Elizabeth Grimm Arsenault, How the Gloves Came Off: Lawyers, Policy Makers, and Norms in the Debate on Torture (Columbia University Press, 2017, viii + 254 pp, £30.00) ISBN 9780231180788 (hb) 9,780,231,543,255 (ebk)

This contribution argues for the recognition of digital integrity as a human right, either as a right on its own or as an interpretative principle for related rights. The right to digital integrity represents a legal norm that crystallizes a certain vision of the individual, as well as the protections that he/she ought to be afforded in a world where digital technologies are omnipresent and pervasive

This article focuses on a specific standard by which the right to a fair trial is interpreted in the context of the right to legal assistance and the right to examine witnesses under Article 6 ECHR, the standard of overall fairness. The first section argues that the standard of overall fairness undermines the rule of law and represents a problematic conception of the right to a fair trial. The second

Anti-libidinal interventions (ALIs) are used in several jurisdictions to reduce male sex offenders’ libido. One common objection to these interventions holds that when offenders are either required to undergo them or offered to undergo them as an alternative to continued incarceration, ALIs violate recipients’ human rights. In this article, I examine this objection, which I call the human rights objection

, Les Trois Cours Régionales des Droits de l’Homme in Context: La justice qui n’allait pas de soi (Éditions A. Pedone, 2020), 588 pp; ISBN 978–2–233-00955–5; 48€

On 11 June 2019, two Interoperability European Union (EU) Regulations entered into force. With it, six existing EU databases created for security and border management purposes merged into one single, overarching EU information system operating with the purpose of changing the way front-line officers worked in various tasks. The main objective of these Regulations was to prevent and combat illegal

Universal Periodic Review provides a unique insight into states’ perceptions of IHRL. States issue recommendations on fulfilling human rights obligations and commitments. HRC Resolution 5/1 sets out the bases of the reviews: the UN Charter, the UDHR, human rights instruments to which the state is party and voluntary pledges and commitments. Relevant IHL is ‘take[n] into account’. Analysing the identification

National authorities have responded with different regulatory solutions in attempts to minimise the adverse impact of fake news and associated information disorder. This article reviews three different regulatory approaches that have emerged in recent years—information correction, content removal or blocking, and criminal sanctions—and critically evaluates their normative compliance with the applicable

States have obligations to protect the right to life, which include obligations to prevent and respond to violations of this right by non-State actors. Yet, there is no clear approach to determining State responsibility for failing to comply with these obligations. One actor that is notably absent from scholarship on State responsibility and non-State actors is organised criminal groups, despite the

indigenous peoplestreaties between States and indigenous peoplesMcGirt v OklahomaUnited States Supreme Courtland rightsright to autonomy

defamationforeign heads of statefreedom of expressionhuman rightsarticle 10 European Convention on Human Rightsarticle 19 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

‘Cohen’s states of denial’‘UN Special Procedures’UK governmentaccountabilityengagement

MarksSusan, A False Tree of Liberty: Human Rights in Radical Thought (Oxford University Press, New York, 2020, xiii + 277 pp, £60.00) ISBN 9780199675456 (hb)

WilliamsSarah, Hannah Woolaver and Emma Palmer, The Amicus Curiae in International Criminal Justice (Hart Publishing, 2020, liii +367 pp, £72) ISBN 9781509913329 (hb)

ABSTRACTIn times when intricate concerns for social and ecological justice are becoming ever more prominent in global environmental discourses, conflicts between minorities’ rights and environmental policies present delicate trade-offs that demand ingenious balancing by regional human rights courts. Such conflicts tend to boil down to oppositions between ‘indigenous’ or ‘traditional’ practices set

Civil societyCOVID-19Empirical researchFreedom of expressionGrey literatureHuman rights

ABSTRACTThis article discusses the dialogue between the Supreme Courts of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico and the Constitutional Court of Colombia with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. It assesses the impact of the following variables on this judicial dialogue: the hierarchy and direct effect of human rights treaties, consistent interpretation with international law and judicial postures related

ABSTRACTFollowing the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, contractions in the global economy were often utilised as a justification for deep cuts in State spending, including welfare state programmes. This article will problematise the ‘necessity’ of austerity measures and how this conflicts with the intentions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which requires State intervention

ABSTRACTThe World Bank is often portrayed by human rights scholars as a ‘legal black hole’ where the workings of international law have been suspended. In a recognizable routine of human rights activism, consistent attempts are therefore made to throw out the normative net of international law over this institutional domain. A familiar response by the institution is the assertion of its autonomous

ABSTRACTThis article explores the relationship between the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council and temporality. In contrast to dominant understandings that view time as an external constraint or pressure acting on the system—the UPR existing in time—I argue that internal temporal logics underpin the UPR in important and constitutive ways. In other words, time

absolute rightsrelativitybalancing rightspositive obligations

ABSTRACTThis article attempts to analyse the argumentative model of European consensus as a ground for adopting or refusing to adopt a dynamic interpretation of the ECHR’s provisions. The consensus model promises an objective and verifiable method of dynamic interpretation. This aspiration is rooted in the positivistic character of the model—the evolutionary interpretation is thought to reflect the

prohibition of collective expulsion of aliensapplicant’s own conductgenuine and effective access to means of legal entrypushbacks of migrants at land bordersArticle 4 Protocol 4 ECHRN.D. and N.T. v Spain

