This Guide to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) condenses the guidance of the Human Rights Committee and accompanying legal scholarship into an easily accessible reference handbook for understanding the nature and scope of rights set forth in the ICCPR. The ICCPR offers the most widely accepted definition of civil and political rights at the international level, and as such this practical guide serves as an indispensable tool for legal practitioners and others who are dedicated to the promotion and protection of civil and political rights throughout the globe. It is also a useful source of information for introductory courses in international human rights law. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

How can we approach the complex United Nations system, a ‘family’of principal organs, subsidiary organs and specialized agencies? Where do we get summarizing information on the large number of reform concepts developed and implemented since the late 1990s, in particular in connection with the UN World Summit 2005? The present book provides orientation and information: It is the second updated English edition of the German "Lexikon der Vereinten Nationen". The book provides in addition to concise and comprehensive information on the UN system insight into recent UN developments and reform efforts in the face of global opportunities and challenges, such as the Millennium Summit 2000 and World Summit 2005, and the establishment of important new UN organs, the Human Rights Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, in 2006. The contributing authors are academic scholars of international law, economics and political sciences; active and former diplomats and UN officials; journalists and members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and offer a variety of interesting perspectives. The entries are provided with bibliographies and with Internet addresses for further information and are supplemented in the annex by an informative text on the UN document numbering system and by a list of information facilities concerning the UN. This title was reviewed as „essential“ (highest category of recommendation) by Choice – Current Reviews for Academic Libraries in October 2010. 'A new edition of a mammoth, 900-page-plus encyclopedia covering every aspect of the United Nations and its work is now available in English in the United States... Among its many useful features are exhaustive lists of those bewildering UN acronyms, a key to decoding (and thus knowing how to look for) UN documents and a complete copy of the UN Charter. The easy-to-use alphabetical order of entries makes it easy for schoolchildren and adults to navigate.' Barbara Crossette in: The InterDependent, 4 October 2010 (www.theinterdependent.com). 'This multidirectional compass is extraordinarily well researched and written. It is a veritable research dream, without which no international collection could possibly be complete'. American Society of International Law, Newsletter of the UN21 Interest Group, January 2011 'This is an update... [of the 2002 edition], with articles contributed by a number of experts on the United Nations and international relations. Entries are either wholly updated or the original article is updated with a signed addendum, making the information current as of the end of 2008. Articles are very detailed and include copious references to other parts of the volume, indicated with an arrow. Most entries conclude with a bibliography of works useful for further research, many of which are extensive reviews of the literature on a particular topic in multiple languages. Entries range from overviews of the workings of the United Nations (including budget, membership rules, and organization) to more theoretical discussions of international law. ...[The book] will be indispensable for any research university with faculty in international relations or law. Summing Up: Essential. Graduate students and researchers/faculty. T. Miller, Michigan State University, Review in October 2010 in Choice – Current Reviews for Academic Libraries.'

Human rights are invoked on many occasions. But are they more than lofty values and abstract principles? In providing a concise but comprehensive overview of international human rights protection at the global and regional levels, this book offers an introduction to the ideas, conceptual underpinnings, and doctrine of international human rights law including the sources, legal nature, and scope of application of human rights obligations. The issues of implementation and enforceability at the domestic, regional, and universal level are explored, and the impact of the recently established Human Rights Council is assessed. The substantive guarantees covering economic, social, and cultural as well as civil and political rights based on the case law of UN treaty bodies and relevant regional courts are evaluated. This book shows that human rights are real rights creating legal entitlements for those who are protected by them and imposing legal obligations on those bound by them. It explores the various mechanisms set up by the international community to monitor the implementation of human rights guarantees and to decide individual cases brought to the attention of human rights courts and quasi-judicial bodies at the international level. Its last part contains a detailed exploration of the meanings of human rights guarantees, such as the right to life, the prohibition of torture, non-discrimination, economic rights, and many others.

This book is a practical, experience-based guide for advocates seeking remedies for human rights violations through the use of international institutions. Since 1948, when the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, mechanisms for addressing human rights violations have multiplied to include UN Charter based bodies, treaty-based organizations including the international criminal court, and regional institutions. Each mechanism has its own admissibility requirements: accreditation, timeliness of claims, and exhaustion of remedies. For practitioners, the maze of rules and institutions can be difficult to navigate. This book offers step-by-step approaches for maximizing the institutions’ intended effect–promotion of human rights at all levels.

