Humanitarian good offices in international law: the good offices of the United Nations Secretary General in the field of human rights. The 1981 Reid Lectures delivered at Acadia University

AbstractIn this article, the two authors examine the leap from business management to contemporary international law in the context of stakeholder theory. Because stakeholder theory was developed for business management, they provide a thorough account of the original framework. Furthermore, to illustrate the theory's application as a recently adopted parameter for the United Nations, they use former Secretary-General Kofi Atta Annan's 2004-report to the Security Council, "The Rule of Law and Transitional Justice in Conflict and Post-Conflict Societies". Proceeding on the hypothesis that while all premises ultimately match traditional positions in general jurisprudence, it appears that stakeholder theory nevertheless forces the United Nations to take sides in an unprecedented manner, especially pertaining to rights-typology and the credentials-checking for this. Finally, some of the most important implications are distilled as part of an attempt to formulate a few recommendations for United Nations justice managers and administrators.

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Diplomatic protection in international law and the United Nations

Zbornik Matice srpske za drustvene nauke ◽

10.2298/zmsdn1345667m ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 667-681

Author(s):

Bojan Milisavljevic

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

Customary Law ◽

Diplomatic Protection ◽

History Of ◽

The United Nations ◽

International Law Commission ◽

The Impact ◽

Law Commission

The paper deals with the issue of the diplomatic protection in international law and its development through the history of the international community. In this sense, the author investigates the practice of states regarding the application of diplomatic protection and the steps taken by the International Law Commission of the United Nations on the codification of this area. In 2004 International Law Commission adopted at first reading a full set of draft articles. In this paper is presented judicial practice, especially of the International Court of Justice, in the field of diplomatic protection in order to evaluate whether the approach of the Court to diplomatic protection has become more human-rights oriented in the last few years. Author presents the development of customary law rules relating to diplomatic protection and its transition into a whole system of rules through the work of the International Law Commission. In this sense, these are the basic stages in the codification of rules on diplomatic protection and the United Nations contribution to the protection of the rights of foreign nationals. This article points the development of universal and regional mechanisms to protect human rights and highlights the impact of those mechanisms on traditional measures of diplomatic protection.

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On Behalf of the United Nations

Land of Blue Helmets ◽

10.1525/california/9780520286931.003.0004 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Richard Falk

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Human Rights ◽

United Nations ◽

Secretary General ◽

Special Rapporteur ◽

Human Rights Council ◽

Occupied Palestinian Territory ◽

High Commissioner ◽

The United Nations ◽

Palestinian Territory

This chapter reflects on the role as special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), which investigated the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The chapter first provides an overview of the role and office of special rapporteur, noting that UN concerns about Israel and responses to Palestinian grievances are highly politicized within the organization, before discussing some of the characteristics that distinguish the mandate established by the HRC and made applicable to Occupied Palestine. It also explains what was accomplished in six years as special rapporteur of the HRC and details the controversies and pressures attached to that job. It shows that the “UN” comprises different layers, agendas, and interests. The chapter claims that while the United Nations secretary-general in New York permitted personal attacks against the special rapporteur, the leadership and professionals of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva strongly supported his efforts in what the chapter calls the “legitimacy war”.

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International Law, the ECHR, and the EU

The European Union and Human Rights ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198814177.003.0005 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 212-312

Author(s):

Jan Wouters ◽

Michal Ovádek

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

Fundamental Rights ◽

Special Importance ◽

International Human Rights Law ◽

Intergovernmental Organization ◽

The United Nations ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Eu

This chapter focuses on the relationship between international law, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and the EU. International law features with respect to the EU both as an object of the EU's internal fundamental rights regime and as a source of human rights obligations. Whereas the latter reflects the original conception of international human rights law, the former is capable of generating unease due to the scope for contravening the principle of supremacy of international law. Moreover, although the ECHR can, in principle, be regarded as international law, it is of special importance to the legal order of the EU and its Member States, in addition to representing the most developed regional regime of human rights protection in the world. The specific character of the EU as neither a typical international (intergovernmental) organization nor a state often complicates the relationship with international law further. Nonetheless, Article 3(5) TEU requires the EU to contribute, in its international relations, ‘to the protection of human rights as well as the strict observance and the development of international law, including the respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter’. The chapter then looks at other Council of Europe instruments and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).

