Human Rights are basic rights and freedoms that every human being is entitled to, irrespective of his or her nationality, sex, religion, national or ethnic origin, language, sexual orientation, place of residence or any other status. Each person is equally entitled to human rights without discrimination. Human Rights are therefore considered to be universal rights. These include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, the right to education, the right to food as well as economic, social and cultural rights. Human Rights are often expressed and ensured by law in the form of national legislation, international treaties, customary international law, general principles and other sources of international law. Human Rights entail both rights and obligations. States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, to protect and to fulfill human rights. The obligation to protect requires States to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses. At the individual level, each person should also respect the human rights of others.
This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research in the field of Human Rights. It provides the basic legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library’s classification index code 98a. Human Rights and subject heading (keyword) Human rights are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue.
Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.
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Human Rights and Constituent Power: Without Model or Warranty reworks the ordinary conception of human rights, by replacing their possessive individualism with the radically different ontology of a ~being-togethera (TM) in constituent struggle. Engaging the current political and jurisprudential thought on constituent power with a radical political re-thinking of human rights, Ilan Rua Wall develops the idea that human rights must be considered as a non-metaphysical process of a right-inga (TM). The first part of this argument discusses both the classical theory of constituent power and its contemporary conceptualization, in order to elaborate the conception of an a opena (TM) constituent power, not tied to a the closure of a constituted order. This conception is then further developed through the re-imagination of community, and of the political, as a ruptural force. The consequence is a more radical form of human rights: now understood, not just a moralistic cover for biopolitical subordination, but as a constituent potentia; the coming to presence of a radical sense of being-with, and a very different human right-ing.
Human Rights and Constituent Power: Without Model or Warranty reworks the ordinary conception of human rights, by replacing their possessive individualism with the radically different ontology of a ~being-togethera (TM) in constituent struggle. Engaging the current political and jurisprudential thought on constituent power with a radical political re-thinking of human rights, Ilan Rua Wall develops the idea that human rights must be considered as a non-metaphysical process of a ~right-inga (TM). The first part of this argument discusses both the classical theory of constituent power and its contemporary conceptualization, in order to elaborate the conception of an a ~opena (TM) constituent power, not tied to a the closure of a constituted order. This conception is then further developed through the re-imagination of community, and of the political, as a ruptural force. The consequence is a more radical form of human rights: now understood, not just a moralistic cover for biopolitical subordination, but as a constituent potentia; the coming to presence of a radical sense of being-with, and a very different human right-ing.
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On Friday April 13th 2012, a Surinamese military court was expected to comment on a recently adopted controversial Amnesty bill in the case regarding the December Murders of 1982 in which Desiré Delano (Desi) Bouterse, the current President of the Republic of Suriname, is the prime suspect.
Read moreIf you are a public figure and a celebrity, how much privacy can you expect? How far can a journalist probe into a celebrity’s private life to get news in order to fulfill ‘the right to know’ factor for the public interest?
In recent years the balance between the media’s right to expression and an individual’s right to privacy has always been tricky and has therefore given rise to much debate. This blog will discuss two judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Februari 7th 2012,….
The Dutch Government chose to ignore the advice of the Council of State concerning the ban on face-covering clothing. The Council of State, the advisory organ of the Government, heavily criticised the legislative proposal. First, the Council of State does not consider the complete ban as necessary and useful. Second, the Council of State is of the opinion that a ban on face covering clothing is an infringement of the freedom of religion.
Read moreThe Amsterdam Court has cleared Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders of hate charges.
According to the Dutch court his anti-islamic statements always fell within the bounds of legitimate political debate even if they were offensive to many Muslims. The Amsterdam Court found his rhetoric was “on the edge of what is legally permissible.” The statements were directed “against a religion as such and not against individual persons or a group of people.”
Read moreOsama Bin Laden (OBL) is dead. He was killed by a special ops team from the United States of America (USA), “after a firefight.” After OBL had been assassinated, the special team of SEALS took the deceased body of the dangerous mastermind terrorist and several hard drives from the compound in Abbottabad. Bin laden had been hiding there with his family for several years without being noticed. When the Pentagon researched the hard drives, it appeared that OBL had been planning new attacks, at least on several US cities and also on European locations. Upon hearing this news so many have sighed with relief that the secret services of the USA found out about these planned attacks before they could actually take place. Obama, President of the USA stated that “justice had been done” by executing OBL. But “what kind of justice” The assassination also led to a lot of questions and criticism: Was the raid justified?
Read moreIs the right to self-determination of peoples applicable to the present revolution – or civil war – in Libya? Can one claim that a State with a dictatorial regime is violating the right to self-determination of its own population?
Read moreThe 1971 Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt as amended to 2007 contains many articles relevant for the present situation.
Read moreOver the last two decades national courts all throughout Latin-America began to vigorously ‘attack’ Amnesty laws in order for investigations on human rights violations from the past to go forward. This Blog will briefly outline the causes that led to to these recent changes in Latin – American legal culture.
Read moreFoto scanpize reuters handout
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has long held the view that human rights and peace are closely linked. Human rights are essential for [...]
