is possible to establish a procedural basis for a host state human rights defence in ICSID arbitration. Utilising a systemic conception of public international law driven by state consent, it is posited that regime conflict between international investment law and international human rights law in ICSID arbitration justifies the introduction of a host state human rights defence. By reference to the ICSID Arbitral Rules, this thesis establishes a viable basis for the introduction of international human rights law into ICSID arbitration by a host state. Finally, it is argued that a procedural basis for a host state human rights defence in ICSID arbitration has the ability to ‘de-fragment’ international investment law and international human rights law.
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O'Brien, Dominic Andrew. "A child's right to healthcare : the obligation and enforcement of international human rights law." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2016. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/32280/.
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The obligation of the State to ensure children have access to healthcare is surprisingly contentious with Western capitalism demanding open markets free from interference. Such a view holds healthcare services as a commodity to be traded. A ‘right’ to health is only a goal to many, not a tangible guarantee States can rationally be expected to ensure because of the enormous costs and the difficulties presented to a court in adjudicating this right. On this view it is impossible for a child to have a legal right to access healthcare. This thesis combats such arguments. The obligation of the State is discussed from a moral standpoint, finding that the child’s right to health must be a State and a global obligation in any just society. Pragmatic discussion addresses the problem of legalising the obligation and showing the right can be a tangible guarantee. This is done through two paradigms: firstly, by looking at current international law and its implementation; and secondly, by looking at countries with a right to healthcare in their written constitution and adjudication of such a right. This combats the legal right arguments as well as provides lessons that international law can learn from. This thesis contributes to discussion around the effective enforcement and implementation of human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights. It does this by examining the scope of a child’s right to health, and arguing for a moral obligation for its provision, as well as more pragmatic discussion on how to enforce such rights and adjudicate them to make them worth more than words on paper. The final chapter brings together various proposals for tackling the global challenge to ensure every child in the world has access to basic minimum healthcare.
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Melzer, Nils. "Targeted killing in international law /." Oxford [u.a.] : Oxford Univ. Press, 2009. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&doc_number=018603773&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA.
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Teilw. zugl.: Zürich, University, Diss., 2006 u.d.T.: Melzer, Nils: Targeted killing under the international normative paradigms of law enforcement and hostilities.Includes bibliographical references (p. [445]-458) and index.
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Ndayikengurukiye, Michel. "The international human rights law as a source of law in the Burundian judicial system." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/1154.
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"The enjoyment of all human rights by all persons is the ultimate horizon of democracy. It is generally admitted that democratic societies are less likely to violate human rights. The good human rights records of these societies can be justified, among others, by the promotion of a strong legal culture, which provides procedural avenues for allocating responsibility for human rights violations. Thus, the protection of human rights follows from the functions of law in society, and the nature of human rights claims. At the national level, human rights are protected by both domestic and international mechanisms. Therefore, the human rights claims should be based on violations of either domestic law or relevant provisions of operational international human rights instruments. However, most of the time this is not the case, especially in Africa. Many African states have ratified several international human rights instruments, but the record of the way the latter are applied in their respective judicial systems remains very poor. This study aims to analyse the case of Burundi, one of these state whose judicial system only rarely applies international human rights instruments in spite of the importance devoted to them by the Constitution. It must be understood that international human rights as a source of law will be referred to, in this study, both as a source of rights and as a source of interpretation of domestic human righs instruments such as the Bill of Rights. ... Chapter one will set out the content of the research, identify the problem and outline the methodology. Chapter two will focus on the status of international law in domestic legal systems. It will highlight the theories that have been used to determine the relationship between international and domestic law in general. Chapter three will analyse on basis of some samples of cases how the Burundian courts interpret and apply international human rights instruments. Chapte four discusses the role played by the Burundian lawyers in the enforcement of these instruments. Chapter five will draw [a] conclusion and recommendations." -- Introduction.Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005.
