This book provides a comprehensive overview of the trajectory of international human-rights protection in the 21st century.

Published in the year 1999, Human Rights: 21st Century is a valuable contribution to the field of Law.

This volume contributes to the on-going legal discussion on pressing procedural and substantial law issues in the ambit of international human rights and civil liberties. While the 20th century has seen the true awakening of human rights, the 21st century poses new challenges to this ever-unfolding area of law. Not only do international tribunals and quasi-tribunals worldwide and domestic US and European continental courts have to deal with increasing numbers of complaints and petitions from individuals and groups on a vast array of societal problems, the legal issues put to them are sometimes extremely difficult to resolve as they relate to very sensitive issues. This book examines issues ranging from the status of human rights under US law to the status of the ECHR in the broader context of international law. It looks at the role of positive obligations in the case law of the Strasbourg Court, as well the impact of its case-law on childbirth and push-back operation towards boat people, but also at the growing unwillingness of ECHR member states to cooperate with the Strasbourg Court. It explores the new frontiers in US Capital punishment litigation, the first case before the International Criminal Court and the legal effect of judgments of the European Court on third states.​

The concept and principles of human rights are the hallmarks of modern civilised as well as democratic societies. In the present times, these have assumed greater significance at the individual, group, national and international levels. Human Rights generally refer to the universal rights of the human beings regardless of the jurisdiction or factors, such as ethnicity, nationality, religion or sex. Human Rights have evolved through ages but, human rights relating to women and disadvantaged groups keep evolving till date .The book has covered wider areas and other topics relating to environment, climate changes, accessibility of clean drinking water as a human right, antimicrobial resistance, digital surveillance, social media and internet are also included . The purpose of this book stands to make assessments of what has been achieved in the human rights arena and to reflect on the contemporary challenges, prospects and tasks that lie ahead for us.

The state-centred 'Westphalian model' of international law has failed to protect human rights and other international public goods effectively. Most international trade, financial and environmental agreements do not even refer to human rights, consumer welfare, democratic citizen participation and transnational rule of law for the benefit of citizens. This book argues that these 'multilevel governance failures' are largely due to inadequate regulation of the 'collective action problems' in the supply of international public goods, such as inadequate legal, judicial and democratic accountability of governments vis-a-vis citizens. Rather than treating citizens as mere objects of intergovernmental economic and environmental regulation and leaving multilevel governance of international public goods to discretionary 'foreign policy', human rights and constitutional democracy call for 'civilizing' and 'constitutionalizing' international economic and environmental cooperation by stronger legal and judicial protection of citizens and their constitutional rights in international economic law. Moreover intergovernmental regulation of transnational cooperation among citizens must be justified by 'principles of justice' and 'multilevel constitutional restraints' protecting rights of citizens and their 'public reason'. The reality of 'constitutional pluralism' requires respecting legitimately diverse conceptions of human rights and democratic constitutionalism. The obvious failures in the governance of interrelated trading, financial and environmental systems must be restrained by cosmopolitan, constitutional conceptions of international law protecting the transnational rule of law and participatory democracy for the benefit of citizens.

The Universal Declaration for Human Rights was approved in 1948 and yet more than fifty years later some human rights--especially the rights of groups such as women, minorities, and indigenous peoples--continue to be at risk. This book examines recent humanitarian catastrophes involving such groups and suggests how the society of states may develop a collective capacity for human rights enforcement. Above all, it emphasizes the long term efforts to stabilize weak or failing societies and to develop democratic governments on which the protection of human rights ultimately depends.

In the early 21st century, poverty, impoverishment and inequalities are increasing across the European continent. These phenomena not only weaken the social cohesion of European societies, they also violate human rights, including social and civil and political rights, and question the functioning of democracy. How can people living in poverty make their voices heard in polarised societies, where more than 40% of assets and 25% of revenues are held by 10% of the population? This guide is the result of two years of collective discussion held within the framework of the project "The human rights of people experiencing poverty". It was prepared with the assistance of many individuals and organisations, including people living in poverty, researchers, associations and representatives of public authorities. As well as offering a critique of the current situation, analysing inequality and poverty through the prism of human rights, democracy and redistributive policies, the guide also invites the reader to explore the possibilities of a renewed strategy to fight poverty in order to restore a sense of social justice. It makes proposals that aim to overcome the stigmatisation and categorisation of people, opening pathways of learning to build well-being through sharing, avoiding waste and by enhancing public awareness around the principle of human dignity as a human right for all.

Bringing together leading scholars and practitioners from the worlds of leadership, followership, transitional justice, and international law, this research provides a blueprint of how people-led, bottom-up, grassroots efforts can foster reconciliation and a more peaceful world.

Contemporary Russia, despite her official status as a “modern democracy”, casts great doubt on her “legitimacy”. Putin “tolerates” the fundamental human rights principles, but how freely can Russian citizens really speak? What is Russia’s stance on the matter of human rights and freedoms in comparison to the European traditions? And how do the current Russian “crack down” actions influence on her foreign policy with the other nations? The focus of this book is both on revealing the nature of the declared normative human rights principles in Russia, and a more substantial analysis of the practical cases, identifying the general dynamics of human rights violations in 21st century Russia. From the text: – Historical background; – Human rights; – The case of Pussy Riot; – Free Speech; – The duality of coercion

Examining the uncertainty of the role and scope of traditional political rights in the 21st-century's threat of terrorism, this book reflects on the appropriate scope and strength of protection of political rights, and analyses issues such as party closures, political rights of minorities, and democratization.