In this book the author argues that judicial activism in respect of the protection of human rights and dignity and the right to due process is an essential element of the democratic rule of law in a constitutional democracy as opposed to being 'judicial overreach'. Selected recent case law is explored from the US and Canadian Supreme Courts as well as the European Court of Human Rights illustrating that these Courts have, at times, engaged in judicial activism in the service of providing equal protection of the law and due process to the powerless but have, on other occasions, employed legalistic but insupportable strategies to sidestep that obligation.The book will be of interest to those with a deep concern regarding the factors that influence judicial decision-making and the judiciary's role through judgments in promoting and preserving the underpinnings of democracy. This includes legal researchers, the judiciary, practicing counsel and legal academics and law students as well as those in the area of democracy studies, in addition to scholars in the fields of sociology and philosophy of law.

Children of almost any age can break the law, but at what age should children first face the possibility of criminal responsibility for their alleged crimes? This work is the first global analysis of national minimum ages of criminal responsibility (MACRs), the international legal obligations that surround them, and the principal considerations for establishing and implementing respective age limits. Taking an international children's rights approach, with a rich theoretical framework and the vitality of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this work maintains a critical perspective, such as in challenging the assumptions of many children's rights scholars and advocates. Compiling the age limits and statutory sources for all countries, this book explains the broad historical origins behind most of them, identifying the recurring practical challenges that affect every country and providing the first comprehensive evidence that a general principle of international law requires all nations, regardless of their treaty ratifications, to establish respective minimum age limits.

The European Commission has claimed that 'Solidarity is part of how European society works...'. But how are we to understand solidarity, and what are its implications to Government policy? Promoting Solidarity in the European Union addresses the question of what solidarity might mean today and its relevance to the purposes of the European Union and the way it functions. Is solidarity just a slogan or can it have meaningful legal and policy content? This book brings together contributions from leading scholars in law, politics and sociology to discuss an idea that is coming under fresh scrutiny at a time when the EU's direction following the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty is hotly debated. The authors engage with both the content and limitations of solidarity as a concept in political and legal debate, and its application to specific fields such as migration, education and pensions policies.
Promoting Solidarity in the European Union provides a thoughtful and provocative analysis of the power and potential of solidarity, applying a sceptical and rigorous assessment of the conditions necessary for it to make a difference to the European political and legal space at a time when traditional manifestations of national solidarity (e.g. in health care) are perceived to be under threat from EU market liberalization policies. A number of contributions consider whether an EU concept of solidarity is possible and how that might affect the balance between market and social priorities for the Union's future.
If the EU is to be more than just a market, promoting solidarity as a value and a principle has a key role. This rich collection of essays explores how solidarity might fulfil its status as a core value for the Union.

With the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty in French and Dutch referenda, the European Union received a severe blow that precipitated a period of reflection and soul searching. How far should the fundamental principles that shape the Union be re-assessed in the light of the Constitutional debate? Can the Constitutional Treaty be rescued from failure? If not, what other options for constitutional reform are available? Does the Treaty's rejection signal the failure of the Union's goal of democratic governance?
The essays in this volume examine the impact of the debate surrounding the future of the European Constitution on the development of core areas of EU law and policy. Opening with a discussion of the shifting conceptions of European democracy, the volume proceeds to look at key areas of substantive law against the backdrop of the Constitutional Treaty, from Foreign Relations to Fundamental Rights, Social Policy to Justice and Home Affairs. The book concludes with an examination of potential solutions to the constitutional crisis, and models for future constitutional reform.

Immigration is one of the most controversial topics of the decade. Citizens and pundits from across the political spectrum argue for major and disparate changes to American immigration law. Yet few know what American immigration law actually is and how it functions."Everyday Law for Immigrants" is an ideal guide for U.S. citizens who want a better understanding of our immigration laws as well as for migrants who make the United States their home. Romero deftly and comprehensively explains the basic challenges immigrants and foreign nationals face not only within formal immigration policy but also within American domestic law generally, including rules promulgated by federal, state, and local entities that affect noncitizens. A concise and accessible primer for interested citizens, noncitizens, and their advocates, this book provides a bird's eye view of U.S. immigration history, practice, and procedure, and constructively addresses the many legal issues in areas such as education, housing, and employment that affect foreigners who reside here. It includes easy-to-understand examples and an extensive appendix of print and Internet resources for further help.

