How big a problem is torture? Are the right things being done to prevent it? What does the UN do, and why does it appear at times to be so impotent in the face of torture? In this vitally important work, Malcolm D. Evans tells the story of torture prevention under international law, setting out what is really happening in places of detention around the world. Challenging assumptions about torture’s root causes, he calls for what is needed to enable us to be in a better position to bring about change. The author draws on over ten years’ experience as the Chair of the United Nations Sub-Committee for Prevention of Torture to give a frank account of the remarkable capacities of this system, what it has achieved in practice, what it has not been able to achieve – and most importantly, why.

Gender equality rights are fundamental human rights that are recognized in international human rights treaties, which bind states to eliminate gender discrimination formally and in practice. Islam is recognized as the official religion in the constitutional law of Islamic countries; religious scholars have the competence to interpret Islamic law, resulting in creating a series of unequal rights for women based on Islamic law, which often continues in legal structures. Nevertheless, a majority of Islamic countries have ratified the international human rights treaties but have put reservations in place based on Sharia concerning articles on gender equality rights. Therefore, this dissertation addressed that the degree to which international law has accepted gender discrimination for religious reasons.

Attesting to the ever-increasing presence and influence of Islamism is the emergence of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. This newfangled theocracy is a constant source of inversions and shockwaves. But, while Islamism, Statehood and Human Rights does not give a day-to-day account of events in the newly created state, it does look in depth at the worldviews that shape public policies and law in the 21st century world of Islam. At the heart of this book is the question of whether religious and political philosophies of contemporary Islamic regimes are compatible with human rights originating from the secular tradition of the West. Islamism, Statehood and Human Rights contributes to the ongoing universalist-relativist debate in international relations and law. It examines two different worlds with competing perspectives on international human rights: firstly, a world where all humans are, by nature, entitled to human rights, and secondly a world where religious identity is a requirement for human rights. The former world of entitlement usually consists of secular societies where efforts are consistently made to ensure the separation of Church and State. In the latter world however, there is a hypostatic union between Church and State. Political and legal authority is stamped on the minds of citizens or subjects through religion. Rights, some theocrats believe, are divinely ordained and ascribed to members of a given community of faith.Informing the interdisciplinary research is a spirited desire for ethnographic understanding in multicultural societies and for peaceful co-existence within modern multi-religious states, which are often divided and threatened not only by religion but also by the manipulation of laws derived from religiously based traditions. Islamism, Statehood and Human Rights accordingly investigates and analyses how law, politics and religion interact in such local and international public arenas.

[This book] offers a rare practical analysis of the real significance and relevance of international law in juridical practice.' - Pall Hreinsson, EFTA-Court'This book offers a very practical examination of the relationship between international law and domestic law, not least by a detailed analysis of domestic case law. It reveals a variety of possible approaches to giving effect to unimplemented international law in both national law and dualistic countries. It also provides very interesting insights into, and an understanding of, highly topical issues.' - Gudmundur Alfredsson, University of Akureyri, Iceland What are the theoretical and practical issues relating to the intersection between domestic and international law? This important new book discusses how general theories, including monism and dualism, transpire in practice. The author examines several key areas: the rules relating to treaty making and the ratification of treatises, the doctrine of automatic incorporation and transformation, the direct effect of international norms in the domestic system, and a discussion of the principle of consistent interpretation. With a focus on the European Convention on Human Rights, the author concludes that, although traditional theories are still relevant, they fall short in grasping the complexity of the different ways in which the legislator and the courts have given effect to international law on the domestic level. Students and scholars of international and domestic law will find this book to be useful in their studies. It will also be of interest to academics, judges, and practicing lawyers.