ABSTRACTThis article offers a detailed critical appraisal of the Venice Principles on the Protection and Promotion of the Ombudsman, adopted in 2019 by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. It praises them for being the most comprehensive set of constitutional and legal principles relating to ombudsman to date, drafted to be applicable to different legal and political systems. However, the

AbstractA camp may be described as a temporary space in which individuals receive humanitarian relief and protection until a durable solution can be found to their situation. The camp environment is often riddled with contradictions—the camp can be a place of refuge while at the same time, a place of overcrowding, exclusion and suffering. This article asks to what extent removal of an individual from

AbstractThere is a growing consensus that fair priority-setting and the right to health contribute to achieving universal health coverage. The right to health creates legal entitlements to receive care and fair priority-setting promotes efficient and just health systems. However, there can be tension between them, particularly when the right to health is judicially protected. This article analyses

AbstractWith the increase in online content circulation new challenges have arisen: the dissemination of defamatory content, non-consensual intimate images, hate speech, fake news, the increase of copyright violations, among others. Due to the huge amount of work required in moderating content, internet platforms are developing artificial intelligence to automate decision-making content removal. This

human rightsgenderbirth registrationR (on the application of TT) v Registrar General for England and Wales

AbstractThe aim of this article is to discuss why the principle of equality and non-discrimination, although foundational to international human rights law, remains an unfulfilled promise in the context of immigration. Nationality is now widely considered as a suspect ground of discrimination, yet contemporary immigration and citizenship laws increasingly use meritocratic criteria to distinguish among

AbstractThis article examines State practice on derogations from human rights protection during states of emergency under Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The article presents statistical data on the use of derogations, offers analysis of the data and practice and advances a series of reform proposals. It is argued that Article 15 is being misused by States to derogate for protracted

ABSTRACTThe business and human rights framework is based on pillars in which states should act to protect against the human rights impacts of business enterprises and the business enterprises should act in ways that do not lead to human rights impacts. Yet there is a gap in this framework in situations where a business enterprise may be willing to act but faces challenges in doing so due to the laws

AbstractAccording to Article 3(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the best interests of the child have to be a primary consideration in all cases concerning children. The Committee on the Rights of the Child understands Article 3(1) as a ‘threefold concept’: a substantive right, an interpretive principle and a rule of procedure. This article argues that the provision is

genocideprinciple of legalityArticle 7 European Convention on Human RightsDrelingas v Lithuania

Hurst Hannum, Rescuing Human Rights: A Radically Moderate Approach (Cambridge University Press, 2019, xx + 223 pp, £69.99) ISBN 978–1–108-41,748-8 (hb)

This article examines the human rights implications of the asset freezing processes available to the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Security Council. It does so through the lens of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights, from whose jurisprudence, although not uniform, a number of principles can be distilled. By scrutinising

AbstractThe modern slavery discourse has brought attention to the idea of ‘human exploitation’, which underpins a range of practices comprised by this popular umbrella term. Despite its extensive use, the concept of exploitation has never been defined in international law. This article articulates the necessary and sufficient conditions for the notion of exploitation in the context of the human rights

Abstract In 2018, the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda revoked the right to marry for same-sex couples. In a judgment that reconceives the relationship between sexual orientation and religious freedoms, the Bermuda Supreme Court and Court of Appeal found this revocation to be unconstitutional. I explore the political and legal context in which same-sex marriage was granted and then revoked in

On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi journalist residing in the United States, where he was a columnist for the Washington Post, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. This article seeks to comprehensively analyze Khashoggi’s killing from the standpoint of the human right to life. It sets out the relevant legal framework, addressing inter alia the issue that Saudi Arabia

Criminalising assisted dying is irreconcilable with human dignity and condemns a small number of individuals to significant suffering. Human rights law requires the protection of privacy, but States are given some flexibility in terms of balancing the right to respect for private life with the need to safeguard life itself. The recurring cases of suffering individuals who seek legal recognition of

In contrast to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has not yet found that a prohibition of abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality violates the prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. We argue that the ECtHR is on the verge of aligning itself with the Committee because

While almost every state in the world has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), there is less consensus around the manner in which the rights protected by the CRC should be protected in national constitutions. To say that a constitution makes provision for children’s rights is just a starting point: the extent to which a national constitution takes a genuine child rights approach

This article seeks to provide a comparative and up-to-date overview of the applicable rules and relevant practice of the European Court of Human Rights and of the United Nations Human Rights Committee on forum duplication in international human rights litigation. While specific inadmissibility clauses have been included in both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Optional Protocol to the

