Governance for sustainable development: a human rights perspective

<p>The Advisory Opinion of the Inter-American (IA) Court of Human Rights on <em>Environment and Human Rights</em>, released in February 2018, has the potential to usher in a new era for the relationship between climate law and international human rights law. This article begins with the Inuit Petition submitted to the IA Commission on Human Rights in 2005 to identify three legal challenges which it brought to light on the application of the international human rights framework to climate change: enforceability, causality, and extraterritoriality. By relying on examples from the Human Rights Council and the Paris Agreement negotiations, we show that these three issues continue to have an impact on the relationship between climate law and human rights. We then draw attention to the groundbreaking character of the IA Court’s Advisory Opinion, and in particular to the finding that the American Convention on Human Rights gives rise to an autonomous right to a healthy environment and to state duties that are both preventive and extraterritorial in nature. We suggest that the IA Court’s revisiting of the three legal hurdles provides an opportunity to close the gap between the disciplines of international human rights and climate law. </p>

<p>The Advisory Opinion of the Inter-American (IA) Court of Human Rights on <em>Environment and Human Rights</em>, released in February 2018, has the potential to usher in a new era for the relationship between climate law and international human rights law. This article begins with the Inuit Petition submitted to the IA Commission on Human Rights in 2005 to identify three legal challenges which it brought to light on the application of the international human rights framework to climate change: enforceability, causality, and extraterritoriality. By relying on examples from the Human Rights Council and the Paris Agreement negotiations, we show that these three issues continue to have an impact on the relationship between climate law and human rights. We then draw attention to the groundbreaking character of the IA Court’s Advisory Opinion, and in particular to the finding that the American Convention on Human Rights gives rise to an autonomous right to a healthy environment and to state duties that are both preventive and extraterritorial in nature. We suggest that the IA Court’s revisiting of the three legal hurdles provides an opportunity to close the gap between the disciplines of international human rights and climate law. </p>

The European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights apply their respective regional treaties. But they also view the regional rights systems as embedded in a global human rights regime and interpret regional rights in light of broader international human rights norms. In doing so, they sometimes cite each other, importing and exporting human rights ideas and principles. Though the decisions of one court do not constitute formal precedent in another, we argue that cross-citations among them play a coordinating role. The regional human rights courts are thus constructing a nascent trans-regional human rights jurisprudence, an emerging frontier in international human rights.

Background: Food is an important part of nursing care and recognized as a basic need and a human right. Nutritional care for older adults in institutions represents a particularly important area to address in nursing education and practice, as the right to food can be at risk and health personnel experience ethical challenges related to food and nutrition. Objective: The present study investigates the development of coursework on nutritional care with a human rights perspective in a nursing programme for first-year nursing students and draws upon reflections and lessons learned. Research design: The study utilized educational design research. The coursework, developed through two rounds, combined on-campus learning and clinical placement in nursing homes. Nursing studentsʼ perspectives and experiences gathered through focus groups and a written assignment informed the development and evaluation of the coursework. Participants and research context: In the first round, multistage focus group interviews were conducted with 18 nursing students before, during and after placement. In the second round, four focus group interviews with 26 nursing students were conducted shortly after placement. Ethical consideration: The study was approved by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data. Findings: Three main ʽlessons learnedʼ emerged regarding introducing a human rights perspective in nursing education: 1) the contribution of the human rights perspective in changing the narrative of ʽvulnerable and malnourished patientsʼ, 2) the importance of relationships and experiences for learning about human rights and 3) the benefit of combining development of ethical competence with a human rights perspective. Conclusion: A human rights perspective enabled the students to give meaning to nutritional care beyond understanding of food as a basic physical need. Incorporating human rights in nursing education can support nursing students and nurses in recognizing and addressing ethical and structural challenges and being able to fulfil the right to food for patients.

This article aims to assess and subsequently compare and contrast the contribution of the European Court of Human Rights with that of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to the widespread and success of non-legally binding standards, guidelines and general principles on the protection of human rights in war and states of emergency. An empirical analysis of the compliance of the judicial decisions and advisory opinions by the two regional human rights courts in Europe and the Americas with these standards—that is a comparative study of the influence of such instruments of soft law on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter ECtHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter ACtHR) - should be undertaken throughout the article, following a short background to the Paris Minimum Standards of Human Rights Norms in a State of Emergency (hereinafter the “Paris Minimum Standards”), the Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (hereinafter the “Siracusa Principles”), the 1987 Oslo Statement on Norms and Procedures in Times of Public Emergency or Internal Violence, and the “Queensland Guidelines”.