Over the course of the long and violent twentieth century, only a minority of international crime perpetrators ever stood trial, and a central challenge of this era was the effort to ensure that not all these crimes remained unpunished. This required not only establishing a legal record but also courage, determination, and inventiveness in realizing justice. Defeating Impunity moves from the little-known trials of the 1920s to the Yugoslavia tribunal in the 2000s, from Belgium in 1914 to Ukraine in 1943, and to Stuttgart and Dusseldorf in 1975. It illustrates the extent to which the language of law drew an international horizon of justice.

In September 2001, the world witnessed the horrific events of 9/11. A great deal has happened on the counterterrorist front in the 20 years since. While the terrorist threat has greatly diminished in Northern Ireland, the events of 9/11 and their aftermath have ushered in a new phase for the rest of the UK with some familiar, but also many novel, characteristics. This ambitious study takes stock of counterterrorism in Britain in this anniversary year. Assessing current challenges, and closely mirroring the 'four Ps' of the official CONTEST counterterrorist strategy - Protect, Prepare, Prevent, and Pursue - it seeks to summarize and grasp the essence of domestic law and policy, without being burdened by excessive technical detail. It also provides a rigorous, context-aware, illuminating, yet concise, accessible, and policy-relevant analysis of this important and controversial subject, grounded in relevant social science, policy studies, and legal scholarship. This book will be an important resource for students and scholars in law and social science, as well as human rights, terrorism, counterterrorism, security, and conflict studies.

This set of essays constitutes a key contribution to the debate about the role of human rights law in combating race discrimination. Including essays by a range of leading experts, the book is a particularly important source of information and critical analysis for students, researchers, and policy akers aiming to understand both the new race Directive adopted by the EU, and the role of international human rights law, which was the focus of the UN world conference on racism, 2001.

Social rights, while traditionally the neglected sibling within the human rights family, have been prominent on the agenda in Europe in recent years. The debate over the justiciability of social rights in the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the revision of the Council of Europe's European Social Charter, have contributed in different ways to this prominence. The chapters in this book examine these recent developments, and discuss some of the current dilemmas and challenges for the system of protection of social rights in Europe. The collection moves deliberately beyond the traditional focus on labour rights to consider other social rights which are seen to be of growing importance, such as health and disability in particular. Writers who are familiar with, and in some cases who have worked within, the various European systems assess different aspects of their functioning, including their respective mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement. The relationship between the two main systems of protection of social rights (The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Social Charter) is considered both in a chapter on the possibility for future accession of the EU to the ESC, as well as through a series of case studies on the right to work, to health, to freedom from discrimination, and the rights of the disabled. This approach allows reflection on the respective strengths and weaknesses of these two systems, and the existing tensions and synergies between them.

This book examines the responsibility of judges of domestic courts following unconstitutional usurpation of power of government (coups d'etat). It explores judges' liability for failing to discharge their judicial duty independently and impartially, and the criminality of usurpers and their accomplices and collaborators for their violation of fundamental rights and freedoms or commission of crimes of international concern. Written by a highly regarded non-Western author, the book is coherent and meticulously researched, covering an approach to coups in an insightful and fascinating fashion. It includes a sophisticated and thorough analysis of the relevant comparative jurisprudence of domestic and international courts, with concrete examples of the best practices among decisions of domestic courts in countries that have experienced coups d'etat. With an increasing global interest in the phenomenon of coups, democratic backsliding and the place and role of the judiciary as the only hope to rein in acts of unconstitutional usurpation of power, the book will be essential reading for members of the legal profession, those cherishing democracy as well as students and researchers in constitutional law, law and political science, public international law, international human rights law, international criminal law, regime changes, transitional justice and international organizations.

