This book was originally published in 1998. Protection of Human Rights both at a regional and at an international level is now a major pre-occupation of International Law. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 is probably the most important single universal human rights instrument of our time, which both sets standards and ensures compliance with them, through measures of implementation. More than 135 States have accepted the obligations imposed by this Covenant. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the provisions of the Optional Protocol, which enshrines the right of individual communication and the jurisprudence developed thereunder by the Human Rights Committee, which is the supervisory body of this treaty regime. It analyses the effectiveness of the committee in protecting the rights of individuals under the Optional Protocol. The book will be of particular interest to scholars engaged in the teaching of and research in the international protection of human rights. It will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate law students. Practitioners in the international human rights field will also find it valuable. It should be of interest to international N.G.O.s and governmental officials engaged upon ensuring effective compliance with our international rights obligations.

4. Right to Peace.

Volume 26 in the Procedural Aspects of International Law Monograph Series The Law and Process of the U.N. Human Rights Committee focuses attention how the Committee functions as a decision-making body and brings to light troubling flaws in the Committee’s operations that may undermine its ability to induce compliance. Published under the auspices of the Procedural Aspects of International Law Institute (PAIL). For more information about PAIL please go to Pail-Institute.org. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

Defining Civil and Political Rights provides a comprehensive analysis and commentary on the decisions - technically known as views - of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, for use by human rights lawyers throughout the world. Each of the substantive rights and freedoms set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is considered in detail, by analysis of final reviews and comments of the Human Rights Committee. This second edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to take account of recent jurisprudence on the Human Rights Committee. New material has been added based upon substantive areas of the committee's jurisprudence.

The Rights of Victims in Criminal Justice Proceedings for Serious Human Rights Violations addresses a question of critical importance to policy-makers, international lawyers, academics, and affected societies throughout the world: Should victims of serious human rights violations be granted under international law the rights of access to and participation in criminal proceedings before international, hybrid and domestic tribunals? Juan Carlos Ochoa applies a thorough analysis of international and comparative domestic law and practice to this question, taking into account a host of international human rights instruments and case law, the theory, law and practice of international and hybrid criminal tribunals, the law and practice in several domestic jurisdictions, and many theoretical and empirical studies. After first determining the current state of, and emerging trends in, international law in this area, he argues that the lack of recognition of these rights under customary international law is inadequate, because access to and participation in criminal proceedings for victims of these infringements are based on several internationally recognised human rights and principles, contribute to the expressivist objectives of these procedures, and are consistent with the principles that inform the enforcement of criminal law in democratic States. On this basis, Ochoa convincingly suggests concrete reforms.

With contributions by a multinational group of academic scholars, judges and registrars of international tribunals, and experts from Non-Governmental Organizations, this book explores the role of civil society with regards to international courts and tribunals, as well as compliance mechanisms set up especially in the environmental field. The areas of human rights, international criminal law and international environmental law are the main focus of the study, in the light of the well established role of NGOs in Human Rights Courts and UN bodies as well as their remarkable success in setting up the International Criminal Court and the promising avenues which are now open in the compliance bodies of environmental law conventions. Broader questions and bodies such as the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea as well as European courts and tribunals are also examined.

The definitive and authoritative international law text, updated to reflect key case law, international practice and treaty developments.

How are rights and freedoms best protected? The American model of constitutional protection and judicial review has been adopted in a number of countries,most recently in the United Kingdom. Increasingly, rights are the province of the judiciary. But how much judicial review do we need? How do we resolve conflicts between liberty, equality, and democracy? What are group rights, and how strong is their claim to protection? What guidance can the decisions of the UN Human Rights Committee provide? These are some of the questions discussed in this collection of essays, which explores a range of contemporary issues in jurisdictions including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Contributors include Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court, Justice Ian Binnie of the Supreme Court of Canada, Justice Eddie Durie of the High Court of New Zealand; James Allan, Andrew Butler, Hilary Charlesworth, Scott Davidson, Elizabeth Evatt, Murray Hunt, Andrew Sharpe, and Jeremy Waldron.

The essays in this collection explore the various ways in which a number of key European and International legal institutions attempt to define the boundaries of jurisdictional competence. The principle questions which are addressed are: (a) Does the relevant institution have a jurisdictional competence adequate to the challenges that it faces? (b) What are the parameters that bear upon the exercise of a particular jurisdictional competence? (c) What are the effects,positive or negative, of extending, restraining or creating a particular jurisdictional competence on those subject to its jurisdiction, other actors and the rule of law itself? Examples of the institutions covered in this book are the Security Council, the European Court of Justice, NATO, the International Court of Justice and the State. Contents: 1. Introduction; (A) Theoretical Approaches to the Assertion of Jurisdiction 2. Jurisdiction: The State - Frank Berman; 3. New Wine in Old Bottles or Old Wine in New Bottles or Only Old Wine in Old Bottles? Reflections on the Assertion of Jurisdiction in Public International Law - Iain Scobbie; 4. The Exercise of Jurisdiction in Private International Law - Jonathan Hill; (B) Approaches to the Assertion of Jurisdiction Political Bodies: 5. National Law, International Law and EU Law – How do they Relate? - Trevor Hartley; 6. The Member States' Competence and Jurisdiction under the EU/EC Treaties - Stephen Hyett; 7. Competition Law in a Globalized Marketplace: Beyond Jurisdiction - Brenda Sufrin; 8. The Jurisdiction of the Security Council: Original Intention and New World Order(s) - Colin Warbrick; 9. Jurisdiction, NATO and the Kosovo Conflict - Christopher Greenwood; (C) Approaches to the Assertion of Jurisdiction by Adjudicative Bodies: 10. Approaches of Domestic Courts to the Assertion of International Jurisdiction - Hazel Fox; 11. Assertion of Jurisdiction by the International Court of Justice - Abdul Koroma; 12. Approaches to the Assertion of International Jurisdiction: The Human Rights Committee - Dominic McGoldrick; 13. Some Problems of Compulsory Jurisdiction before Specialised Tribunals: The Law of the Sea - Alan Boyle;15 Activism and Restraint in the European Court of Justice - Stephen Weatherill; 14. The Assertion of Jurisdiction by the European Court of Justice - John Usher.