Human Rights

Human Rights Controversies The Impact of Legal Form

By Luke McNamara
Routledge June 2007

Specifications

ISBN-13
9780415420389
Publisher
Routledge
Publication
June 2007
Format
Paperback , 320 pages
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

Many countries confront similar human rights controversies, but, despite the claimed universality of human rights values they are not always resolved in the same way. Why? What role do local legal conditions play? Is human rights discourse more potent where rights are constitutionally entrenched, rather than where there is a tradition of respect for underlying human rights values but no bill of rights?

Comparative socio-legal examination of three recent controversies - double jeopardy reform, recognition of same-sex relationships and the operation of hate speech laws - in four countries - Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom provides answers to these questions.

Examination of these controversies suggests that differences in the design of domestic legal institutions and procedures for the injection of human rights values into legal decision-making processes can have a powerful effect on the manner in which human rights issues are constructed, handled and resolved.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Universal Human Rights in a World of Localities. The Legal Protection of Human Rights: Rolling Back an Established Human Right: 'Reforming' the Rule Against Double Jeopardy. Pushing the Boundaries of Human Rights Protection: Equality and the Recognition of Same Sex Relationships. Balancing 'Competing' Human Rights: Drawing the Free Speech/Hate Speech Line. Conclusions: Does Legal Form Matter?

About the Author

Luke McNamara is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Wollongong, Australia.

Reviews

"as a descriptive account of the provesses and outcomes of claims and discourse surrounding the three cases in the four chosen jurisdictions, this book is of great interest." -Don Crewe, Int J Semiot Law, August 2008

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