Prepared under the supervision of Professor Grace Patrick Tumwine-Mukubwa at the Faculty of Law, Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html
Centre for Human Rights
LLM
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Söderlund, Erik. "Transnational Corporations and Human Rights : Assessing the position of TNCs within international human rights law, and the appropriateness of an international treaty on business and human rights." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Juridiska institutionen, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-363144.
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Transnational corporations are playing an important role in the global economy of today. Many of these corporations have great economic resources and have the possibility of contributing to the development of societies in developing states. At the same time, in their search for profit, the activities of TNCs have proven fatal to some of the individuals employed by them, or otherwise in contact with their activities. Within the international legal framework, corporations are not traditionally treated as subjects and if a TNC allocates its production to a state with lax human rights protection, no binding international standards exist to regulate the conduct of the corporation. In my thesis I will assess the position of TNCs under the present core human rights instruments and soft law initiatives. I will also analyze a draft treaty text produced by the Intergovernmental Working Group on Business and Human Rights, released in July 2018, to reach a conclusion on whether such an instrument would affect the international legal status of TNCs and provide a more robust protection of international human rights.
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Malila, Mumba. "The place of individuals? duties in international human rights law : perspectives from the African human rights system." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/60063.
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Some worry has been expressed in human rights circles that the human rights archetype has for some time now, disproportionately preoccupied itself with the culture of rights and claims at the expense of individuals? duties and responsibilities. A claim is made that while rights are individualistic, self-seeking, unworldly, self-indulgent and anti-social, individual duties and responsibilities are collective, social, humane, nuanced and associated with correct traditional and social behaviour and human values. The language of rights has dominated the texts of bills of rights in constitutions, and international instruments, and many view this rhetoric as unproblematic. Others, however, consider the currency of that language as overlooking, with dire consequences to human society, the concept of duty as the missing link of human dignity. There have, accordingly, been calls for a renewed focus on individual duties and responsibilities in the human rights discourse. The question is whether focussing on individual responsibility is necessary to counterbalance what is viewed by some as a bias towards rights.
Efforts to raise international consciousness of what is regarded as the limitation of a purely rights-based approach to human rights has been spearheaded by, among others, faith based organisations. These have advocated not only a more visible recognition of individual duties and responsibilities generally, but an international declaration of human responsibilities as a ?common standard for all people and all nations.? The calls being made are premised on, first, a view that a device in the form of an international declaration ? a set of international rules ? should be developed to change the current human rights architecture. This code of ethical obligations is necessary to guide and change individual behaviour. Second, a belief that greater emphasis should be laid on individual duty responsibility to supplement existing international human rights norms and standards, and finally, that human rights principles alone are inadequate for modern societies to regulate themselves well.
With particular reference to perspectives from the African Charter based human rights system, this project interrogates these concerns regarding duties with a view to ascertaining whether there is justification in them. Using as a reference point the concept of duties in the African Charter and to a small extent that in the African Children's Charter, which represents the older
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and more established part of the African human rights system, the project concludes that although individuals? duties are important and deserve greater attention, there is no convincing case for the calls that are being made in this regard.Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Centre for Human Rights
LLD
Unrestricted
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Khoury, S. "(Transnational) Corporations and Human Rights: an exploration into the accomodation of capital in international human rights law." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2434/239323.
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There is empirical evidence that corporations, often in collusion with states, are complicit in, if not instigators of, a variety of human rights violations. Despite this evidence, the international community of states has been unwilling or unable to respond to these violations in any adequate measure. At the same time, the discourse of human rights has become integral to state legitimacy in a post-Cold War society. An analysis of the legal structure of the corporation and its omnipresence in the global political economy raises questions about the overarching framework of an international human rights law that protects corporations in analogous ways to physical persons. The extension of rights to corporations reveals a human rights paradigm that holds private property and capitalist accumulation at the core of its value system. This thesis scrutinises the association between human rights and corporations and raises questions about whether human rights law can be used to challenge corporate power.