This article is a case study regarding the recent Supreme Administrative Court in Poland (the SAC) resolution. The Court found that a transcription of a foreign birth certificate, in which two people of the same sex are registered as parents, is not allowed under the Polish law and is contrary to ordre public. This paper focuses primarily on two aspects regarding the resolution. First, it is addressed whether the best interest of the child principle was given due consideration. Second, it is analysed whether the possible discriminatory treatment on the grounds of sexual orientation of the parents was adequately examined, with particular reference to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (the ECtHR). This paper is divided into four parts. The background information pertaining to the issues at stake as well as the case itself are addressed in Part 1. Part 2 briefly summarises the SAC resolution and the verdict. Part 3 concentrates on deconstructing the best interest principle as an international and national standard. In Part 4 the ECtHR case-law is examined in order to provide a human rights perspective on the matter. This article concentrates on providing the perspective of a child and on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, as it is a well-recognised international law-applying body that raises the threshold and quality of respecting human rights in the European continent. The final summarises the paper and presents the conclusions. It is going to be demonstrated that in light of the ECtHR jurisprudence, the SAC failed to adequately analyse that a difference in treatment of same-sex parents in comparison to other unmarried couples is reasonable, pursues a legitimate aim and that the treatment is proportional. Moreover, it will be argued that the SAC unsuccessfully demonstrated why primacy had been granted to the interest of the state and public order, instead of that of a child. The main goal of this paper is to highlight the importance of endorsing the child’s perspective and the compelling need to carefully consider the child’s best interest – in each and every case that involves their fate. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, the research is based on the evaluation of the universal human rights documents relevant to the topic, as well as the analysis of the ECtHR jurisprudence related to the subject.

Aim: To examine different aspects of the evolution and development of the right to life in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Moreover, to analyse certain cases related to the violation of this right and its procedural and substantial aspects. Methodology: The methods chosen for this article are Documental Analysis and Case Study. To conduct the research, the methodological technique of documental investigation will be used. The objectives will be reached through the examination, reading, and critique analysis of the documents. The methodological technique selected allows through the observation and the analysis of documentation to look back, understand, and interpret the current reality. The subject of study is the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). The main documents are going to be texts of doctrine about this tribunal and the right to life and the case-law of contentious cases of this Court. Findings: This text establishes theoretical definitions. Furthermore, tries to define the crime of enforced disappearances that have been very important for the development of the right to life in the IACHR and which is a crime against humanity. Other important characteristic of this paper is that it examines the obligation to investigate, the procedural aspect of the right to life, the interpretation of Article 4 of the American Convention of Human Rights (Right to Life) and the proportionality of the use of the force of security forces in relation with the violation of the right to life. Value: To give important concepts about the study of the right to life taking as case study the evolution and development of this right in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

The first attempts to combat corruption date back to ancient times and had mainly moral connotation. Despite being an old phenomena, nowadays it takes new shapes and becomes a more common feature of social life, especially in the Latin America region. Corruption is a complex, and multidimensional phenomenon that negatively impacts human rights on many levels. Therefore, serious effort have long been made at global, regional and state levels to combat corruption. The United Nations and regional organizations have adopted numerous non-binding and binding documents with a view to stifling this phenomenon but none of them refer to the issue of impact of corruption on human rights. But it should be stressed that it is very hard to establish a link between corruption and human rights violations. Some efforts has been made by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAComHR). This article considers whether and how the IACHR and the IAComHR establish the link between corruption and violation of human rights in the inter-American system. It also determines which groups of people are, according the IACHR and the IAComHR, particularly affected by corruption, what measures should be taken to protect those exposed to acts of corruption, what obligations are incumbent on States with a view to preventing, combating and eradicating corruption.

