Every state in the world has undertaken human rights obligations on the basis of UN treaties. Today's challenge is to enhance the effectiveness of procedures and institutions established to promote the accountability of governments. The six treaty bodies that monitor and evaluate state policies and practices play a vital role, but the whole system has been stretched almost to breaking point. It is under-funded, many governments fail to report or do so very late or superficially, there is a growing backlog of individual complaints, broad reservations have been lodged by many states, and the expertise of committee members has been questioned. This volume contains detailed analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of the system, written by leading participants in the work of the treaty bodies. Their recommendations provide a blueprint for far-reaching reform of a system of major importance for the future of international efforts to protect human rights.

An analysis of the UN human rights treaty bodies, their methods of interpretation, their effectiveness and issues of legitimacy.

Human rights treaties are at the core of the international system for the promotion and protection of human rights. Every UN member state has ratified at least one of these treaties, making them applicable to virtually every child, woman or man in the world - over six billion people. At the same time, human rights violations are rampant. The problem is that the implementation scheme accompanying the core human rights standards was drafted during a period of history when effective international monitoring was neither intended nor achievable. Today there is a gap between universal right and remedy that is inescapable and inexcusable, threatening the integrity of the international human rights legal regime. There are overwhelming numbers of overdue reports, untenable backlogs, minimal individual complaints from vast numbers of potential victims, and widespread refusal of states to provide remedies when violations of individual rights are found. This landmark Report prepared by Professor Bayefsky envisions a wide-ranging number of reforms, most of which can be accomplished without formal amendment. The recommendations generally assume a six treaty body regime, and focus primarily on offering concrete suggestions for improvements in working methods of the treaty bodies and procedures at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Professor Bayefsky details numerous proposals for bolstering national level partnerships, and for following-up the output of the treaty monitoring system as a key missing component of the implementation regime. One major reform requiring amendment is ultimately recommended, namely, consolidation of the human rights treaty bodies and the creation of two permanent committees, one for the consideration of state reports and one for complaints. All individuals, agencies, and organizations involved in the promotion, implementation, review, analysis, and study of human rights protection for all peoples will find this Report an indispensable resource for their work. It contains a unique overview of all the working methods of the six human rights treaty bodies, a detailed and thorough statistical analysis of the operation of the human rights treaty system, and a number of additional annexes which together provide a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the treaty system. The international human rights legal system is at a crossroads, with the ideal of universality threatened by the fundamental shortfalls in effective implementation. This Report offers a clear and substantive path to moving universality beyond rhetoric and towards a treaty regime meaningful and effective in the lives of everyday people.

The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Law and Procedure examines the core UN human rights treaties that form the framework of international human rights law. This book describes the development of each treaty, along with the substantive rights enshrined in them, and analyses the nature and functions of their respective monitoring bodies. Topics discussed include periodic reporting procedures, investigative procedures and individual complaint procedures, with supporting case law analysed in great detail. This practical and indispensable reference resource: - Guides you through the structure of each of the core UN human rights treaties, explaining both the substance of the rights and the various procedures which may be drawn upon to implement those rights - Explains in detail how each of these procedures may be accessed, as well as critiquing their operation in practice - Covers a wide number of areas including civil and political rights generally, racial and gender-based discrimination and the prohibition against torture - Discusses proposals for reform of the UN human rights treaty monitoring system and the implications of these reforms The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Law and Procedure has been written for practitioners and students of human rights law in the UK, Ireland and abroad. Government bodies, non-governmental organisations, national human rights institutions and charities will also find this a great resource.

This book introduces readers to the major human rights institutions, courts, and tribunals and critically assesses their legacy as well as the promise they hold for realizing human rights globally, and the challenges they face in doing so. It traces the rationale of setting up international institutions, courts, and tribunals with the aim of ensuring respect for international human rights law and presents their historic development, and critically analyzes their contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights. At the same time, it asks which promises old and new (and envisaged) human rights institutions hold for safeguarding human rights in light of continuing violations and recent global trends in human rights and politics. The first section presents institutions created within the framework of the United Nations. The second part of the volume assesses how international criminal tribunals have reframed human rights violations as individual criminal acts. The third part of the volume is devoted to established and emerging regional human rights bodies and courts around the world.

Burdekin and Anne Gallagher.

The six main United Nations human rights treaties enjoy almost universal ratification today. Almost 80 per cent of the possible ratifications have been made, and every Member State of the UN has ratified at least one of these treaties. The nearly universal acceptance of the treaties on the formal level, however, does not automatically translate into the norms contained in these documents being made a reality in the lives of the billions of people living in these countries. The treaty system is notoriously weak in terms of international enforcement, and there is a general suspicion that it has had little impact at the domestic level. Mechanisms to improve the international enforcement mechanisms of the six main treaties have been a topic of discussion and research for many years, but the domestic impact of the treaties has never been investigated in a systematic and comprehensive manner. This book constitutes the most ambitious attempt so far to establish the impact of the treaties at the domestic level. The following treaties in 20 United Nations Member States are investigated: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention Against Torture, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This book reflects the findings of 20 researchers, based in the countries investigated, under the leadership of Professors Christof Heyns and Frans Viljoen of the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, in a study done in co-operation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The influence of the treaties in each of the 20 countries is investigated in respect of its influence on the continuation, legislation, court cases, policies and practices, and the impact of the treaty system in civil society. In an overview chapter by the study leaders based on a comparison of the available data, common trends and patterns are identified, and recommendations about reforms on the national and international level are made. This is a book that should be read by all those interested in the development of the international human rights system.