This paper reflects the views of the author and does not represent the views of the Panel. It is ... more This paper reflects the views of the author and does not represent the views of the Panel. It is provided as background research for the HLP Report, one of many inputs to the process. May 2013Women’s role in economic development: Overcoming the constraints Background paper for the
The United Declaration of Human Rights established the fundamental basis of international human r... more The United Declaration of Human Rights established the fundamental basis of international human rights law, Unfortunately, the over emphasis on civil and political rights within this agenda restricted greater engagement with questions concerning development. The focus on individual rights and antagonistic relations between states has led to a human rights practice that fails to achieve social inclusion for many and allows vulnerable groups io fall by the wayside. Equally unfortunately, the practice has too often focused on international level actors such as states and other entities, thus failing to take notice of national level policies and initiatives that do help bridge the gap between human rights aspirations and the actual protection of the weak and vulnerable. This article reviews some of the fundamental failings of business as usual in human rights practice and hypothesizes where those failings, if left unchecked, will lead in the post-2015 world. Finally, it identifies pathways away from the current model and towards sustainable development, highlighting policies from diverse jurisdictions that have been effective in protecting the vulnerable and that may be worthy of emulation at a global level
I. IntroductionCreating a world where the equal dignity and worth of every individual is respecte... more I. IntroductionCreating a world where the equal dignity and worth of every individual is respected and valued is simple to articulate but difficult to deliver. 1 In the aftermath of World War II, as the world sought a new paradigm to ensure that mechanisms were created to secure robust protection against human rights violations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("UDHR")2 stood as an important standard for the promotion of social inclusion and protection of the vulnerable. It served as a powerful statement of intent for what was to become an extensive human rights movement, and, in the intervening years, attempts have been made in every jurisdiction to create legislative, administrative, and judicial mechanisms to ensure the values it presents are upheld.3 Today, it may be said that a genuinely universal, if aspirational, set of human rights standards have emerged which have the buy-in of states and communities across the globe. 4 At the international level, this h...
The chapter provides a background on the situation of minority groups within the States in South ... more The chapter provides a background on the situation of minority groups within the States in South Asia, the contestations attendant to understanding conceptions of ‘minorities’ and explanations of the peculiarities that characterize minority protection in the region. It then analyses the extent to which the text and commentary of the Declaration tackle these issues and the areas of challenge that remain to be overcome.
Fifty Years of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, 2017
The chapter articulates the relationship between the minority rights discourse and ICERD, and loo... more The chapter articulates the relationship between the minority rights discourse and ICERD, and looks forward to a greater understanding of its relevance to minority rights. Overall the chapter paints ICERD as a key custodian of minority rights within the UN system, a role which has been under-represented in the literature.
[Summary of the book containing this chapter:] Secession is a detachment of a territory from an e... more [Summary of the book containing this chapter:] Secession is a detachment of a territory from an existing state with the aim of creating a new state on the detached territory. Secession is usually an outcome of the political mobilization of a population on the territory to be detached and, as a political phenomenon, is a subject of study in the social sciences. Its impact on inter-state relations is a subject of study in international relations. But secession is also subject to regulation both in the constitutional law of sovereign states and in international law. Following a spate of secessions in the early 1990s, legal scholars have proposed a variety of ways to regulate the international responses to attempts at secessions. Moreover, since the 1980s normative justification of secession has been subject to an intense debate among political theorists and moral philosophers. This research companion has the following three complementary aims. First, to offer an overview of the current theoretical approaches to secession in the social sciences, international relations, legal theory, political theory and applied ethics. Second, to outline the current practice of international recognition of secession and current domestic and international laws which regulate secession. Third, to offer an account of major secessionist movements - past and present - from a comparative perspective. In their accounts of past secessions and current secessionist movements, the contributors to this volume focus on the following four components: the nature and source of secessionist grievances, the ideologies and techniques of secessionist mobilization, the responses of the host state or majority parties in the host state, and the international response to attempts at secession. This provides a basis for identification of at least some common patterns in the otherwise highly varied processes of secession.
David Keane and Joshua Castellino, ‘Is the International Convention on the Elimination of All For... more David Keane and Joshua Castellino, ‘Is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination the De Facto Minority Rights Treaty?’ in Carla Buckley, Alice Donald and Philip Leach (eds.), Towards Convergence in International Human Rights Law: Approaches of Regional and International Systems (Brill/Martinus Nijhoff, 2016), Chapter 9, pp. 275-295
he principle of self-determination has at heart the achievement of true representation and democr... more he principle of self-determination has at heart the achievement of true representation and democracy based on the idea that the consent of the governed alone can give government legitimacy. The principle was primarily responsible for the decolonisation process that shaped our current international community. 'Self-determination' has been used in equal rhetorical brilliance by a number of leaders - some meritorious, with a genuine concern for human emancipation, others dubious, with ascendancy to power at the heart of their project. In any case, 'self-determination' has come to mean different things in different contexts. Being a vital principle, especially in the post-colonial state, it is one factor that represents a threat to world order while at the same time holding out the promise of longer-term peace and security based on values of democracy, equity and justice. This book looks at the intricacies of the norm in its current ambiguous manifestation and seeks to d...