The thesis is an empirically based inquiry into the perspectives of judges from the European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights on the potential for human rights law to respond to corporate harms. The thesis seeks to examine the role that human rights courts play in using existing mechanisms of human rights law in cases involving corporate violations. The data was gathered from a detailed analysis of case law from these regional human rights systems, as well as fifteen interviews with judges from the European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights. The analysis reveals that the open-texture of the law and the use of international human rights courts in counter-hegemonic struggles is a strong indication of the possibility for alternative uses of human rights law. These alternative uses of law are illustrative of the potential to challenge the relative impunity afforded to corporations from within the very system that has been developed to protect them.
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Kaspers, Birte. "Beiträge zu "gefährdeten Personengruppen" im Zeitraum von 1995 bis 2009 : eine Auswertung von Human Rights Quarterly, Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights und The International Journal of Human Rights." Universität Potsdam, 2009. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2009/4013/.
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I. Einleitung
II. Auswertung Human Rights Quarterly
III. Auswertung Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights
IV. Auswertung The International Journal of Human Rights
V. Zusammenfassende Auswertung
VI. Schlussanmerkung
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Montoya, Chávez Victorhugo, and Cambiaso Raúl Feijóo. "The Hierarchy of Human Rights International Treaties." IUS ET VERITAS, 2016. http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/handle/123456789/123420.
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An issue that has sparked heated debate over the years is undoubtedly the hierarchy of international treaties in the Peruvian legal system. the critical point is whether these treaties have Constitutional status. thus, the authors seek the answer based on the hierarchy of laws and how Human Rights Treaties are defined nowadays. Furthermore, they analyze the arguments defending their constitutional status in order to arrive to a firm conclusion that considers the globalization process that Law is going through.Un tema que ha despertado un gran debate a lo largo de los años, es sin duda el rango de los tratados internacionales en el ordenamiento jurídico peruano. el punto álgido sobre la discusión es si dichos tratados tienen el mismo peso que la Constitución. De esta manera, los autores buscan responder a la interrogante basándose en la jerarquía normativa y cómo se entienden hoy en día los tratados sobre Derechos Humanos. Además, analizan los argumentos que defienden su rango constitucional, para finalmente emitir una sólida conclusión considerando el proceso de globalización por el que transcurre el Derecho en la actualidad.
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John-Langba, Vivian Nasaka. "The role of national human rights institutions in promoting and protecting the rights of refugees: the case of South Africa and Kenya." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32499.
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The apparent normative and implementation gaps within the international refugee protection regime suggest the need to reform its implementation and accountability processes. Increasingly, the focus is being shifted to local or domestic actors to attempt to address the challenges faced in realising refugee rights effectively. Among the key domestic accountability actors for the realisation of rights, are national human rights institutions (NHRIs). NHRIs are considered a bridge between the international and domestic human rights systems. NHRIs act as entities that facilitate the diffusion of international human rights norms and standards, including those with respect to refugee rights, into the national spheres. Notwithstanding this, there is paucity in empirical evidence within the refugee rights discourse on the role that NHRIs can play to promote the effective realisation of refugee rights. This study explores the role that NHRIs in South Africa and Kenya play in promoting and protecting refugee rights. It utilises a non-doctrinal and qualitative research approach, to examine the extent to which the NHRIs engage with refugee rights and to explore their capacity to do so effectively. It situates NHRIs within the nexus between international human rights law and international refugee law to frame the understanding for their role within the refugee protection regime. The findings indicate that the NHRIs in South Africa and Kenya that are compliant with the Paris Principles display significant engagement with refugee rights promotion and protection. As accountability mechanisms, they have contributed to the development and implementation of domestic refugee law and policy in accordance with international norms and standards. This has occurred despite the lack of an explicit refugee rights' promotion and protection mandate, but they face barriers and challenges. Various underlying factors that impede their effectiveness to address refugee rights were identified. These included the sociopolitical contexts within which they operate, capacity constraints and invisibility within the refugee protection regime. The socio-political challenges included xenophobia and the securitisation of the asylum space. These compounded organisational and operational weaknesses such as scarce specialist skills in refugee law, limited financial resources, and the absence of strategic and sustained partnerships for refugee rights protection. The overall absence of norms for NHRI engagement with refugee rights was identified as a contributory factor for the lack of a coherent approach for promoting and protecting these rights. Possible avenues to enhance NHRI engagement with refugee rights were identified. For instance, NHRIs building partnerships for refugee rights promotion and protection with CSOs, the UNHCR and regional institutions based on a clear understanding of an NHRI's role as accountability mechanisms. For NHRIs, the imperative lies in building their capacity to address refugee rights to ensure a clear understanding of what the promotion and protection of these rights entails.