This book investigates why women choose 'birth outside the system' and makes connections between women's right to choose where they birth and violations of human rights within maternity care systems. Choosing to birth at home can force women out of mainstream maternity care, despite research supporting the safety of this option for low-risk women attended by midwives. When homebirth is not supported as a birthplace option, women will defy mainstream medical advice, and if a midwife is not available, choose either an unregulated careprovider or birth without assistance. This book examines the circumstances and drivers behind why women nevertheless choose homebirth by bringing legal and ethical perspectives together with the latest research on high-risk homebirth (breech and twin births), freebirth, birth with unregulated careproviders and the oppression of midwives who support unorthodox choices. Stories from women who have pursued alternatives in Australia, Europe, Russia, the UK, the US, Canada, the Middle East and India are woven through the research. Insight and practical strategies are shared by doctors, midwives, lawyers, anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists on how to manage the tension between professional obligations and women's right to bodily autonomy. This book, the first of its kind, is an important contribution to considerations of place of birth and human rights in childbirth.

This book focuses on border deaths at sea. It unravels how the interplay of the law of the sea and rules on jurisdiction widen the opportunity for states to make and enforce rules outside their territory, and questions whether this is also accompanied with an obligation to respect the right to life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) when doing so. By embarking upon the challenge of analysing a cross-border phenomenon in which direct encounters between state agents and the victims are few through the lens of legal obligations, the book unearths avenues for arguing that the ECHR is applicable to border deaths on the high seas and showcases the Court's creativity in bridging the gap between the Convention and people in need of protection. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the ECHR is applicable to border deaths occurring within the territorial seas of states. It discusses the right to life, as well as the specific obligations of states in respect to border deaths at sea, and demonstrates that in many instances, EU policies fall short of the standards set under the right to life. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in migrant rights, international human rights law, public international law including, refugee and migration law, maritime law, and security studies.

This edited collection is an interdisciplinary and international collaborative book that critically investigates the growing phenomenon of Indigenous-industry agreements - agreements that are formed between Indigenous peoples and companies involved in the extractive natural resource industry. These agreements are growing in number and relevance, but there has yet to be a systematic study of their formation and implementation. This groundbreaking collection is situated within frameworks that critically analyze and navigate relationships between Indigenous peoples and the extraction of natural resources. These relationships generate important questions in the context of Indigenous-industry agreements in diverse resource-rich countries including Australia and Canada, and regions such as Africa and Latin America. Beyond domestic legal and political contexts, the collection also interprets, navigates, and deploys international instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in order to fully comprehend the diverse expressions of Indigenous-industry agreements. Indigenous-Industry Agreements, Natural Resources and the Law presents chapters that comprehensively review agreements between Indigenous peoples and extractive companies. It situates these agreements within the broader framework of domestic and international law and politics, which define and are defined by the relationships between Indigenous peoples, extractive companies, governments, and other actors. The book presents the latest state of knowledge and insights on the subject and will be of value to researchers, academics, practitioners, Indigenous communities, policymakers, and students interested in extractive industries, public international law, Indigenous rights, contracts, natural resources law, and environmental law.

The growth of data-collecting goods and services, such as ehealth and mhealth apps, smart watches, mobile fitness and dieting apps, electronic skin and ingestible tech, combined with recent technological developments such as increased capacity of data storage, artificial intelligence and smart algorithms, has spawned a big data revolution that has reshaped how we understand and approach health data. Recently the COVID-19 pandemic has foregrounded a variety of data privacy issues. The collection, storage, sharing and analysis of health- related data raises major legal and ethical questions relating to privacy, data protection, profiling, discrimination, surveillance, personal autonomy and dignity. This book examines health privacy questions in light of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the general data privacy legal framework of the European Union (EU). The GDPR is a complex and evolving body of law that aims to deal with several technological and societal health data privacy problems, while safeguarding public health interests and addressing its internal gaps and uncertainties. The book answers a diverse range of questions including: What role can the GDPR play in regulating health surveillance and big (health) data analytics? Can it catch up with internet-age developments? Are the solutions to the challenges posed by big health data to be found in the law? Does the GDPR provide adequate tools and mechanisms to ensure public health objectives and the effective protection of privacy? How does the GDPR deal with data that concern children's health and academic research? By analysing a number of diverse questions concerning big health data under the GDPR from various perspectives, this book will appeal to those interested in privacy, data protection, big data, health sciences, information technology, the GDPR, EU and human rights law.