Contents: Introduction Part I Historical Development of Minority Rights Law: Historical backgroun... more Contents: Introduction Part I Historical Development of Minority Rights Law: Historical background: international law moves from protection of particular groups to norms of a universal character, Patrick Thornberry Minorities and the League of Nations in interwar Europe, Mark Mazower The internationalization of minority rights, Will Kymlicka. Part II Conceptual Development of Minority Rights Law: The bases of minority identity, Philip Vuciri Ramaga To bellow like a cow: women, ethnicity and the discourse of rights, Radhika Coomaraswamy The idea of human rights as perceived in the Ottoman empire, Berdal Aral. Part III Contemporary Challenges of Minority Rights Law: The headscarf affair: the Conseil d'Etat on the role of religion and culture in French society, Elisa T. Beller Tiptoeing through a constitutional minefield: the great Sharia controversy in Nigeria, Andrew Ubaka Iwobi The new economic policy and interethnic relations in Malaysia, Jomo K.S. Part IV Fundamental Norms in the Protection of Minorities: Merit principles, Christopher McCrudden Reversing discrimination, Sandra Fredman Comprehensive examination of thematic issues relating to the elimination of racial discrimination: the concept and practice of affirmative action, Marc Bossyut. Part V Specific Rights of Minorities: The emerging right to democratic governance, Thomas M. Franck Justice and reparations, Howard McGary Jr Multiculturalism and minority rights: West and East, Will Kymlicka Equality and non-discrimination: fundamental principles of minority language rights, Fernand de Varennes. Part VI Human Rights Law and Minority Rights Law: A critical evaluation of international human rights approaches to racism, Kevin Boyle and Anneliese Baldaccini Reinforcing marginalized rights in an age of globalization: international mechanisms, non-state actors, and the struggle for peoples' rights in Africa, J. Oloka-Onyango 'Righting', restructuring, and rejuvenating the postcolonial African state: the case for the establishment of an AU Special Commission on National Minorities, Obiora Chinedu Okafor Minorities, poverty and the millennium development goals: assessing global issues, Gay McDougall Name index.
This paper reflects the views of the author and does not represent the views of the Panel. It is ... more This paper reflects the views of the author and does not represent the views of the Panel. It is provided as background research for the HLP Report, one of many inputs to the process. May 2013Women’s role in economic development: Overcoming the constraints Background paper for the
The United Declaration of Human Rights established the fundamental basis of international human r... more The United Declaration of Human Rights established the fundamental basis of international human rights law, Unfortunately, the over emphasis on civil and political rights within this agenda restricted greater engagement with questions concerning development. The focus on individual rights and antagonistic relations between states has led to a human rights practice that fails to achieve social inclusion for many and allows vulnerable groups io fall by the wayside. Equally unfortunately, the practice has too often focused on international level actors such as states and other entities, thus failing to take notice of national level policies and initiatives that do help bridge the gap between human rights aspirations and the actual protection of the weak and vulnerable. This article reviews some of the fundamental failings of business as usual in human rights practice and hypothesizes where those failings, if left unchecked, will lead in the post-2015 world. Finally, it identifies pathways away from the current model and towards sustainable development, highlighting policies from diverse jurisdictions that have been effective in protecting the vulnerable and that may be worthy of emulation at a global level
I. IntroductionCreating a world where the equal dignity and worth of every individual is respecte... more I. IntroductionCreating a world where the equal dignity and worth of every individual is respected and valued is simple to articulate but difficult to deliver. 1 In the aftermath of World War II, as the world sought a new paradigm to ensure that mechanisms were created to secure robust protection against human rights violations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("UDHR")2 stood as an important standard for the promotion of social inclusion and protection of the vulnerable. It served as a powerful statement of intent for what was to become an extensive human rights movement, and, in the intervening years, attempts have been made in every jurisdiction to create legislative, administrative, and judicial mechanisms to ensure the values it presents are upheld.3 Today, it may be said that a genuinely universal, if aspirational, set of human rights standards have emerged which have the buy-in of states and communities across the globe. 4 At the international level, this h...
The chapter provides a background on the situation of minority groups within the States in South ... more The chapter provides a background on the situation of minority groups within the States in South Asia, the contestations attendant to understanding conceptions of ‘minorities’ and explanations of the peculiarities that characterize minority protection in the region. It then analyses the extent to which the text and commentary of the Declaration tackle these issues and the areas of challenge that remain to be overcome.
Fifty Years of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, 2017
The chapter articulates the relationship between the minority rights discourse and ICERD, and loo... more The chapter articulates the relationship between the minority rights discourse and ICERD, and looks forward to a greater understanding of its relevance to minority rights. Overall the chapter paints ICERD as a key custodian of minority rights within the UN system, a role which has been under-represented in the literature.