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Zawātī, Ḥilmī. "Just war, peace and human rights under Islamic and international law." Thesis, McGill University, 1997. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=28236.
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The present thesis attempts a critical examination of the theory of war under Islamic and public international law, in an effort to demonstrate that jihad is a just, defensive, and exceptional form of warfare, geared to the maintenance of peace, and the protection of human rights for all people, whether those rights be exercised alone or in association with others, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religious belief. Through an examination of the norms of Islamic and public international law on armed conflict, this thesis argues that Islamic law, which governs the doctrine of jihad, is realistic and practical. Further, it made a great contribution to international humanitarian law more than a millennium before the codification of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and eight centuries before the appearance of Hugo Grotius treatise "De jure belli ac pacis libri tres" in 1625.Furthermore, this comparative study reveals that the word jihad might be one of the most misunderstood terms in the history of Islamic legal discourse. This analysis also claims that the division of the world into dar al-Islam (territory of Islam) and dar al-harb (territory of war), which is not predicated on a state of mutual hostility, was dictated by particular events, and was not imposed by scripture. Moreover, this discussion provides that Islamic humanitarian law regulates conduct during a jihad on the basis of certain humane principles, compatible with those upon which modern international conventions are based. Finally, this thesis concludes that there is a unique relationship between jihad and the notion of just war, a matter which qualifies it as the bellum justum of Islam.
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McAdam, Jane. "Seeking refuge in human rights : complementary protection in international refugee law." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2004. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7af99722-4987-414f-bed1-2bb8f097bf7c.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines complementary protection the protection afforded by States to persons who fall outside the legal definition of a refugee in article 1A(2) of the 1951 Refugee Convention, but who nonetheless have a need for international protection. Human rights law has extended States' international protection obligations beyond the Refugee Convention, preventing States from removing individuals who would be at risk of serious harm if returned to their countries of origin. While a number of States have traditionally respected these additional human rights obligations, they have been reluctant to grant beneficiaries a formal legal status analogous to that enjoyed by Convention refugees. By examining the human rights foundations of the Convention, the architecture of the Convention, regional examples of complementary protection, and principles of non-discrimination, the thesis argues that the Convention is a lex specialis for all persons in need of international protection a specialized blueprint of legal status, irrespective of the legal source of the protection obligation. Chapter 1 identifies pre-1951 examples of complementary protection, demonstrating how the content of the status afforded to extended categories of refugees was historically the same as that granted to 'legal' refugees. It traces unsuccessful attempts at the international and European levels to codify a system of complementary protection, prior to the EU's adoption of the Qualification Directive in 2004. The Qualification Directive, examined in Chapter 2, represents the first supranational codification of complementary protection, but is hampered by a hierarchical conceptualization of protection that grants a lesser status to beneficiaries of 'subsidiary protection' vis-à-vis Convention refugees. Chapters 3 to 5 examine the CAT, ECHR, ICCPR and CRC to identify provisions which may give rise to a claim for international protection, beyond article 3 CAT, article 3 ECHR and article 7 ICCPR. Finally, Chapter 6 illustrates why all persons protected by the principle of non-refoulement are entitled to the same legal status, demonstrating the function of the Convention as a lex specialis for all persons in need of international protection.