From ‘Reluctance’ to ‘Exceptionalism’

News Release, the Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, CERD Report Unbalanced, 26 March 2000.

Charlesworth Hilary , ‘The Australian Reluctance about Rights’, (1993) 31 Osgoode Hall Law Journal 195. In a similar vein, Charlesworth has recently referred to the Australian record on human rights as ‘one hundred years of solitude’ in the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Lecture, The University of Melbourne, 17 May 2001 (copy on file with author).

Joint News Release, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, the Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, and the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Philip Ruddock, Improving the Effectiveness of United Nations Committees, FA97, 29 August 2000.

For example, the Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, claimed that individual rights are protected by the Australian traditions of robust parliamentary debate in his Law Week address, Sunday, 13 May 2001, referred to by Charlesworth , ‘One Hundred Years …’, above, ref2, p.9. For the approach of previous governments see Charlesworth , ‘The Australian Reluctance …’, above, ref 2.

See (2000) 125 UNity News 1–6.

Joint News Release, above, ref 3.

Rogers Daniel T. , ‘Exceptionalism’ in Molho Anthony and Wood Gordon S. , (eds), Imagined Histories: American Historians Interpret the Past, Princeton University Press, 1998, pp.21, 23.

Media Statement, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, 30 March 2000.

Joint News Release, above, ref 3.

The Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Philip Ruddock, reported in ‘Ministers Outline Reform Plans for UN Treaty Committees’, (2001) 249 UNity News 2.

The Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, above, ref 10.

The Prime Minister, Howard John , Canberra Times, 19 February 2000, p.1, cited in Charlesworth , ‘One Hundred Years …’, above, ref2, p.9.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Downer Alexander , ‘Minister's Reply’ [to letter from Professor Maddocks] (2000) 147 UNity News 2.

Joint News Release, above, ref 3.

Bayefsky Anne F. , ‘Cultural Sovereignty, Relativism, and International Human Rights: New Excuses for Old Strategies’, (1996) 9 Ratio Juris 42.

Kausikan Bilahari , ‘Asia's Different Standard’ (1993) 92 Foreign Policy 24.

Bayefsky Anne F. , The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Universality at the Crossroads (2001) see <http://www.yorku.ca/hrights>.

‘Canadian Report Criticises UN Committees: Downer’, (2001) 255 Unity News 3.

Riley Mark , ‘“No excuse” for Howard's UN attack’, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 June 2001.

For example, Bayefsky Anne F. , ‘Making the Human Rights Treaties Work’, in Henkin Louis and Hargrove Lawrence , (eds), Human Rights: An Agenda for the Next Century, American Society of International Law, 1994, p.229, 264.

Alston Philip , ‘Beyond ‘them’ and ‘us’: Putting treaty body reform into perspective’, in Alston Philip and Crawford James , (eds), The Future of UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring, Cambridge University Press, 2000, p.501, 503.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, the Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, and the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Philip Ruddock, Australian Initiative to Improve the Effectiveness of the UN Treaty Committees, 5 April 2001.

Joint News Release, above ref 3.

Fagan Patrick F. , ‘How UN Conventions on Women's and Children's Rights Undermine Family, Religion, and Sovereignty’, The Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, 5 February 2001, 5. See <http://www.heritage.org/library/backgrounder/bg1407.html>.

Alston Philip , Effective Functioning of Bodies Established Pursuant to United Nations Human Rights Instruments, E/CN.4/1997/74, 27 March 1997.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Australia. 22/07/97, A/52/38/Rev.1, Part II, para 398.

Sex Discrimination Amendment (No.1) Bill 2000 (Cth). The Senate did not pass this Bill.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Australia. 10/10/97. CRC/C/15/Add.79, 10 October 1997, para 24.

See further, Otto Dianne and Wiseman David , ‘In Search Of Effective Remedies: Applying the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights in Australia’, (2001) 7 Australian Journal of Human Rights 5.

Concluding Observations by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Australia. 19/04/2000. CERD/C/304/Add.101, 19 April 2000, paras 6 and 7.

Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Australia. 28/07/2000. A/55/40, paras 498–528, 28 July 2000.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Australia. 01/09/2000. E/C.12/1/Add.50, 1 September 2000, para. 24.

Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee Against Torture: Australia. 21/11/2000. CAT/C/XXV/Concl.3, 21 November 2000, paras 7(a) and 7(b).

As the government said in its 1st Periodic Report to CROC: ‘Australia does not propose to implement CROC by enacting the Convention as domestic law. The general approach taken by Australia to human rights and other Conventions is to ensure that domestic legislation, politics and practice comply with the Convention prior to ratification’, CRC/C/8/Add.31 para 6, 1 February 1996.

Bailey Peter , ‘Implementing Human Rights — the way forward’, (1999) 5/2 Australian Journal of Human Rights 167 at 172–4.

Bailey Peter , ‘The Right to an Adequate Standard of Living: New Issues for Australian Law’, (1997) 4/1 Australian Journal of Human Rights 25 at 50.