This book aims to introduce concrete and innovative proposals for an holistic approach to supranational human rights justice through a hands-on legal exercise: the rewriting of decisions of supranational human rights monitoring bodies. The contributing scholars have thus redrafted crucial passages of landmark human rights judgments and decisions, 'as if human rights law were really one', borrowing or taking inspiration from developments and interpretations throughout the whole multi-layered human rights protection system. In addition to the rewriting exercise, the contributors have outlined the methodology and/or theoretical framework that guided their approaches and explain how human rights monitoring bodies may adopt an integrated approach to human rights law. Integrated Human Rights in Practice shows that even within the current fragmented landscape of international human rights law, it is possible to integrate human rights to a significantly higher degree than is generally the case. Redrafted opinions deal with major contemporary issues such as conscientious objection by health service providers, intersectional discrimination of minority women, the rights of persons with disabilities, the rights of indigenous peoples against powerful economic interests, and the human rights impact of austerity measures. This book's novel perspective and applied, concrete examples make it an invaluable resource for academics and students as well as judges, lawyers, and treaty body members.

Considers how legal reforms and awareness-raising associated with building the rule of law, have engaged the popular legal consciousness, producing contradictions that have in turn shaped the nature of the resultant legality. Explores the case study of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This book will appeal to comparativists, Africanists, and socio-legal scholars.

The Evolving Protection of Prisoners' Rights in Europe explores the development of the framing of penal and prison policies by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), clarifying the European expectations of national authorities, and describing the various models existing in Europe, with a view to analysing their mechanisms and highlighting those that seem the most suitable. A new frame of penal and prison policies in Europe has been progressively established by the ECHR and the Council of Europe (CoE) to protect the rights of detainees in Europe. European countries have reacted very diversely to these policies. This book has several key benefits for readers: * A global and detailed overview of the ECHR jurisprudence on penal and prison policies through an analysis of its development over time. * An analysis of the interactions between the Strasbourg Court and the CoE bodies (Committee of Ministers, Committee for the Prevention of Torture ...) and their reinforced framing of domestic penal and prison policies. * A detailed examination of the impacts of the European case law on penal and prison policies within ten nation states in Europe (including Romania which is currently very underresearched). * A robust engagement with the diverse national reactions to this European case law as a policy strategy. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of Law, Criminal Justice, Criminology and Sociology. It will also appeal to civil servants (judges, lawyers, etc.), professionals and policymakers working for the CoE, the European Union, and the United Nations; Ministries of Justice; prison departments; and human rights institutions, as well as activists working for INGOs and NGOs.

Honour based violence and abuse manifests itself in different forms, and this book offers a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon. This book argues that the limits of honour crimes must be defined more widely so that they include conducts and behaviours that originate from the patriarchal notion of honour, such as honour based oppression and breast ironing. The book provides a critical analysis and synthesis of the law in England and Wales and in the international human rights sphere. The relevant domestic legislation and cases are examined to reflect on whether adequate protection is provided for the victims and potential victims of honour based violence and abuse. Since honour based violence is a violation of human rights, the relevant international human rights law is examined to illustrate the perception of such crimes in the international arena. The effectiveness of any remedy for victims of honour based violence and abuse depends on its capability to change deep rooted behaviours in communities with honour based patriarchal values. This book argues that the law does not provide the effective impact required, in part due to patriarchal structures, and that more efforts should be dedicated to changes in education. It is held that there is a need for an educational programme that is especially designed to tackle violence and promote gender equality. The book will be essential reading for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of Human Rights Law, Criminal Law and Gender Studies.