[Summary of the book containing this chapter:] Secession is a detachment of a territory from an e... more [Summary of the book containing this chapter:] Secession is a detachment of a territory from an existing state with the aim of creating a new state on the detached territory. Secession is usually an outcome of the political mobilization of a population on the territory to be detached and, as a political phenomenon, is a subject of study in the social sciences. Its impact on inter-state relations is a subject of study in international relations. But secession is also subject to regulation both in the constitutional law of sovereign states and in international law. Following a spate of secessions in the early 1990s, legal scholars have proposed a variety of ways to regulate the international responses to attempts at secessions. Moreover, since the 1980s normative justification of secession has been subject to an intense debate among political theorists and moral philosophers. This research companion has the following three complementary aims. First, to offer an overview of the current theoretical approaches to secession in the social sciences, international relations, legal theory, political theory and applied ethics. Second, to outline the current practice of international recognition of secession and current domestic and international laws which regulate secession. Third, to offer an account of major secessionist movements - past and present - from a comparative perspective. In their accounts of past secessions and current secessionist movements, the contributors to this volume focus on the following four components: the nature and source of secessionist grievances, the ideologies and techniques of secessionist mobilization, the responses of the host state or majority parties in the host state, and the international response to attempts at secession. This provides a basis for identification of at least some common patterns in the otherwise highly varied processes of secession.
David Keane and Joshua Castellino, ‘Is the International Convention on the Elimination of All For... more David Keane and Joshua Castellino, ‘Is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination the De Facto Minority Rights Treaty?’ in Carla Buckley, Alice Donald and Philip Leach (eds.), Towards Convergence in International Human Rights Law: Approaches of Regional and International Systems (Brill/Martinus Nijhoff, 2016), Chapter 9, pp. 275-295
he principle of self-determination has at heart the achievement of true representation and democr... more he principle of self-determination has at heart the achievement of true representation and democracy based on the idea that the consent of the governed alone can give government legitimacy. The principle was primarily responsible for the decolonisation process that shaped our current international community. 'Self-determination' has been used in equal rhetorical brilliance by a number of leaders - some meritorious, with a genuine concern for human emancipation, others dubious, with ascendancy to power at the heart of their project. In any case, 'self-determination' has come to mean different things in different contexts. Being a vital principle, especially in the post-colonial state, it is one factor that represents a threat to world order while at the same time holding out the promise of longer-term peace and security based on values of democracy, equity and justice. This book looks at the intricacies of the norm in its current ambiguous manifestation and seeks to d...
Contents: Introduction Part I Historical Development of Minority Rights Law: Historical backgroun... more Contents: Introduction Part I Historical Development of Minority Rights Law: Historical background: international law moves from protection of particular groups to norms of a universal character, Patrick Thornberry Minorities and the League of Nations in interwar Europe, Mark Mazower The internationalization of minority rights, Will Kymlicka. Part II Conceptual Development of Minority Rights Law: The bases of minority identity, Philip Vuciri Ramaga To bellow like a cow: women, ethnicity and the discourse of rights, Radhika Coomaraswamy The idea of human rights as perceived in the Ottoman empire, Berdal Aral. Part III Contemporary Challenges of Minority Rights Law: The headscarf affair: the Conseil d'Etat on the role of religion and culture in French society, Elisa T. Beller Tiptoeing through a constitutional minefield: the great Sharia controversy in Nigeria, Andrew Ubaka Iwobi The new economic policy and interethnic relations in Malaysia, Jomo K.S. Part IV Fundamental Norms in the Protection of Minorities: Merit principles, Christopher McCrudden Reversing discrimination, Sandra Fredman Comprehensive examination of thematic issues relating to the elimination of racial discrimination: the concept and practice of affirmative action, Marc Bossyut. Part V Specific Rights of Minorities: The emerging right to democratic governance, Thomas M. Franck Justice and reparations, Howard McGary Jr Multiculturalism and minority rights: West and East, Will Kymlicka Equality and non-discrimination: fundamental principles of minority language rights, Fernand de Varennes. Part VI Human Rights Law and Minority Rights Law: A critical evaluation of international human rights approaches to racism, Kevin Boyle and Anneliese Baldaccini Reinforcing marginalized rights in an age of globalization: international mechanisms, non-state actors, and the struggle for peoples' rights in Africa, J. Oloka-Onyango 'Righting', restructuring, and rejuvenating the postcolonial African state: the case for the establishment of an AU Special Commission on National Minorities, Obiora Chinedu Okafor Minorities, poverty and the millennium development goals: assessing global issues, Gay McDougall Name index.
David Keane and Joshua Castellino, ‘Is the International Convention on the Elimination of All For... more David Keane and Joshua Castellino, ‘Is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination the De Facto Minority Rights Treaty?’ in Carla Buckley, Alice Donald and Philip Leach (eds.), Towards Convergence in International Human Rights Law: Approaches of Regional and International Systems (Brill/Martinus Nijhoff, 2016), Chapter 9, pp. 275-295
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