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International Human Rights Law and Practice

International Human Rights Law and Practice

Author: Ilias Bantekas; Lutz Oette
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521152365
Published In: April 2013
Format: Paperback , 779 pages
Jurisdiction: International ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Human rights law is a complex but compelling subject that fascinates students but also confuses them. This innovative textbook explores human rights law from a theoretical and practical perspective. Case studies and interviews with specialist practitioners, NGO activists and policy-makers show how theory is applied in real life. The up-to-date coverage includes introductions to important emerging fields such as globalisation, poverty and advocacy. Student learning is supported by questions to stimulate seminar discussion and further reading sections that encourage independent study. The authors' combined expertise, engaging writing style and ability to clarify not simplify ensures that this important new book will become required reading for all students of human rights law.

• Innovative approach mixing academic rigour and practical emphasis ensures students' full understanding of the law

• Integrated interviews with human rights professionals and practitioners gives subject immediacy and relevance

• Engaging writing style offers clarification on (not simplification of) complex legal principles

List of abbreviations	x
Table of cases	xix
Introduction	1
1 International human rights law and notions of human rights: foundations, achievements and challenges	9
1.1 Introduction	9
1.2 The development of human rights and international human rights law	11
1.3 Current challenges	27
1.4 The idea of human rights: theories and critiques	32
1.5 Universal human rights: contestations and practices	37
Further reading	49
2 International human rights law: the normative framework	50
2.1 Introduction	50
2.2 Sources	53
2.3 Rights, obligations and scope of application	72
2.4 Implementation	78
2.5 Human rights treaties as self-contained regimes	86
2.6 Practical application: the role of law reform	88
Further reading	95
3 Human rights in practice	96
3.1 Introduction	96
3.2 Civil society	97
3.3 Social movements	99
3.4 NGOs	101
3.5 Human rights defenders	109
3.6 Legal professionals and human rights	113
3.7 Health professionals and human rights	117
3.8 Human rights field officers	118
3.9 Human rights strategies	122
Further reading	144
4 The United Nations Charter system	145
4.1 Introduction	145
4.2 The human rights dimension of the Charter	146
4.3 The Human Rights Council	150
4.4 Special procedures	160
4.5 The General Assembly and human rights	168
4.6 The Security Council	170
Further reading	180
5 The UN human rights treaty system	181
5.1 Introduction	181
5.2 Common features of international human rights treaty bodies	183
5.3 Reporting procedure	187
5.4 General comments/recommendations	197
5.5 Complaints procedures and jurisprudence of treaty bodies	200
Further reading	218
6 Regional human rights treaty systems	219
6.1 Introduction	219
6.2 The European human rights system	221
6.3 The Inter-American human rights system	243
6.4 The African human rights system	255
6.5 Towards an Asian human rights system?	269
6.6 Comparison of regional systems	270
Further reading	271
7 Individual complaints procedures	273
7.1 Introduction	273
7.2 Admissibility	274
7.3 Merits	293
7.4 Decisions by human rights treaty bodies	296
7.5 Implementation of decisions and judgments	298
7.6 Additional procedural options	303
7.7 The Hissène Habré case: the interplay between domestic, regional and international proceedings	309
Further reading	311
8 Civil and political rights	313
8.1 Introduction	313
8.2 The right to life	314
8.3 The right to be free from torture	326
8.4 The right to liberty and security	338
8.5 The right to a fair trial	345
8.6 Enforced disappearance as multiple human rights violation	351
8.7 Qualified rights, with a particular focus on freedom of expression	359
Further reading	365
9 Economic, social and cultural rights	366
9.1 Introduction	366
9.2 Brief historical context of economic, social and cultural rights	367
9.3 Progressive realisation and the nature of state obligations	369
9.4 Resource implications: the obligation to utilise ‘maximum available resources’	374
9.5 Minimum core obligations	377
9.6 Justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights	380
9.7 Indicators and benchmarks for measuring compliance	386
9.8 The right to health	390
9.9 The right to water	393
9.10 The right to education	397