Sanctuary Cities and Urban Struggles makes the first sustained intervention into exploring how cities are challenging the primacy of the nation-state as the key guarantor of rights and entitlements. It brings together cutting-edge scholars of political geography, urban geography, citizenship studies, socio-legal studies and refugee studies to explore how urban social movements, localised practices of belonging and rights claiming, and diverse articulations of sanctuary are reshaping the governance of migration. By offering a collection of empirical cases and conceptualisations that move beyond 'seeing like a state', Sanctuary Cities and Urban Struggles proposes not a singular alternative but rather a set of interlocking sites and scales of political imagination and practice. In an era when migrant rights are under attack and nationalism is on the rise, the topic of how citizenship, rights and mobility can be recast at the urban scale is more relevant than ever. -- .

This handbook on women's human rights is an integrated set of fourteen teaching and learning units. Together, they are designed to identify key issues in women's human rights, define concepts, outline different methodologies for achieving women's human rights, and offer a wide range of activities to facilitate teaching, learning, and discussion of women's human rights challenges. Included in every chapter are a statement of key objectives, background information, discussion questions, special issue boxes, strategies and examples for taking action, and learning activities. Also included are key UN documents and international law bearing on women's human rights. Handouts, checklists, assessment forms, and activist organizations round out the range of reference materials provided. User-friendly, jargon-free, authoritative, and packed with hands-on information, the handbook is an essential resource for anyone working in the field, human rights professionals, scholars, students, and activists.

China's citizenship challenge tells a story of how labour NGOs contest migrant workers' citizenship marginalisation in China. The book argues that in order to effectively address problems faced by migrant workers, these NGOs must undertake 'citizenship challenge': the transformation of migrant workers' social and political participation in public life, the broadening of their access to labour and other rights, and the reinvention of their relationship to the city. By framing the NGOs' activism in terms of citizenship rather than class struggle, this book offers a valuable contribution to the field of labour movement studies in China. The monograph also proves exceptionally timely in the context of the state's repression of these organisations in recent years, which, as the book explores, were largely driven by their citizenship-altering activism. -- .

This handbook on women 's human rights is an integrated set of fourteen teaching and learning units. Together, they are designed to identify key issues in women 's human rights, define concepts, outline different methodologies for achieving women 's human rights, and offer a wide range of activities to facilitate teaching, learning, and discussion of women 's human rights challenges. Included in every chapter are a statement of key objectives, background information, discussion questions, special issue boxes, strategies and examples for taking action, and learning activities. Also included are key UN documents and international law bearing on women 's human rights. Handouts, checklists, assessment forms, and activist organizations round out the range of reference materials provided. User-friendly, jargon-free, authoritative, and packed with hands-on information, the handbook is an essential resource for anyone working in the field, human rights professionals, scholars, students, and activists.

Narratives of mixed-race people bringing claims of racial discrimination in court, illuminating traditional understandings of civil rights law As the mixed-race population in the United States grows, public fascination with multiracial identity has promoted the belief that racial mixture will destroy racism. However, multiracial people still face discrimination. Many legal scholars hold that this is distinct from the discrimination faced by people of other races, and traditional civil rights laws built on a strict black/white binary need to be reformed to account for cases of discrimination against those identifying as mixed-race. In Multiracials and Civil Rights, Tanya Kateri Hernandez debunks this idea, and draws on a plethora of court cases to demonstrate that multiracials face the same types of discrimination as other racial groups. Hernandez argues that multiracial people are primarily targeted for discrimination due to their non-whiteness, and shows how the cases highlight the need to support the existing legal structures instead of a new understanding of civil rights law. The legal and political analysis is enriched with Hernandez's own personal narrative as a mixed-race Afro-Latina. Coming at a time when explicit racism is resurfacing, Hernandez's look at multiracial discrimination cases is essential for fortifying the focus of civil rights law on racial privilege and the lingering legacy of bias against non-whites, and has much to teach us about how to move towards a more egalitarian society.

