Abstract
The EU Bill of Rights’ Diagonal Application to Member States / Csongor IstvaÌn Nagy (ed.). Eleven international, 2018. ISBN: 9789462368699
It is out of the question that nowadays the European competence to defend rule of law and human rights against Member States is one of the core issues of the ‘European project’. In the last decade, the EU institutions have made several, benevolent but feeble, attempts to enforce rule of law and human rights requirements. Though EU law’s approach, at least at first glance, might appear to be idiosyncratic, it is far from unprecedented and, as far as multilevel constitutionalism is concerned, EU law may draw on the experiences of various regimes where centralized human rights protection and national (State) constitutional identities coexist. Comparative federalism provides an array of experiences, solutions and techniques, which help the European integration to grasp and address the diagonal enforcement of human rights and to take stock of its solutions. This volume addresses the EU’s human rights problem from a comparative perspective and explores the constitutional and jurisprudential patterns addressing the question of inquiry in a multilevel constitutional architecture.
The European Convention on Human Rights as an Instrument of Tort Law / Stefan Somers. Intersentia, 2018. ISBN: 9781780686837
Tort law and human rights belong to different areas of law, namely private and public law. Nevertheless, the European Convention on Human Rights increasingly influences national tort law of signatory states, both on the vertical level of state liability and on the horizontal level between private persons. An individual can appeal to the European Convention on Human Rights in order to challenge national tort law in two situations: where he is held accountable under national tort law for exercising his Conventions rights, and where national law does not provide effective compensation in accordance with Article 13. The second method is strongly connected with the practice of the European Court of Human Rights to award compensations itself on the basis of Article 41. A compensation in national tort law is considered to be effective according to Article 13 when it is comparatively in line with the compensations of the European Court of Human Rights granted on the basis of Article 41. This raises the important question as to how compensations under Article 41 are made by the European Court of Human Rights.
The European Court of Human Rights and the Freedom of Religion or Belief: The 25 Years since Kokkinakis / Jeroen Temperman, T. Jeremy Gunn and Malcolm D. Evans (eds). Brill Nijhoff, 2019. (Studies in Religion, Secular Beliefs and Human Rights; Volume 13) ISBN: 9789004346895
As the tensions involving religion and society increase, the European Court of Human Rights and the Freedom of Religion or Belief is the first systematic analysis of the first twenty-five years of the European Court’s religion jurisprudence. The Court is one of the most significant institutions confronting the interactions among states, religious groups, minorities, and dissenters. In the 25 years since its first religion case, Kokkinakis v. Greece, the Court has inserted itself squarely into the international human rights debate regarding the freedom of religion or belief. The authors demonstrate the positive contributions and the significant flaws of the Court’s jurisprudence involving religion, society, and secularism.
European Yearbook on Human Rights 2018 / Wolfgang Benedek, Philip Czech, Lisa Heschl, Karin Lukas and Manfred Nowak (eds.). Intersentia, 2018. ISBN: 9781780687063
Both in Europe and around the world, 2017 has been another difficult year for the protection of human rights. Examples of the increased pressure on the European human rights system are apparent: the attack on the independence of the judiciary in Poland, which was responded to by the first time initiation of the rule of law procedure by the European Commission; the increasing human rights issues arising from European migration policy; Russia’s suspension of its financial contribution to the Council of Europe and Turkey’s lowering of its contribution; and the difficulties in appointing key human rights positions in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Great Debates on the European Convention on Human Rights / Fiona De Londras and Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou. Palgrave, Macmillan Education, 2018. (Palgrave great debates in law) ISBN: 9781137607317
This engaging textbook provides a critical analysis of the legitimacy and effectiveness of the European Convention on Human Rights and its practical operation. In a succinct way, the book investigates questions around the legitimacy of how the European Court of Human Rights develops its law, the obligations of states to comply with its judgments, the adequacy of the Convention in securing basic goods, and the effectiveness of the system in protecting rights ‘in the real world’. It assesses some under-explored areas of the Convention that are often overlooked. Presenting a number of debates about the legitimacy and effectiveness of the system in a provocative and critical style, this book encourages debate, discussion, and self-reflection on how, when and why the Convention protects human rights in Europe.