9.11 The right to food	400
Further reading	407
10 Group rights: self-determination, minorities and indigenous peoples	409
10.1 Introduction	409
10.2 The nature of collective rights	410
10.3 Minorities as a subject of human rights	423
10.4 Indigenous peoples: is there a need for additional protection?	435
Further reading	451
11 The human rights of women	452
11.1 Introduction	452
11.2 Normative framework	454
11.3 Conceptual development	467
11.4 Women’s human rights and domestic contexts: ‘honour crimes’ in the English legal system	475
Further reading	483
12 The right to development, poverty and related rights	484
12.1 Introduction	484
12.2 The human dimension of development	485
12.3 The right to development	488
12.4 Global partnerships for the financing of development	496
12.5 Practical application	500
12.6 Debt relief and the enjoyment of fundamental rights	507
12.7 The right to a corruption-free society	512
12.8 The right to a healthy environment	516
Further reading	521
13 Victims’ rights and reparation	522
13.1 Introduction	522
13.2 The development of the right to reparation	524
13.3 The right to reparation in international human rights law	526
13.4 The right to reparation in international humanitarian law	531
13.5 The right to reparation in international criminal law	532
13.6 The right to reparation and violations by non-state actors	533
13.7 The right to reparation for historical injustices and violations	534
13.8 The notion and legal significance of the term ‘victim’	536
13.9 The procedural right to an effective remedy	537
13.10 The substantive right to reparation	539
13.11 The double-edged sword of victims’ politics	552
13.12 Negotiating, litigating and administering reparations: experiences from the Holocaust and World War II reparations	554
13.13 Reparation in action: litigating human rights cases	557
Further reading	565
14 The application of human rights in armed conflict and the international criminalisation process	567
14.1 Introduction	567
14.2 The fundamental premises of international humanitarian law	568
14.3 Rights and obligations in humanitarian law	573
14.4 Humanitarian law as lex specialis to human rights law	575
14.5 Why human rights bodies find the application of humanitarian law problematic	577
14.6 Human rights in situations of military occupation	579
14.7 The relevance of the law to battlefield conditions	589
14.8 Fundamentals of international criminal justice	599
14.9 The enforcement of international criminal law	603
Further reading	612
15 Human rights and counter-terrorism	613
15.1 Introduction	613
15.2 The legal nature of terrorism	615
15.3 The discussion on underlying or root causes	617
15.4 The obligation of states to protect their populations from terrorism	619
15.5 Human rights in counter-terrorism operations	622
15.6 The right to life in counter-terrorism operations	629
15.7 Attempts to justify arbitrary detention	634
15.8 Unlawful extraditions and illegal renditions of suspected terrorists	638
15.9 Legal and other strategies regarding disappeared terrorist suspects	645
Further reading	654
16 Non-state actors and human rights	656
16.1 Introduction	656
16.2 The status of non-state actors in human rights law	657
16.3 Multinational corporations in the human rights architecture	661
16.4 Human rights obligations of international organisations	674
16.5 National liberation movements and armed rebel groups	679
Further reading	686
17 Globalisation and its impact on human rights	687
17.1 Introduction	687
17.2 The origins and nature of globalisation	689
17.3 Does the existing model of trade liberalisation promote development and alleviate poverty?	692
17.4 How intellectual property rights hinder access to essential medicines for the poorest	700
17.5 The impact of globalisation on transnational labour relations: the outsourcing of labour	703
17.6 The challenge of mass irregular migration	705
17.7 The McLibel case: sales globalisation and its impact on rights	708
Further reading	711
Index	712

Ilias Bantekas
Brunel University

Lutz Oette
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Advance praise: 'Human rights law is an inherently active, political and practical body of law; to understand it and its operation requires familiarity not only with the formal rules, standards and systems but also with the informal, the political and the practical. By combining precise description and analysis of the law with insightful and varied contributions from practice (broadly defined), Oette and Bantekas provide a rounded account of international human rights law and its practice that provokes as well as it informs.' Fiona de Londras, Durham University