Read the summary and the most important questions on Various Branches of International Law

• 1 International human rights law

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• 1.1 Lecture 2

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• Concept of human rights

  1. Inherent natural rights 
     
  1. we possess human rights because we are human 
  2. they exist whether they are protected by law or not
  3. based on morality, religion, and/or reason 
  2. human rights law 
  1. product of societal agreement 
  1. e.g., democracy 
  2. outcome of a law-making process 
  1. if it is the law it is a human right, if not then it is not a human right 
  3. human rights language 
  1. a way of framing a claim 
  1. use human rights to strengthen their (political) argument 

• Sources of human rights law

  1. Treaty law 
     
  1. main source 
  2. general and specific regimes 
  3. depends on ratification 
  4. role of reservation (not ratifying everything) 
  2. customary international law 
  1. exist in parallel to treaty law 
  2. binding to all states, except the persistent objectors 
  3. may be jus cogens - although there is a tendency to overstate the overlap between human rights law and jus cogens 
  3. general principles 
  4. soft law 

• History of human rights protection

  1. Early protection 
     
  1. anti-slavery movements 
  2. protection of minority rights (e.g., League of Nations Charter) 
  3. national declarations of rights (e.g., French Declaration des Droits de l'Homme) 
  2. United nations charter 1945 
  1. art. 1 -> purposes
  2. art. 68 -> UN Commission of Human Rights 
  3. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
  1. not binding 
  2. interpretative tool 
  3. proof for custom (sometimes )
  4. international covenants 
  1. ICCPR
  2. ICESCR 
  3. ICESCR protocols 1976 and 2013 
  4. Conventants they contain rights and optional  protocols contain individual complaint mechanisms. 

• The nature of human rights law

  1. Individual: rights holder
     
  1. exception: people's rights
  2. state: duty bearer
  1. incl. All representatives of the state
  1. except international organisations
  2. NGO's and businesses have no human rights obligations

• 1.2 Lecture 3

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• Monitoring and enforcement of human rights; treaty based

  • General comments and recommendations 
    
  • state reporting - concluding observations 
  • inquiry procedure 
  • interstate complaint procedure 
  • individual complaint procedure -> decisions on individuals communications 

• Monitoring and enforcement human rights; charter based HRC

  Apply to all states as long as they are part of the UN and cover all human rights
  
  human rights council:
  Established in 2006 prior to the UN Commission on human rights. They meet three times per year in Geneva.Consists of 47 states selected by the General Assembly (this is for regional representation). Primarily a political forum: focus on collaboration and 'naming and 'shaming'
  
  They make:
  

  • general comments
  • universal periodic review

  • special procedures

  • complaint procedures

• HRC; universal periodic review

  • universal -> all states, all human rights treaty obligations
  • periodic -> every five years
  • reviews
  • based on reports from states, UN, stakeholders
  • interactive dialogue with recommendations
  • outcome report
  • primarily the responsibility of the state to implement the recommendations.

• HRC; special procedures

  • for particular issues or areas of concern
  • individual (special rapporteur/ independent expert) or working group
  • thematic (e.g., enforcement disappearances, climate change, etc.) or country specific
  • focus on investigation, raising awareness and profile, reporting to the Human Rights Council

• HRC; Complaint procedures

  • Complaints can be made by groups or individuals who either
  • were the victim of a violation
  • have direct and reliable information about a violation
  • complaints considered by working groups with an aim to uncovering patterns of violations
  • may lead to other special procedures
  • admissibility criteria
  • complaints may not be:
  • manifestly ill-founded
  • manifestly politically motivated
  • not anonymous
  • exhaustion of the domestic remedies
  • confidential

• Treaty based mechanisms; general comments and recommendations

  • Provide an interpretation of human rights instruments in the abstract
    
  • not legally binding
  • seen as authoritative interpretation
  • may be substantive/ rights-focused
  • may be focused on other aspects of the treaty