Following the vexed codification attempts of the International Law Commission and the relevant jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, this book addresses the permissibility of the practice of diplomatic asylum under general international law. In the light of a wealth of recent practice, most prominently the case of Julian Assange, the main objective of this book is to ascertain whether or not the practice of granting asylum within the premises of the diplomatic mission finds foundation under general international law. In doing so, it explores the legal framework of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, the regional treaty framework of Latin America, customary international law, and a possible legal basis for the practice on the basis of humanitarian considerations. In cases where the practice takes place without a legal basis, this book aims to contribute to bridging the legal lacuna created by the rigid nature of international diplomatic law with the absolute nature of the inviolability of the mission premises facilitating the continuation of the practice of diplomatic asylum even where it is without legal foundation. It does so by proposing solutions to the problem of diplomatic asylum. This book also aims to establish the extent to which international law relating to diplomatic asylum may presently find itself within a period of transformation indicative of both a change in the nature of the practice as well as exploring whether recent notions of humanity are superseding the traditional fundaments of the international legal system in this regard.

This book presents a comprehensive review of fundamental rights issues that are currently in the spotlight. The first part explores why the question of whether or not fundamental rights have horizontal effect is a topic of endless debate. The second part focuses on human rights and the rule of law. It begins by arguing that the hitherto valid model of the rule of law is now outdated, and then goes on to outline the importance of the judicial dimension in countering threats to the independence of the judiciary. Lastly, the third part addresses a classic issue in the field of human rights: states' margin of appreciation, highlighting two aspects: (i) the elements used by the ECJ to determine the scope of the margin of appreciation, which varies depending on the subject matter, the nature of the right in question, as well as the severity and the purpose of the interference; and (ii) the margin of appreciation enjoyed by national courts when interpreting the law. Exploring current issues concerning a topic of eternal interest, the book will appeal to scholars and practitioners alike. Written by formidable intellectual talents, committed to the study of fundamental rights, it rigorously analyses the most recent judgments of both the ECJ and the ECHR.

In this controversial and provocative book, Mary Anne Franks examines the thin line between constitutional fidelity and constitutional fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitution reveals how deep fundamentalist strains in both conservative and liberal American thought keep the Constitution in the service of white male supremacy. Constitutional fundamentalists read the Constitution selectively and self-servingly. Fundamentalist interpretations of the Constitution elevate certain constitutional rights above all others, benefit the most powerful members of society, and undermine the integrity of the document as a whole. The conservative fetish for the Second Amendment (enforced by groups such as the NRA) provides an obvious example of constitutional fundamentalism; the liberal fetish for the First Amendment (enforced by groups such as the ACLU) is less obvious but no less influential. Economic and civil libertarianism have increasingly merged to produce a deregulatory, "free-market" approach to constitutional rights that achieves fullest expression in the idealization of the Internet. The worship of guns, speech, and the Internet in the name of the Constitution has blurred the boundaries between conduct and speech and between veneration and violence. But the Constitution itself contains the antidote to fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitution lays bare the dark, antidemocratic consequences of constitutional fundamentalism and urges readers to take the Constitution seriously, not selectively.

A Washington Post Book of the Year Winner of the Merle Curti Award Winner of the Jacques Barzun Prize Winner of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award "A masterful study of privacy." -Sue Halpern, New York Review of Books "Masterful (and timely)...[A] marathon trek from Victorian propriety to social media exhibitionism...Utterly original." -Washington Post Every day, we make decisions about what to share and when, how much to expose and to whom. Securing the boundary between one's private affairs and public identity has become an urgent task of modern life. How did privacy come to loom so large in public consciousness? Sarah Igo tracks the quest for privacy from the invention of the telegraph onward, revealing enduring debates over how Americans would-and should-be known. The Known Citizen is a penetrating historical investigation with powerful lessons for our own times, when corporations, government agencies, and data miners are tracking our every move. "A mighty effort to tell the story of modern America as a story of anxieties about privacy...Shows us that although we may feel that the threat to privacy today is unprecedented, every generation has felt that way since the introduction of the postcard." -Louis Menand, New Yorker "Engaging and wide-ranging...Igo's analysis of state surveillance from the New Deal through Watergate is remarkably thorough and insightful." -The Nation

