|

VVV|

u





1. UN Charter

2. Universal declaration of human rights.

3. The 2 covenants:

International covenant on civil and political rights

International covenant on economic, social and cultural rights

4. International treaties.

5. Regional treaties.

6. National constitutions and laws

u



1. UN General Assembly
2. UN Security Council
3. The Human Rights Council
* The Council (47 States) was created by the UN General Assembly in March 2006
* The main purposes are:
- addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations.
- strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.
* Instruments:
- The Universal Periodic Review: involves a review of the human rights records of
all 192 UN Member States once every four years.
- The Advisory Committee: composed of 18 experts, to function as a think-tank
for the Council and work at its direction
- Complaint Procedure is being established to address consistent patterns of
gross and reliably attested violations of all human rights and freedoms occurring in
any part of the world and under any circumstances
u



4. The Human Rights Committee

5. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
6. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
7. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
8. The Committee Against Torture
9. The Committee on the Rights of the Child
10. The Committee on Migrant Workers

      


1. Consideration of state parties' reports
2. Consideration of individual complaints or communications: 4, 6, 7, 8
3. Publish general comments on the treaties and organize discussions on
related themes.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
°  u



   u
* They deal essentially with liberty and participation in political life.
* They are fundamentally civil and political in nature, and serve to protect the
individual from excesses of the state.
* They include, among other things, freedom of speech, the right to a fair trial,

freedom of religion, and voting rights

    u
* They are related to equality.
* They are fundamentally social, economic, and cultural in nature.
* They ensure different members of the states equal conditions and treatment.
* They include: the right to be employed, rights to housing and health care,

social security and unemployment benefits

°  u


    u
Right to self-determination: freedom of the people of a given territory to
determine their own political status or independence from their current
state.

Right to a healthy environment

United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm 1972):
the first document in international environmental law to recognize the right
to a healthy environment.

Right to economic and social development

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio Summit 1992)
µdevelopment is a comprehensive economic, social, cultural and political
process, which aims at the constant improvement of the well-being of the
entire population and of all individuals on the basis of their active, free and
meaningful participation in development and in the fair distribution of
benefits resulting therefromµ.
°  u


   u
Right to intergenerational equity and sustainability
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human
needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not
only in the present, but in the indefinite future.

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development:

"The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet
developmental and environmental needs of present and future generationsµ

Earth Summit (Johannesburg 2002):

´development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Right to natural resources

Right to participation in cultural heritage

Right to communication and information

Group and collective rights

„
  
   u


Economic, social and cultural rights are argued to be:

1. positive, meaning that they require active provision of entitlements
by the state (as opposed to the state being required only to prevent
the breach of rights)
2. resource-intensive, meaning that they are expensive and difficult to
provide
3. progressive, meaning that they will take significant time to
implement
4. vague, meaning they cannot be quantitatively measured, and whether
they are adequately provided or not is difficult to judge
5. ideologically divisive/political, meaning that there is no consensus on
what should and shouldn't be provided as a right
6. socialist
7. non-justiciable, meaning that their provision, or the breach of them,
cannot be judged in a court of law
8. aspirations or goals
„
  
   u


Civil and political rights are categorized as:

1. negative, meaning the state can protect them simply by taking no
action
2. cost-free
3. immediate, meaning they can be immediately provided if the
state decides to
4. precise, meaning their provision is easy to judge and measure
5. non-ideological/non-political
6. capitalist
7. justiciable
8. real 'legal' rights