Human Dignity and Human Rights / Pablo Gilabert. Oxford University Press, 2018. ISBN: 0198827229
This book offers a sophisticated and comprehensive defence of the view that human dignity is the moral heart of human rights. First, it clarifies the network of concepts associated with dignity. Paramount within this network is a core notion of human dignity as an inherent, non-instrumental, egalitarian, and high-priority normative status of human persons. People have this status in virtue of their valuable human capacities rather than as a result of their national origin and other conventional features. Second, it shows how human dignity gives rise to an inspiring ideal of solidaristic empowerment, which calls us to support people’s pursuit of a flourishing life by affirming both negative duties not to block or destroy, and positive duties to protect and facilitate, the development and exercise of the valuable capacities at the basis of their dignity. The most urgent of these duties are correlative to human rights. Third, this book illustrates how the proposed dignitarian approach allows us to articulate the content, justification, and feasible implementation of specific human rights, including contested ones, such as the rights to democratic political participation and to decent labour conditions. Finally, this book’s dignitarian approach helps illuminate the arc of humanist justice, identifying both the difference and the continuity between the basic requirements of human rights and more expansive requirements of social justice such as those defended by liberal egalitarians and democratic socialists.
Human Rights Tectonics: Global Dynamics on Integration and Fragmentation / Emmanuelle Bribosia and Isabelle Rorive. Intersentia, 2018. ISBN: 9781780686134
Bringing together international, European and national perspectives and focusing on select subject areas such as non-discrimination, accommodation of cultural identity and socio-economic rights, the book examines the difficulties faced by human rights lawyers in their day-to-day work. Through the implementation of a methodology applying both theoretical inquiry and case study examples, the book analyses the impact of the fragmentation of international and regional human rights and how this can cause failures in effective legal protection or, on certain occasions, strengthen it. The imagery of plate tectonics aims to portray the extent to which human rights law is in perpetual construction and constant renewal with lines of convergence and divergence. Entangled into battles, shocks, jolts or clashes, human rights find themselves today ‘on trial’. Against this backdrop, the book addresses the case for an increased integration of human rights law, comprehensively and critically, with a focus on concrete and contemporary issues.
Independence Movements and Their Aftermath: Self-Determination and the Struggle for Success / Jon B. Alterman and Will Todman. Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. ISBN: 9781442280809
The success of an independence movement is never preordained. Not only is independence itself an improbable endeavor in most cases, but the quality of that independence – whether most people are better off or worse off – varies considerably. Elements outside the movement’s control, including historical context, Great Power actors, or unpredictable events, are often the most important factors in determining its success. But what determines better outcomes and worse ones? Regional experts explore this question in a new book, Independence Movements and Their Aftermath: Self-Determination and the Struggle for Success. In this book, we propose a new method to evaluate independence movements and their likelihood of producing vibrant and stable societies after independence. It provides a framework for policymakers, civil society actors, and their publics to improve the chances of making better lives for millions of people.
Political and Judicial Rights Through the Prism of Religious Belief / Hans-Georg Ziebertz and Carl Sterkens. Springer International Publishing AG, 2018. (Religion and Human Rights; 3) ISBN: 9783319773520
This innovative volume is focused on the relationship between religion on the one hand and political and judicial rights on the other. At a time when the so-called ‘checks and balances’ that guarantee the vulnerable equilibrium between legislative, executive and judicial branches of governance are increasingly under pressure, this book offers valuable insights. It presents empirical work that has measured young people’s attitudes and explains the variety found across their views. Readers will find answers to the question: To what extent do youths in different countries support political and judicial human rights and what influences their attitudes towards these rights? The political rights in this question include, among others, active and passive voting right, the right to protest, and the rights of refugees. Judicial rights refer in general to the right of a fair trial, and include principles like equality before the law; the right to independent and impartial judgement; the presumption of innocence; the right to legal counsel; and the privilege against self-incrimination. Expert contributing authors look at aspects such as religious beliefs and practices, personal evaluation of state authorities, and personality characteristics. The authors discuss contextual determinants for attitudes towards political and judicial rights, in both theory and empirical indicators. Numerous helpful tables and figures support the written word. This book makes an original contribution to research through the empirical clarification of factors that induce or reduce people’s support of political and judicial rights. It will appeal to graduates and researchers in religious studies, philosophy or sociology of religion, among other disciplines, but it will also interest the general reader who is concerned with matters of human rights and social justice.