Protecting children’s informational privacy has never been more difficult. To what extent does it depend upon parental control and consent, and how is this factor incorporated into the law seeking to protect children’s informational privacy? This paper addresses these questions, considering the relevant jurisprudence of English courts, in particular under the tort of misuse of private information,

In November 2016, Britain’s High Court ruled that sex segregation in religious schools is not discriminatory per se, and is allowed as long as girls and boys receive education of equal quality. This decision was reversed by the Court of Appeals (CoA) in October 2017. We assert that the Court was not bound to accept Ofsted’s position only if it found that ‘separate cannot be equal’, critique both courts’

The European Court of Human Rights increasingly deals with migrants’ complaints about destitution in their host state under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment). This case law has been criticized for not being consistent and/or for not providing migrants with enough protection. Based on a systematic case law search, in this article

The paper aims to think anew about the jurisdiction ratione materiae of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (‘Court’). The Court, based in Arusha, enjoys a distinctive contentious jurisdiction which extends to the interpretation and application of any other relevant human rights instrument ratified by the States concerned. The Court’s striking features set it apart from human rights bodies

The following commentary analyses General Comment 36 on the right to life in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),1 which was adopted by the treaty’s monitoring body, the Human Rights Committee (HRC), in October 2018.2 General Comment 36 replaces two earlier General Comments on the right to life: General Comment 6 (1982)3 and General Comment 14 (1984).4 General

The legal position on the immigration detention of children is unclear: is it permissible, subject to the ultima ratio (last resort) principle, or is it prohibited outright? International opinion is divided, with different human rights bodies favouring one or the other position. In November 2017, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant

This article analyses the developing approach of the European Court of Human Rights to the indication of specific non-monetary individual or general remedies and the impact of this practice on the execution of its judgments. It draws on interviews with Judges of the Court and officials in Council of Europe institutions, and a statistical analysis of pilot judgments and judgments that invoke Article

This is a book review of the thought-provoking edited collection on human rights and legal judgments in the US, which is the product of a symposium, which took place in 2016 at the University of Alabama’s School of Law. Its editor, Austin Sarat, is the Associate Dean of, and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at, Amherst College.

Andras Koltay, The Troubled Relationship Between Religions and the State Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Religion (Whitelocke Publications, 2017, 286 pp, £109.00) ISBN: 9781912142040 (hb). Book review of the book by Andras Koltay on the troubled relationship between state and religion, with a specific focus on freedom of expression and freedom of religon

On the basis of the perceived failure of multiculturalism, a shift towards ‘interculturalism’ has been advocated by politicians in Western Europe and international organisations including UNESCO and the Council of Europe. While seemingly benign from a human rights perspective, critics of interculturalism warn that in practice this shift can be used to justify the adoption of assimilationist policies

Fundamental rights standards in Europe diverge as a result of differences in legal traditions, constitutional values and historical developments. The European Court of Human Rights therefore faces the challenge of having to balance the need for uniform and effective rights protection with respect for diversity. It is often thought that the famous margin of appreciation doctrine is the Court’s main

This article develops an understanding of human rights courts as ‘norm brokers’. We regard ‘norm-brokering’ as an exegetic method of judicial reasoning, ultimately concerned with reason-giving and the quality of justification. It entails robust engagement with alternative norms raised in the course of human rights adjudication. Norm-brokering thus involves much more than the mere cataloguing of alternative

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have claimed that financial speculators, by gambling on food prices via commodity derivative instruments, contributed to the global food crisis from 2007 to 2011. Commodity futures contracts began life as a form of agricultural insurance and were predominantly used to stabilize commodity prices. How did it then come about that these instruments were turned against

In this article I analyse women asylum seekers' claims of gendered ill-treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. I argue that the European Court of Human Rights moves away from creating equal conditions of protection for women asylum seekers every time it adopts two modes of reasoning: under scrutinizing the gendered roots of risk of ill-treatment and over scrutinizing individual

There has been a huge growth in the study of the concept of empathy - taking the perspective of others - across academic disciplines in recent decades. However, whilst a number of scholars and philosophers have argued that empathy might provide some theoretical underpinning for human rights norms, there has been little exploration as to how empathy might actually be used in the practical adjudication

In recent years, the principle of ‘living together’ has emerged in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights as a possible justification for limitations on the rights to freedom of religion and to respect for private life. This note assesses the meaning of this principle, and, in particular, the critical development in its conceptualisation marked by the recent judgment of Osmanoglu and

This article considers the appropriate application of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) to the mutual funds industry. Mutual funds can impact human rights by financially supporting oppressive states or abusive companies. Given the indirect nature of such impacts, along with the exclusively external management of the funds, this article argues that a unique approach

This article researches intersectionality in the area of international human rights law. Moving attention away from the field of anti-discrimination law, it examines how an intersectional approach to international human rights law can offer stronger human rights protection to people who share a number of characteristics associated with distinct groups of marginalised people. In order to illustrate