Corporate 'Human Rights' to Intellectual Property Protection

The study aimed to analyse how the Ukrainian legal system implements the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as to identify problems and prospects for improving this process. The article used methods of legal analysis of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, comparison of national legislation with the European Convention on Human Rights, analysis of the statistics of the European Court of Human Rights, research on the implementation of European Court of Human Rights decisions at the national level, hermeneutics to identify terminological gaps, analysis of the implementation of European standards in the national legal system, and deduction to identify key issues in cases against Ukraine. An analysis of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights revealed numerous systemic human rights violations in Ukraine, particularly in the areas of conditions of detention, unlawful arrests and lengthy court proceedings. Problems with non-enforcement of court decisions and violations of the rights to liberty and dignity have been confirmed by numerous cases, such as Gongadze v. Ukraine and Kharchenko v. Ukraine. Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine following the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, in particular the limitation of the term of pre-trial detention, have reduced the number of cases of prolonged detention The study aimed to analyse how the Ukrainian legal system implements the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as to identify problems and prospects for improving this process. The article used methods of legal analysis of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, comparison of national legislation with the European Convention on Human Rights, analysis of the statistics of the European Court of Human Rights, research on the implementation of European Court of Human Rights decisions at the national level, hermeneutics to identify terminological gaps, analysis of the implementation of European standards in the national legal system, and deduction to identify key issues in cases against Ukraine. An analysis of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights revealed numerous systemic human rights violations in Ukraine, particularly in the areas of conditions of detention, unlawful arrests and lengthy court proceedings. Problems with non-enforcement of court decisions and violations of the rights to liberty and dignity have been confirmed by numerous cases, such as Gongadze v. Ukraine and Kharchenko v. Ukraine. Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine following the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, in particular the limitation of the term of pre-trial detention, have reduced the number of cases of prolonged detention

Has the global informational economy and new division of labour left us unconcerned with unemployment resulting from technological displacement, negative trade impacts, and other economic policies? I propose to discuss, from a philosophical and analytical human rights framework, the Canadian and American situation to determine whether information technology (IT) is a “job killer.” There are empirical and ethical problems with Jeremy Rifkin's “end of work” and a failure of development strategies. While there is a positive role for information and communication technologies (ICTs) in sustainable development, the problem of pervasive poverty, especially in least developed countries, requires an international response to fulfill the basic human rights of persons and raises anew the ethical challenge of social solidarity and the mutuality of human rights and responsibilities in the informational economy.

ABSTRACTAnalysing the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights highlights major problems of access to justice in rural Latin America. A majority of the cases ruled on by the Inter-American Court since its inception in 1979 concern violations of human rights in major urban centres. This despite the fact that the worst human rights violations committed in Latin America in recent decades have targeted rural populations. Under specific historical conditions, some rural victims and their advocates have successfully brought their cases to the Inter-American Court. Notably, most of the Colombian cases adjudicated by the court have concerned events in rural conflict zones. In the case of Peru, the focus has been almost exclusively on events in the capital city, Lima. The stark contrast between Colombia and Peru points to a broader trend. Further research must be carried out to determine why, how and with what effect the rural victims of state-sponsored violence have sought international justice remedies, where these efforts have succeeded, and where they have foundered. Human rights mobilisation at the local level determines where Inter-American Court cases originate. This article considers the geographic distribution of cases brought before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as a function of the strength of advocacy networks connecting rural and urban areas, and beyond, in relation to Latin American histories of dictatorship, counterinsurgency, and the evolution of the inter-American human rights system itself.

In international human rights law, the notion of due diligence concerns a qualifier of behaviour to realize human rights protection, including the protection against non-state actor interferences. However, the question remains what due diligence obligations of states in the context of non-state actor interferences exactly entail in international human rights law. The present article aims to address this matter by comparing case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with that of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). Using a working model of due diligence that has been introduced in recent scholarly work, this article further explores this model and attempts to give further meaning to its two paradigms: ‘regulation’ and ‘risk management’. In that way, it maps out the relevant elements of this foundational concept that lies at the heart of human rights protection.

This piece outlines the engagement of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights with the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on business and human rights in light of the Advisory Opinion requested by Mexico on the obligations of the firearms industry. It outlines how the Court has relied on the distinction between positive and negative human rights duties, which has led it to constantly find states responsible for omissions (failing to ensure rights) instead of actions (carried out by private actors, including corporations). For the Court, such a distinction translates into the possibility that corporations can violate human rights directly.

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 Inter-American Court of Human Rights, from whose jurisprudence, although not uniform, a number of principles can be distilled. By scrutinising a series of cases decided under the European Convention on Human Rights and American Convention on Human Rights, respectively, the article demonstrates that the rights to the peaceful enjoyment of property and to respect for one’s private and family life, home and correspondence are necessarily implicated by the execution of asset freezing measures in criminal and administrative contexts. The article concludes that, considering the human rights constraints placed on the exercise of their powers, both the International Criminal Court and United Nations Security Council, as well as States acting at their request, must pay attention to this case law with a view to respecting the human rights of those to whom asset freezing measures are applied.