Read moreIf a patient suffers unbearably and when there is no prospect of improvement, some regard the termination of life of the patient as the only option to end the unendurable suffering as quickly as possible.In most countries the practice of euthanasia is illegal. Only in Washington (USA), Oregon (USA), Monatana (USA), The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg, there are laws which permit the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide under certain circumstances and when specific guidelines are followed. The Netherlands is the first country to legalise the practice of euthanasia. Since 2002 the Dutch Criminal Code of The Netherlands includes grounds for immunity from criminal liability. However, there are strict boundaries.
Read moreLately constitutional rights law cases are very much at the centre of public attention in the Netherlands. The cases have a common denominator: religion.
Read moreIn July 2010, The French government decided to begin to expel Roma’s, mainly from Romania and Bulgaria, as many of them were living in France illegally. This decision caused much controversy within the Institutions of the EU. This blog will briefly discuss in what way EU institutions have responded to recent Roma issues and what can be done to improve the position of this marginalized community in Europe.
Read moreThe Obama Administration is in favor of human embryonic stem cell research. Further research alongside other kinds of stem cell experimentation is vital to science and further medical study. It could help us understand the process of cell transformation and how diseases such as diabetes and blindness could be treated. James Sherley, an MIT scientist, and several other scientists however oppose to human embryonic stem cell research. They filed a case against the decision of the Obama administration to federally fund embryonic stem cell use research. The Federal District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the federal funding of stem cell research breaks law protecting human embryos.
Read more“The burqa is a massive attack on the rights of women. It is a mobile prison”, Silvana Koch-Merin stated. Silvana, a German representative of the European Parliament, called for a ban on face-covering veils throughout Europe [1].There are many kinds of islamic veils, such as the niqab, burqa, chador, and khimar (see picture below). The [...]
Read more The route of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771.
Source: http://www.wikipedia.org/ In the early morning of Wednesday May 12 2010 Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771, crashed at about 06:10 local time in Tripoli, Libya, near the runway of the airport. The aircraft was shattered to pieces. The airbus (EAD.PA) A330-200 was flying from Johannesburg to [...]
Gender equality legislation is sweeping the world. Constitutions and laws have been recognized by women’s rights activists as important instruments through which decision-making, influence and power are organized and exercised. Since 1990, at least 110 countries around the globe have been engaged in writing new constitutions or major revisions of old ones. In many of [...]
Read moreOn Friday, 19 February, at the Ministerial Conference on the future of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Interlaken, Switzerland, the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe issued a joint declaration (Interlaken Declaration [PDF]) on future reforms that should, among others, ease the growing caseload of the Court.
Read moreAfter finding no legal basis for the prosecution of Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV (Party for Freedom), prosecutors were forced to change course in January 2009 after the Amsterdam Appeals Court decreed that charges may (or “should”?) be brought against the politician for inciting hatred, discrimination and the insult of a group.
Read moreAddressing past human rights violations in Indonesia has proven to be a complicated and often challenging task. Massive atrocities and large scale human rights violations mostly took place during the 32 year rule of President Suharto and were never properly investigated or prosecuted. This blog will briefly discuss the legal steps that have been undertaken to adress these human rights violations.
Read moreOn Monday the 17th of August 2009 the Centre for Studies and Research in International Law and International Relations of the Hague Academy of International Law started. The Centre takes place annually at the Academy and Library building of the Peace Palace. The purpose of the Centre is to bring together advanced young scholars of [...]
Read moreThe European Court of Human Rights ‘Irish abortion ban case’ The European Court of Human Rights has agreed to hear the challenge by three women in Ireland to the Irish government’s ban on abortion in a full hearing before its grand chamber of 17 judges. The three Irish women, represented by the Irish Family [...]
Read moreOn Monday, 8 June Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest oil producer, reached a 15.5 million dollar settlement in a lawsuit brought against it by the families of the nine Nigerian activists who were killed in 1995. The lawsuit, which was brought to a New York court under the US Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), accused Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary of complicity in the hanging and the killings or persecution of the environmental activists.
Read moreCombating discrimination and all forms of intolerance, as embodied in Article 1 [1] Dutch Constitution and criminally enforced through Article 137c – 137g of the Criminal Code, is a policy spearhead for the Dutch government.
Read moreOn 10 December, International Human Rights Day is celebrated around the world. This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations and representing the first step in establishing a comprehensive international framework for the protection of human rights.
Read moreSaturday 23 August marks the UN nineth annual International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
Read moreOn Monday, 11 August, the Council of the European Union (EU) issued a declaration on the execution of Mexican national José Medellín in Texas last week.
Read moreLate Tuesday night, 5 August, the State of Texas executed José Ernesto Medellín, despite a call from the UN Secretary-General urging the United States (US) not to go ahead with the execution and to respect the judgements of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Read moreOn Thursday, 24 June, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of South African Judge Navanethem Pillay as the new UN high commissioner for human rights. The appointment is subject to approval by the General Assembly which will meet on Monday.
Read moreThe global increase in food prices will plunge millions of people into hunger worldwide. Starvation and food shortage already caused food riots and are threatening to destabilize regimes.
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Human rights and constituent power : without model or warranty / , 2012
Theory and practice of the European Convention on Human Rights / , 2006
International Human Rights In A Nutshell / , 2009
Handbook of Human Rights / , 2012
The United Nations human rights treaty system: law and procedure / , 2011
International human rights law / , 2010