Der Autor untersucht unter Berucksichtigung der Neuerungen durch das SanInsFoG, ob die mit der drohenden Zahlungsunfahigkeit i. S. d. 18 InsO verbundenen rechtspolitischen Ziele des Gesetzgebers erreicht wurden. Dabei nimmt er zu bisher wenig beachteten Rechtsfragen im Zusammenhang mit den Eroeffnungsgrunden nach 17 ff. InsO Stellung, entwickelt eine eigene Prufungssystematik fur den Tatbestand des 18 InsO und unterbreitet einen Reformvorschlag zur Abloesung des 19 InsO. Er beleuchtet die bestehenden Anreize fur eine fruhzeitige Verfahrenseinleitung mit Fokus auf die gesetzlichen Sanierungsinstrumente sowie die Konkurrenzsituation zum StaRUG und unterbreitet fur klarungsbedurftige Einzelfragen Loesungsvorschlage. Der Autor stellt fest, dass de lege lata kaum geeignete Anreize zur Foerderung einer Verfahrenseinleitung bereits bei drohender Zahlungsunfahigkeit vorhanden sind und der Gesetzgeber daher das mit 18 InsO verfolgte Ziel nach wie vor verfehlt. Anschliessend prasentiert er konkrete Vorschlage zur Weiterentwicklung des geltenden Rechts de lege ferenda.

The composite nature of the EU constitutional legal framework and the presence of different fundamental rights protection actors within the European landscape presents a complex and fragmented scenario in search of a coherent structure. This discerning book provides a thorough analysis and offers a unique perspective on the future of fundamental rights protection in Europe. With engaging contributions from both scholars and practitioners, the chapters consider not only the role of judicial actors but also the increasing relevance of non-judicial bodies, including agencies, national human rights institutions, the Venice Commission and equality bodies. The contributors cover the different features and implications of judicial and non-judicial bodies at national, supranational and institutional level, paying close attention to their interaction and the ways in which each have a role to play in a comprehensive fundamental rights policy. Particular attention is paid to both the individual dimension of rights protection and the systemic dimension of rights monitoring and advisory, which have been largely overlooked in previous studies. Taking account of both theory and practice, this book will be a valuable resource to legal scholars in the fields of human rights protection, constitutional law and EU law. Members of national and supranational human rights organizations will also find this a valuable tool in discovering more about the legal foundations of their work. Contributors include: M. Avbelj, A. Baraggia, F. Fabbrini, M.E. Gennusa, S. Granata, S. Imamovic, K. Meuwissen, S. Menghini, S. Ninatti, O. Pollicino, C. Rauchegger, L.P. Vanoni, L. Violini

This textbook comprehensively examines and analyses the interpretation and application of the United Kingdom's Human Rights Act 1998. The third edition has been fully updated to include the last seven years of case law. Part I covers key procedural issues including: the background to the Act; the relationship between UK courts and the European Court of Human Rights; the definition of victim and public authority; determining incompatibility including deference and proportionality; the impact of the Act on primary legislation; and damages and other remedies for the violation of Convention rights. In Part II of the book, the Convention rights, as interpreted and applied by United Kingdom courts, are examined in detail. All of the key Convention rights are discussed including: the right to life; freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the right to liberty; fair trial; the rights to private life, family life and home; freedom of religion and belief; freedom of expression; the right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions; and the right to freedom from discrimination in the enjoyment of Convention rights. The third edition of Human Rights Law will be invaluable for those teaching, studying and practising in the areas of United Kingdom human rights law, constitutional law and administrative law.