This textbook offers for the first time a comprehensive analysis of the classic doctrines and main areas of international law from a European perspective, meeting the needs of the many European law schools teaching public international law in English. Special attention is devoted to the practice of the European Union, the Council of Europe and European States – both civil law and common law countries – with regard to international law. In particular the book analyses the interplay between international law, EU law and national law in the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU, the European Court of Human Rights and national jurisdictions in Europe. It provides the reader with insights into how the international legal practice of the EU and its Member States impacts the development of international law, both in terms of doctrines such as treaty-making and customary law, the exercise of (extraterritorial) jurisdiction, state responsibility and the settlement of disputes, as well as particular sub-fields of international law, such as human rights law and international economic law. In addition the book covers other important areas such as the use of force and collective security, the law of armed conflict, and global and regional international organisations. It provides European perspectives on all these issues and will be of great value to students, scholars and practitioners.

This book analyses the preventative confinement of suspected terrorists with regard to different models of counter-terrorism policy within the context of international human rights law. The book is written from a global perspective drawing on cases and practice from different jurisdictions including the US, the UK and Australia.

Now in a comprehensively updated edition, this indispensable handbook analyzes how international humanitarian law has evolved in the face of these many new challenges. Central concerns include the war on terror, new forms of armed conflict and humanitarian action, the emergence of international criminal justice, and the reshaping of fundamental rules and consensus in a multipolar world. ThePractical Guide to Humanitarian Law provides the precise meaning and content for over 200 terms such as terrorism, refugee, genocide, armed conflict, protection, peacekeeping, torture, and private military companies—words that the media has introduced into everyday conversation, yet whose legal and political meanings are often obscure. The Guide definitively explains the terms, concepts, and rules of humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries. Written from the perspective of victims and those who provide assistance to them, the Guide outlines the dangers, spells out the law, and points the way toward dealing with violations of the law. Entries are complemented by analysis of the decisions of relevant courts; detailed bibliographic references; addresses, phone numbers, and Internet links to the organizations presented; a thematic index; and an up-to-date list of the status of ratification of more than thirty international conventions and treaties concerning humanitarian law, human rights, refugee law, and international criminal law. This unprecedented work is an invaluable reference for policy makers and opinion leaders, students, relief workers, and members of humanitarian organizations. Published in cooperation with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières.

Law enforcement at sea has become an increasingly important tool for combating transnational crime. Such law enforcement operations are commonly directed by multinational missions composed of military rather than police forces, and are often carried out in maritime areas not subject to national jurisdiction. Because of these characteristics, maritime law enforcement operations touch upon many unresolved human rights issues. In the present study, counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and in the Indian Ocean serve as the quintessential example of how law enforcement measures taken at sea may fall short of international human rights standards. An unprecedented number of national and multinational missions have been deployed to counter the phenomenon of piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the region. Their mandate includes the arrest, detention and transfer for prosecution of piracy suspects. The book at hand examines the procedures pertinent to the decision whether to release piracy suspects, prosecute them in the seizing State or transfer them to a third State, and the detention regime pending such decisions. The study provides a critical analysis of the compatibility of these procedures with international law, first and foremost human rights law. Using piracy as an example, it demonstrates that the characteristics of national and multinational law enforcement at sea may lead to a deviation from certain human rights standards – standards that the States in question readily accept and apply in their land-based, territorial law enforcement operations. At the centre of the analysis are two unique case studies, which provide insight into the arrest, detention and transfer procedures in both a multinational context and a purely interstate setting. This work is a valuable contribution to legal scholarship dealing with the human rights dimension of maritime law enforcement operations. It is a useful, timely and innovative resource for both academics and legal practitioners alike, or any person interested in the applicability and scope of human rights norms in the maritime context.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to international human rights: international human rights law, why international human rights have increasingly risen to world prominence, what is being done about violations of human rights, and what might be done to further promote the cause of international human rights so that everyone may one day have their rights respected regardless of who they are or where they live. It explains: how the concept of international human rights has developed over time the variety of types of human rights empirical findings from statistical research on human rights a listing of all international human rights agreements the newest dimensions in the field of human rights (gay rights, animal rights, environmental rights). Richly illustrated throughout with case studies, controversies, court cases, think points, historical examples, biographical statements, and suggestions for further reading, International Human Rights is the ideal introduction for all students of human rights.

This dictionary has more than 1000 cross-referenced entries on terminology, conventions, treaties, intergovernmental organizations in the United Nations family or regional bodies, and the constantly expanding universe of non-governmental organizations, as well as some of the pioneers and defenders of human rights.