Evans: The Right to Reparation in International Law for Victims of Armed Conflict

Christine Evans (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) has published The Right to Reparation in International Law for Victims of Armed Conflict (Cambridge Univ. Press 2012).

Here's the abstract:
In this evaluation of the international legal standing of the right to reparation and its practical implementation at the national level, Christine Evans outlines State responsibility and examines the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, the Articles on State Responsibility of the International Law Commission and the convergence of norms in different branches of international law, notably human rights law, humanitarian law and international criminal law. Case studies of countries in which the United Nations has played a significant role in peace negotiations and post-conflict processes allow her to analyse to what extent transitional justice measures have promoted State responsibility for reparations, interacted with human rights mechanisms and prompted subsequent elaboration of domestic legislation and reparations policies. In conclusion, she argues for an emerging customary right for individuals to receive reparations for serious violations of human rights and a corresponding responsibility of States.


Source: International Law Reporter

Globalización del Derecho. Aspectos jurídicos y derechos humanos, de William Guillermo Jiménez

En el presente trabajo se explora la relación entre derecho y globalización, con el propósito de establecer futuros campos de investigación. Se inicia con una introducción acerca de los efectos de la globalización sobre el Estado nacional, para pasar luego a una breve mirada sobre el significado de la globalización. En tercer lugar, se presentan los principales temas, problemas y focos de interés encontrados sobre la relación entre derecho y globalización, especialmente el tema de los derechos humanos. Finalmente, se realizan algunas conclusiones, en las que se destaca la importancia de abrir nuevos campos de estudio sobre globalización debido a la necesidad de regulación que requieren los fenómenos globalizados.

Enlace para la publicación:  ESAP, Revista Nova et Vetera

Legg: The Margin of Appreciation in International Human Rights Law: Deference and Proportionality

Andrew Legg (Essex Court Chambers) has published The Margin of Appreciation in International Human Rights Law: Deference and Proportionality (Oxford Univ. Press 2012). Here's the abstract:

The margin of appreciation is a judicial doctrine whereby international courts allow states to have a measure of diversity in their interpretation of human rights treaty obligations. The doctrine is at the heart of some of the most important international human rights decisions. Does it undermine the universality of human rights? How should judges decide whether to give this margin of appreciation to states? How can lawyers make best use of arguments for or against the margin of appreciation?

This book answers these questions, and broadens the discussion on the margin of appreciation by including material beyond the ECHR system. It provides a comprehensive justification of the doctrine, and catalogues the key cases affecting the doctrine in practice.

Source: International Law Reporter

Knight & Egerton: The Routledge Handbook of the Responsibility to Protect

W. Andy Knight (Univ. of Alberta - Political Science) & Frazer Egerton (Government of Nova Scotia) have published The Routledge Handbook of the Responsibility to Protect (Routledge 2012). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This Handbook offers a comprehensive examination of the Responsibility to Protect norm in world politics, which aims to end mass atrocities against civilians. The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is amongst the most significant norms in global politics. As the authoritative guide to R2P, this edited volume gathers together the most respected and insightful voices to address key issues related to this emerging norm.


Source: International Law Reporter

About the Rio+20 Conference, 20-22 June 2012

At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other groups, will come together to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet to get to the future we want.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) is being organized in pursuance of General Assembly Resolution 64/236 (A/RES/64/236), and will take place in Brazil on 20-22 June 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.

Día mundial contra el trabajo infantil - Tema de 2012: Derechos humanos y justicia social... erradiquemos el trabajo infantil

La Conferencia de Ámsterdam de 1997 sobre la lucha contra las formas más intolerables del trabajo infantil y la Conferencia Internacional de Oslo sobre el Trabajo Infantil de 1997, señalaron la atención a la urgente necesidad de una acción mundial concertada para poner fin al trabajo infantil, al instar a que se amplíe la recopilación de información, estadísticas e investigación empírica que ayudaría a informar esta acción.

Sesión del Comité de los Derechos del Niño y Conferencia Internacional del Trabajo

El Comité de los Derechos del Niño se encuentra por su 60ta sesión del 29 de mayo al 15 de junio 2012, acá las informaciones: agendas, programa de trabajo, informe sobre estados.

Del 30 de mayo al 14 de junio también se desarrolla la 101.a reunión de la Conferencia Internacional del Trabajo. Además de los puntos inscritos de oficio, los temas son: elaboración de una recomendación autónoma sobre el Piso de Protección Social, la crisis del empleo de los jóvenes, principios y derechos fundamentales en el trabajo, y Myanmar. Acá se encuentra toda la información.

Guide on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The UNOG Library offers a Guide on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This guide will help you find resources focusing on the Declaration. It provides links to relevant documents related to the history and the drafting process of the Declaration. It also highlights the collections of the UNOG Library on the topic - both print and online resources (books and articles). In addition, key UN Resources, websites, news feeds (RSS, twitter) and videos have been selected by your UNOG librarians to help you to keep up-to-date on this subject.

Source: UNOG Library

Head, Mann, and Kozlina on Transnational Governance

Michael Head, Scott Mann, and Simon Kozlina (eds), Transnational Governance: Emerging Models of Global Legal Regulation (Ashgate, 2012) has just been published.