In Frontiers of Gender Equality, editor Rebecca Cook enlarges the chorus of voices to introduce new and different discourses about the wrongs of gender discrimination and to explain the multiple dimensions of gender equality. This volume demonstrates that the wrongs of discrimination can best be understood from the perspective of the discriminated, and that gender discrimination persists and grows in new and different contexts, widening the gap between the principle of gender equality and its realization, particularly for subgroups of women and LGBTQ+ peoples. Frontiers of Gender Equality provides retrospective views of the struggles to eliminate gender discrimination in national courts and international human rights treaties. Focusing on gender equality enables comparisons and contrasts among these regimes to better understand how they reinforce gender equality norms. Different regional and international treaties are examined, those in the forefront of advancing gender equality, those that are promising but little known, and those whose focus includes economic, social, and cultural rights, to explore why some struggles were successful and others less so. The book illustrates how gender discrimination continues to be normalized and camouflaged, and how it intersects with other axes of subordination, such as indigeneity, religion, and poverty, to create new forms of intersectional discrimination. With the benefit of hindsight, the book's contributors reconstruct gender equalities in concrete situations. Given the increasingly porous exchanges between domestic and international law, various national, regional, and international decisions and texts are examined to determine how better to breathe life into equality from the perspectives, for instance, of Indigenous and Muslim women, those who were violated sexually and physically, and those needing access to necessary health care, including abortion. The conclusion suggests areas of future research, including how to translate the concept of intersectionality into normative and institutional settings, which will assist in promoting the goals of gender equality.

How should international law approach the critical issue of movement of peoples in the 21st century? This book presents a radical reappraisal of this controversial problem. Challenging present-day ideas of restrictions on freedom of movement and the international structure that controls entry to states, it argues for a new blueprint for international migration policy that eliminates waste, aids both developing and developed societies and brings attendant benefits to voluntary migrants and involuntary refugees alike. In a world of increasing disorder, it is suggested that current policy only adds to international instability and threatens the interests of a functional global community.

The right to life is a core human right which has not yet received the detailed legal analysis that it requires. This book provides detailed, critical analysis of the controversial human right to life and, in particular, assesses the weight of conflicting interests which could and/or should serve to override the right. This contemporary study of the right to life focuses on the legal, as well as ethical, issues raised by the value of life in modern day society. It seeks to analyze the development, meaning and value of the fundamental human right to life in the context of its conflicts with other competing interests. The book begins with an overview of the right to life in which the concept of life itself is first analyzed, before both the right and its legal protection and enforcement are subjected to historical, philosophical and comparative analysis. The remainder of the book identifies, and assesses the merits of, various competing interests. These comprise armed conflict; prevention of crime; rights of others; autonomy; quality of life; and finite resources.
The right to life is unusual in having potential application to so many of today's ethically controversial questions. This new work investigates specific topics of current political, legal and ethical concern such as the right to life during international conflicts, the role of lethal force in law enforcement, the death penalty, the right to life of a foetus in the context of legalized abortion, and the significance of quality of life and autonomy issues in respect of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

This book reflects on the relationship between Chile and the Inter-American Human Rights System, focusing on an interdisciplinary and detailed examination of the consequences of recent cases decided by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights against the Chilean state. These cases illustrate central challenges in the areas of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex rights, as well as shedding light on torture and indigenous rights in Chile and the Americas as a whole.

In this updated edition of the bestselling book, Finding the Heart of the Nation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander author Thomas Mayor gets behind the politics and legal speak to explain why the Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to all Australians. Australia is set to vote on a referendum to enshrine a First Nations voice in the constitution as a result of the 2022 federal election. In this book, Thomas focuses on the stories of First Nations People, including some new voices, looking at the truth of our past and present, and hopes for a better future. Importantly, he shares with you - the Australian public - how we all have the power to make change. The campaign for Voice Treaty Truth, starting with a referendum, is an opportunity to right some of the wrongs, give First Nations People a seat at the table, and to recognise that we are a nation with over 60,000 years of continuous culture. Completing his writing just after the 2022 federal election, Thomas has included a new introduction and conclusion, as well as a call to action for all Australians. Now in a paperback format, this collection of stories offers hope and tells us how we, as Australians, may find our collective heart.