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Implementing Decisions of International Human Rights Institutions – Evidence from the United Nations Human Rights Committee

European Journal of International Law ◽

10.1093/ejil/chz047 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 753-777

Author(s):

Vera Shikhelman

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

The State ◽

International Human Rights ◽

Human Rights Protection ◽

Rights Protection ◽

International Human ◽

The United Nations ◽

Internal Capacity

Abstract In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of research about the implementation of international law. However, there has been almost no empirical research about implementing decisions of international human rights institutions. The decisions of those institutions are usually regarded as soft law, and states do not have a clear legal obligation to implement them. In this article, I bring original empirical data about how and when states implement decisions of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) in individual communications. I hypothesize that the following factors influence the readiness of states to implement the views of the HRC: (i) the level of democracy and human rights protection in the state; (ii) internal capacity; (iii) strength of civil society; (iv) type of remedy; (v) representation on the HRC; (6) subject matter of the communication. I find that the most important factor for implementing remedies granted by the Committee is the high human rights score of the state. The internal capacity of the state is also significant but to a lesser extent than found in previous studies. Also, I find a certain connection between the state being represented on the HRC and its willingness to implement the remedies.

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Reviving the 'Spirit of San Francisco': The Lost Proposals on Human Rights, Justice and International Law to the UN Charter

Nordic Journal of International Law ◽

10.1163/090273507x225756 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 76 (2-3) ◽

pp. 217-239 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Katarina Månsson

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

San Francisco ◽

Subject Matter ◽

Close Analysis ◽

Peace And Security ◽

Protection Of Human Rights ◽

The United Nations ◽

Law And Justice

AbstractWhile it has been claimed that no subject matter has been referred to as frequently in the United Nations (UN) Charter as human rights, a close analysis of its traveaux préparatoires reveals that it contains but a fragment of what was actually proposed during the drafting of the Charter in 1945. This article presents and analyses these 'lost proposals', particularly those seeking strong references to human rights, international law and justice in the Charter's preamble and chapters on the purposes and principles of the UN. Presented by smaller states, they include suggestions that respect for and protection of human rights constitutes a principle of the UN and that the maintenance of peace and security is conditioned on adherence to international law. It concludes that UN peacemakers of today struggle with the same conundrum as the drafters of the UN Charter 60 ago: "What comes first, justice or peace?"

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3. Human rights foreign policy and the role of the United Nations

10.1093/actrade/9780198706168.003.0003 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Clapham

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Foreign Policy ◽

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

Review Process ◽

Periodic Review ◽

Universal Periodic Review ◽

High Commissioner ◽

The United Nations

How are human rights put into practice? What does it mean when governments announce that their foreign policy is concerned with promoting and protecting human rights? Where is the enforcement of these rights? ‘Human rights foreign policy and the role of the United Nations’ considers human rights in terms of foreign policy and international law and examines the UN’s Universal Periodic Review process and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It is only recently that governments have actively involved themselves in how another state treats its nationals, but enthusiasm for human rights in foreign policy ebbs and flows.

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Remedying depletion through social reproduction: a critical engagement with the United Nations’ business and human rights framework

European Journal of Politics and Gender ◽

10.1332/251510820x15816888996412 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 185-202

Author(s):

Beth Goldblatt ◽

Shirin M. Rai

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

Social Reproduction ◽

Global Economy ◽

Legal Regime ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Business And Human Rights ◽

Development Goals ◽

The United Nations

The growing recognition of unpaid work in international law and the Sustainable Development Goals acknowledges that gendered labour supports the global economy. This work can have harmful impacts, leading to ‘depletion through social reproduction’ (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CIT0036">Rai et al, 2014</xref>). When corporate harms impact on workers and communities, family members are often required to provide caring labour for those directly affected. However, the consequential harms of depletion are generally invisible within the law and uncompensated. In assessing the United Nations’ business and human rights framework, we argue that the international legal regime must take account of social reproductive work and its consequent harms.

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