The book description reads:

As globalization continues to spread and evolve, so nation-states attempt to govern financialization, tax evasion, corruption, terrorism, civil and military conflicts and environmental dangers, social polarization and the complexities in human rights implementation, by institutional and transnational means. This volume discusses these issues from different legal perspectives and highlights the challenges of governing human activity in an age of remarkable interconnectedness.

Covering a broad range of policy areas and analysis of emerging forms of governance from liberal to critical and Marxist, the chapters are legal in their approach and form an important contribution to the growing study of emergent forms of authority, coordination and power developing in response to the challenges presented by some of the key contemporary governance issues in the first half of the twenty-first century.

Source: Juris Diversitas

Podemos erradicar la pobreza – 2015 – Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio

Se ha logrado ya un enorme progreso hacia los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio. La pobreza sigue disminuyendo en todo el mundo, la cantidad de niños que asisten a la escuela primaria es mayor que nunca, hubo un descenso espectacular en la mortalidad infantil, se ha ampliado en gran medida el acceso al agua potable, y las inversiones dedicadas a combatir el paludismo, el SIDA y la tuberculosis han salvado millones de vidas.

Los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio están logrando una real diferencia en la vida de las personas y, con un firme liderazgo y una fuerte responsabilidad, este progreso puede ampliarse en la mayoría de los países del mundo para la fecha fijada como meta, 2015.

UN declaration on rights of indigenous peoples inspired changes - Al-Nasser

17 May 2012 – The President of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, today hailed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted five years ago, as a landmark document that has inspired positive changes in the protection of the rights of indigenous communities.

“In some countries, we have seen the creation of specialized institutions, the amendment of legislation and constitutions, the implementation of new policies and programmes, judgments delivered by tribunals based on the Declaration, and training on indigenous peoples’ rights,” Mr. Al-Nasser said in an address to a high-level event to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration, at UN Headquarters in New York.

Gender Justice and the Charles Taylor Judgement

At 11 a.m. on Apr. 26, the long-awaited trial judgment in the case of Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, was announced at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Taylor faced an 11-count indictment with charges covering a wide variety of atrocities: murder, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement, and other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity, and the war crimes of committing acts of terror, murder, outrages upon personal dignity, cruel treatment, pillage, and conscripting or using child soldiers. Taylor was convicted on all counts in a unanimous judgment.

The Taylor judgment made headlines all over the world. Taylor was the first former head of state to be convicted by an international criminal tribunal since the post-Second World War Nuremberg trials. As well, he was convicted for crimes committed in Sierra Leone from 1996-2002, despite not having set foot in the country during that time. The judges found that he had aided and abetted the infamous Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) rebels while across the border in Liberia. He was also convicted of planning attacks with rebel leader Sam Bockarie (who was also indicted by the Special Court, but died in unclear circumstances in Liberia in 2003).

SPEECH COMPETITION: The Rights and Responsibilities of Global Interdependence

There is a growing consensus concerning our global interdependence. What is less clear is what sort of a global civics is necessary and feasible for us to navigate our growing interdependence.

Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines everyone's right to an international order where inherent dignity and rights of all are fully realized. Brookings Institution and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) invite university students from around the world to ponder these vital questions, and to imagine a speech that would be made by the Secretary-General to the opening of the next session of the General Assembly.

Work remains to realize rights of indigenous peoples, says deputy UN chief

7 May 2012 - Five years after the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted, a great deal remains to be done to realize the objectives contained in that landmark document, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today.

“We continue to hear stories of struggles and exploitation of indigenous peoples around the world. It is time for those stories to change,” Ms. Migiro said at the opening of the 11th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, at UN Headquarters in New York. “Let us instead move towards the day when indigenous peoples are heard, listened to and empowered.”

Índice Universal de Derechos Humanos

Esta base de datos ofrece fácil acceso a información sobre derechos humanos específica de cada país derivada de los mecanismos internacionales de derechos humanos del sistema de las Naciones Unidas: los Órganos de tratado, los Procedimientos Especiales y el Examen Periódico Universal (EPU).

El objetivo de esta herramienta es concienciar sobre las recomendaciones en materia de derechos humanos contempladas en esos mecanismos y prestar asistencia a los países, instituciones nacionales en el ámbito de los derechos humanos, organizaciones de la sociedad civil y socios de las Naciones Unidas en su aplicación. El Índice permite encontrar información sobre cuestiones de derechos humanos en todo el mundo y ver cómo ha evolucionado durante los últimos años la interpretación jurídica del Derecho internacional en materia de Derechos Humanos.

Enlace al Índice

Un derecho global o universal que sirva para dar respuesta a los problemas de justicia que plantea la globalización

"Los juristas del mundo hispánico que han participando en el VII Congreso de Academias Jurídicas y Sociales de España, Iberoamérica y Filipinas reclaman arbitrar un ordenamiento jurídico supraestatal, un derecho global o universal que sirva para dar respuesta a los problemas de justicia que plantea la globalización.

En la ponencia de "derecho global" que ha abordado el Congreso las conclusiones alcanzadas destacan que dicho ordenamiento jurídico global "no debe limitarse al ámbito económico de la globalización", y advierten de que la actual crisis "ha puesto en evidencia que los mecanismos estatales de supervisión son insuficientes".