This book examines how the European Court of Human Rights approaches the matter of evidence, and how its judgments affect domestic law. The case law of the Court has affected many areas of law in Europe. One of these areas is the law of evidence, and especially criminal evidence. This work examines the key defence rights that may touch upon evidence, such as the right to adduce evidence, the right to disclosure, the privilege against self-incrimination and access to a lawyer, entrapment, and the right to cross-examine prosecution witnesses. It explains the relevant assessment criteria used by the Court and introduces a simple framework for understanding the various assessment models developed by the Court, including the Perna test, the Ibrahim criteria, and the sole or decisive rule. The book provides a comprehensive overview on the relevant case law, and will be a valuable asset for students and researchers, as well as practitioners, such as judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, working in the areas of criminal procedure and human rights.

Subject matter of growing presence and interest. Multidisciplinary approach. Case study of Denmark, the first European state to adopt self-declaration. Will appeal to researchers and practitioners working in trans, gender, feminist legal, and socio-legal studies.

This book explores the phenomenon of data - big and small - in the contemporary digital, informatic and legal-bureaucratic context. Challenging the way in which legal interest in data has focused on rights and privacy concerns, this book examines the contestable, multivocal and multifaceted figure of the contemporary data subject. The book analyses "data" and "personal data" as contemporary phenomena, addressing the data realms, such as stores, institutions, systems and networks, out of which they emerge. It interrogates the role of law, regulation and governance in structuring both formal and informal definitions of the data subject, and disciplining data subjects through compliance with normative standards of conduct. Focusing on the 'personal' in and of data, the book pursues a re-evaluation of the nature, role and place of the data subject qua legal subject in on and offline societies: one that does not begin and end with the inviolability of individual rights but returns to more fundamental legal principles suited to considerations of personhood, such as stewardship, trust, property and contract. The book's concern with the production, use, abuse and alienation of personal data within the context of contemporary communicative capitalism will appeal to scholars and students of law, science and technology studies, and sociology; as well as those with broader political interests in this area.

From the UK government's Brexit Bill, to China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, violations of international law have made headlines across the world in recent years. This book offers a comprehensive and accessible guide to the essential rules and facts of international law, explaining what international law is and how it shapes the world around us. Graham and Noortmann provide specific examples to contextualise key concepts in international law, directing readers to a range of further sources to supplement their reading. Topics range from the place of international law in the national legal order, the United Nations and other global international organisations, international human rights, and international environmental law. An essential quick reference text for students and practitioners of international law. -- .

This clear and compelling text confronts the dominant thinking on human rights, taking issue with the notion adopted by all states and even many academics that human rights obligations extend no further than their own territorial borders. Mark Gibney critiques cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, the International Court of Justice, and the European Court of Human Rights, arguing for a much broader reading of state responsibility on the basis that current law misses most of the ways in which states fail to protect human rights standards. Finally, Gibney takes up the issue of human rights enforcement, unquestionably the weakest aspect of international human rights law. He proposes several practical models that could begin to provide victims the "effective remedy" promised by the law itself. The book concludes that there is a moral and legal imperative to return to the universal principles human rights were founded on. And rather than witnessing the end of human rights-as some have suggested-we should see our times as the true beginning.

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Now in its second edition, Dinah Shelton's pioneering book provides a uniquely accessible introduction to the history and the latest developments in international human rights law. Exploring the origins, customs and institutions that have emerged globally and regionally in the last two centuries, this incisive book guides readers through the major treaties and declarations that form the foundations of the discipline today. Key features of this rigorously revised second edition include: Balanced, interdisciplinary coverage of both regional and international variations in human rights law, probing current challenges to the global regime Concise yet scrupulous coverage of historical and philosophical themes that have culminated in the present legal regime Updated statistics and ratification numbers to elucidate recent developments in human rights law. Succinct and cutting-edge, this second edition will be an invaluable guide for seasoned academics and researchers in the field, as well as students at all levels who require a comprehensive introductory text. Its practical insights and key statistical data will also provide a versatile reference point for practitioners in the field.