Human rights are the only universally recognized system of contemporary values which, during the last 50 years, has been gradually developed and defined by all States in a comprehensive international legal framework. The international human rights regime is closely related to international peace and security, development and a global trend towards pluralist democracy, good governance and the rule of law. International humanitarian and criminal law can today be considered as specific aspects of international human rights law, which after the end of the Cold War has become increasingly complex...

There has always been some discomfort about reservations in relation to international obligations of States applicable to individuals. This apprehension was once again brought to the forefront of the international normative process with General Comment No. 24 of the Human Rights Committee and the work of the International Law Commission on reservations to treaties.
This book is a contribution to the debate on reservations to human rights treaties. Several key questions are addressed. Can the reservations' regime, as codified in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, adequately...

Today, a majority of asylum cases are arguably decided on the basis of evidentiary assessment rather than issues of material law. Although the EU-wide Common European Asylum System purports to harmonise domestic practices at a minimum level, it fails to offer remedies for this crucial issue, which poses challenges for practitioners and academics alike. Without a coherent approach to evidentiary assessment, asylum law will remain fragmented and open to discretionary excess.
Up to now, academic research has not addressed issues of proof and credibility in the asylum procedure to an extent...

This unique collection has been compiled to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the activities of the Human Rights Committee established under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It reflects various aspects of the Committee and its activities and is comprised of articles contributed exclusively by its members, past and present. The Festschrift is divided into five chapters. Chapter I comprises four articles dealing with the UN system of human rights protection in general and the role and work of the Human Rights Committee in particular. Chapter II contains two...

The beginning of the 21st century is characterized by global structural changes and worldwide concern for the problems surrounding the relationships between states and minority groups. Autonomy has become a code word for an all-purpose means of inclusion of sub-state groups in the three major functions that make for the essence of international law: the allocation of competence, the furtherance of common interest and the maintenance of international peace. Since to be autonomous is to be a law to oneself, and autonomous agents are self-governing agents, the authors of this present volume try...

This volume, a collection of essays by a variety of scholars in the field of indigenous rights, originates from the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland in Galway. It highlights those instances in the work of international organizations where advances have been made concerning indigenous rights. It also devotes attention to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and to a number of thematic issues in the field. The human rights situations facing indigenous peoples in Australia, Bangladesh, Canada,...

On a general level, this research project concerns ways in which the domestic and international laws relating to the situation of migrant domestic workers (MDWs) are shaped by broader socio-political and economic factors. More specifically, this dissertation examines the human rights situation of Filipina MDWs who participate in Canada's Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). It attempts to meet these objectives, in part, by undertaking a limited comparison of the situation of these Filipina MDWs and the Filipina MDWs in Hong Kong. The comparison is meant to further test and validate the arguments...

"Achieving peace or protecting human rights? Conflicts between norms regarding ethnic discrimination in the Dayton Peace Agreement" examines some of the legal issues pertaining to international settlements aiming at ending a war, finding political common ground between bitter enemies, and at the same time, protecting individual human rights. The author examines the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in particular the constitutional framework which on the one hand secures everyone's human rights and protection from ethnic discrimination, but on the other hand sets up a...

Courts of some Nordic countries started reviewing the constitutionality of legislation long before judicial review was established elsewhere in Europe. This study examines the influence of American law and theories of judicial review on the development, practice and theorization of judicial review in Norway, Denmark, and Iceland from the 19th century to the present. The study describes how Nordic scholars in the late 19th century rationalized judicial review based on American theory and how American law influenced both their views of the institution and their way of thinking about substantive...

The purpose of this book is to provide a consolidated collection of materials to facilitate comparison of the various national human rights institutions (NHRIs) already established in the Asia-Pacific region, against a background of selected international materials and with the assistance of several comparative tables. The latter are not intended to be exhaustive, but are designed to assist in identifying and considering the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the legislative mandates of each national institution. While the collection is primarily intended for teaching purposes, it should...