Protecting Minority Rights in African Countries A Constitutional Political Economy Approach / John M. Mbaku. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018. ISBN: 9781786438614
In this enlightening book, John Mukum Mbaku analyses the main challenges of constitutional design and the construction of governance institutions in Africa today. He argues that the central issues are: providing each country with a constitutional order that is capable of successfully managing sectarian conflict and enhancing peaceful coexistence; protecting the rights of citizens – including those of minorities; minimizing the monopolization of political space by the majority (to the detriment of minorities); and, effectively preventing government impunity. Mbaku offers a comprehensive analysis of various approaches to the management of diversity, and shows how these approaches can inform Africa’s struggle to promote peace and good governance. He explores in depth the existence of dysfunctional and anachronistic laws and institutions inherited from the colonial state, and the process through which laws and institutions are formulated or constructed, adopted, and amended. A close look at the constitutional experiences of the American Republic provides important lessons for constitutional design and constitutionalism in Africa. Additionally, comparative politics and comparative constitutional law also provide important lessons for the management of diversity in African countries. Mbaku recommends state reconstruction through constitutional design as a way for each African country to provide itself with laws and institutions that reflect the realities of each country, including the necessary mechanisms and tools for the protection of the rights of minorities.
Reconsidering EU Citizenship: Contradictions and Constraints / Oliver Eberl. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018. (Interdisciplinary perspectives on EU citizenship) ISBN: 9781788113533
25 years after the introduction of EU citizenship this book reconsiders its contradictions and constraints as well as promises and prospects. Analyzing a disputed concept and evaluating its implementation and social effects Reconsidering EU Citizenship contributes to the lively debate on European and transnational citizenship. It offers new insights for the ongoing theoretical debates on the future of EU citizenship – a future that will be determined by the transformative path the EU is going to take vis à vis the centrifugal forces of the current economic and political crisis.
Reviewing the Responsibility to Protect: Origins, Implementation and Controversies / Ramesh Chandra Thakur. Routledge, 2019. (Global politics and the Responsibility to Protect) ISBN: 9781351016797
This volume is a collection of some of the key essays by Ramesh Thakur on the origins, implementation and future prospects of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm. The book offers a comprehensive yet accessible review of the origins, evolution, advances and shortcomings of the R2P principle. A literature review is followed by an overview of the background, meaning and development of R2P. With a focus on the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), Part I analyses the features of, and explains the factors that make for success and failure of commission diplomacy. Part II discusses the controversies surrounding efforts to implement R2P, including the role and importance of emerging powers. Part III describes the remaining protection gaps and explains why R2P will remain relevant because it is essentially demand driven. Finally, the book concludes with a look back at the origins of R2P and looks ahead to possible future directions.
Sexuality and Transsexuality Under the European Convention on Human Rights: A Queer Reading of Human Rights Law / Damian A. Gonzalez Salzberg. Hart Publishing, 2019. ISBN: 9781509914937
This book undertakes a critical analysis of international human rights law through the lens of queer theory. It pursues two main aims: first, to make use of queer theory to illustrate that the field of human rights law is underpinned by several assumptions that determine a conception of the subject that is gendered and sexual in specific ways. This gives rise to multiple legal and social consequences, some of which challenge the very idea of universality of human rights. Second, the book proposes that human rights law can actually benefit from a better understanding of queer critiques, since queer insights can help it to overcome heteronormative beliefs currently held. In order to achieve these main aims, the book focuses on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the leading legal authority in the field of international human rights law. The use of queer theory as the theoretical approach for these tasks serves to deconstruct several aspects of the Court’s jurisprudence dealing with gender, sexuality, and kinship, to later suggest potential paths to reconstruct such features in a queer(er) and more universal manner.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Commentary / Rachel Murray. Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780198810582
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) is the principle regional human rights treaty for the African continent. Adopted in 1981, there is now a significant body of jurisprudence and interpretation by its African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the recently established African Court. This volume provides a comprehensive article-by-article legal analysis of the provisions of the Charter as it draws upon the documents adopted by the African Commission, including resolutions, case law, and concluding observations. Where relevant, case law adopted by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and that of other sub-regional courts and tribunals and domestic courts in Africa, are also incorporated. The book examines not only the substantive rights in the African Charter but also the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and provides a full examination of its mandate. A critical analysis of each of the provisions of the ACHPR is led principally by the jurisprudence and documentation of the African Commission and African Court. The text also identifies the overall development of the ACHPR within the broader regional and international human rights legal arena.