The United Nations Human Rights Committee, established under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, has the power to examine individual complaints on alleged human rights violations. It is noted, however, that the Committee lacks important powers to be as effective as the regional human rights courts in Europe and the Americas. The paper assesses the effectiveness of the Committee by means of a comparative analysis. The comparison takes place within four criteria that are essential in an assessment of a court’s effectiveness: the visibility of the court in the public domain, the adoption of interim measures to hinder the aggravation of the violation, the fact-finding capacity of the court, and the enforcement of the final decisions and the follow-ups thereto. The paper argues that despite the statutory deficiencies of the Covenant and the Optional Protocol, the Committee can be as effective as the regional courts even without an amendment to these instruments. This would be possible if the Committee successfully argues for a binding nature of its interim measures; further, it can overcome the lack of its independent fact-finding capacity through a – thoroughly argued – reversal of burden of proof. If it could also augment its own visibility and the publicity of its decisions, the Committee will finally enhance states’ compliance with its final, non-legally binding ‘views’.
The Committee may welll be able to become as effective as the regional courts of human rights, and could in fact evolve into an effective ‘court’ of human rights on a global level.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- I Introduction – effective Enforcement of Human rights
- A Protection of Human Rights on an International Level
- B Identifying the Thesis....
- C Outline of Paper .
- II Comparing human rights regimes
- III The protection system of the UN Human Rights Committee
- A The Reporting System
- B Inter-State Complaints
- C Individual Complaints ........
- IV Protecting human rights in Europe.
- D Overview - Human Rights in Europe.
- E The Change of the system of Protection under the European Convention of
Human Rights..
- 1 Commission and Court - The old System
- 2 Permanent Court - The new System
- IV Protecting human rights in the Americas.
- A The Organization of American States and the American Convention of Human Rights.
- B Protection System under the American Convention of Human Rights…...........
- V Defining criteria For the comparison of effectiveness.
- 1 Effective Enforcement
- 2 Criteria of Comparison.......
- VI Publicity and Visiblity......
- A The Importance of Publicity and Visibility in Protecting Human Rights .…………………….
- B European Court of Human Rights...........
- 1 Caseload
- 2 Publicity
- C Human Rights Committee......
- 1 Caseloa .....
- 2 The Problem of Conflicting Jurisdiction...
- 3 Visibility..
- D Conclusion - Enhancing the Visibility of the Human Rights Committee ........
- VII Interim Measures
- A The Importance of Interim Measures.
- 1 Overview
- 2 The Problem of Delay
- B Interim Measures in the European System
- 1 Scope of Interim Measures..
- 2 Non-Compliance with Request
- 3 Is an interim measure binding?
- 4 Possible Reason for the Decision in ‘Mamatkulov'.
- C Interim Measures in the American System ....
- 1 Scope of Interim Measures..
- 2 Binding Nature of an Interim Measure?..
- D United Nations Human Rights Committee.
- 1 Scope of Interim Measures.
- 2 Non-Compliance with Request.
- E Conclusion - Can the Committee Establish a Binding Nature of its Interim Measures?.
- A The Importance of Interim Measures.
- VIII Fact-finding capacity.
- A The Importance of Independent Fact-Finding...
- B Fact-Finding in the European System ......
- 1 Intervention of Third Parties during the Written Proceedings..............
- 2 Request of evidence .
- 3 In-loco fact-finding procedures ......
- 4 Oral proceeding.....
- C Fact-Finding in the American Regime.
- 1 Inter-American Commission...
- 2 Inter-American Court.
- D Fact-Finding Capacity of the Human Rights Committee........
- 1 Article 5 (1) of the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR..
- 2 Burden of Proof..
- E Conclusion - Is the Reversal of Burden Of Proof an Adequate Substitute
for an Independent Fact-Finding Capacity?..\n
- 1 Protection of the Victim.
- 2 Other Possibilities for the Committee to Establish Facts.
- 3 Burden of Proof as Adequate Fact-Finding
- IX Enforcement AND follow-up procedures.
- A Europe...
- 1 Nature of Judgments
- 2 Supervisory Role of the Committee of Ministers
- B Human Rights Committee
- 1 The nature of the views.
- 2 How to Push Compliance with Final Decisions..
- C Enforcement and Follow-up - Conclusion ....
- A Europe...
- X Conclusion Can the united nations human rights committee evolve into an effective global court of human rights?.
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This research paper aims to examine the potential of the United Nations Human Rights Committee to become an effective 'court' of human rights. It explores the Committee's current structure and functioning, comparing it to other human rights regimes, particularly those in Europe and the Americas.
- The effectiveness of international human rights enforcement mechanisms
- The strengths and weaknesses of the UN Human Rights Committee's system
- Comparisons to other regional human rights courts and mechanisms
- The importance of publicity, visibility, and interim measures in human rights protection
- The role of fact-finding and enforcement in ensuring compliance with human rights standards
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The paper begins by introducing the concept of effective enforcement of human rights on an international level. It then outlines the structure and function of the UN Human Rights Committee, exploring its reporting system, inter-state complaints, and individual complaints mechanisms.
Subsequent chapters delve into the protection systems of human rights regimes in Europe and the Americas, comparing and contrasting their effectiveness with that of the UN Human Rights Committee. This includes an analysis of the European Court of Human Rights, the American Convention of Human Rights, and the respective roles of the European Commission and Court.
The paper further examines the importance of publicity and visibility in human rights protection, analyzing the caseload and public profile of both the European Court and the Human Rights Committee. It also investigates the effectiveness of interim measures in each system, exploring the binding nature of such measures and potential challenges to compliance.
Finally, the paper explores the fact-finding capacity of the UN Human Rights Committee, contrasting its reliance on the burden of proof with the independent fact-finding procedures of the European and American systems. It concludes by analyzing the Committee's enforcement and follow-up procedures, assessing its ability to ensure compliance with its views and judgments.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
This research paper focuses on key concepts such as international human rights, enforcement mechanisms, UN Human Rights Committee, human rights courts, European Court of Human Rights, American Convention of Human Rights, publicity, visibility, interim measures, fact-finding capacity, burden of proof, enforcement, and compliance.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Frederic Bostedt (Autor:in), 2003, Can the United Nations Human Rights Committee Evolve into an Effective ‘Court’ of Human Rights?, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/73189
