Disability Discrimination Law in the United Kingdom and the New Civil Rights History: The Contribution of Caroline Gooding

This article concerns the theoretical and practical contribution of radical lawyer, feminist, and disability activist, Caroline Gooding to disability rights in the United Kingdom. It assesses the impact of her published work in the 1990s and translation of her insights into practice through her work on the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and later at the Disability Rights Commission, not least in securing in legislation a positive disability equality duty. In particular, it seeks to situate Gooding's contribution within the ‘new civil rights history’, with its emphasis on the role of lawyer as mediator, facilitator, and ‘gatekeeper’. It argues that through her engagement with strategic law enforcement, law reform, and the wider mobilization of the law, Gooding created ‘alternative visions and accounts’ of disability and so forged a decisive connection between disabled people as a social movement and the law, in ways of exemplary value to social movements more generally.     

An Equality and Human Rights Commission Worthy of the Name

The Human Rights Act 1998 came fully into force on 2 October 2000, enabling the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to be relied on directly in our domestic courts.¹ The Act lacked provision for a Human Rights Commission to advise and assist alleged victims in bringing proceedings for breaches of Convention rights, to research, intervene in court proceedings, and promote a culture of human rights, although such a Commission had been created for Northern Ireland. A White Paper has now been issued outlining plans for a Commission for Equality and Human Rights. This paper considers the future role and potential impact of the Commission and highlights opportunities that have been missed since October 2000 in its absence. We focus on its human rights aspects and summarize key conditions for the new Commission's success.     

The Evolution of International Indigenous Rights in the Inter-American Human Rights System

Indigenous communities in the Western hemisphere are increasinglyrelying on international law and international fora for enforcementof their human rights. When there are no domestic laws thatrecognise indigenous rights, or such laws exist but there isno political will to enforce them, indigenous peoples in theAmericas may turn to the Inter-American human rights system.Consequently, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and theInter-American Commission on Human Rights have developed a progressivecase law in this area. In 2005 and 2006, the Inter-AmericanCourt decided seminal indigenous ancestral land rights casesand a political rights case. This article analyses these casesand the previous jurisprudence and decisions on indigenous rightsin the Inter-American system.     

权利能力概念的形成和变迁

为了表达法律人（Person）承担权利的资格这种属性,实现法律概念的精确化,德国学者提出了权利能力的概念。然而,由于权利的意志之力本质和无意志者的权利能力之间的矛盾以及权利能力平等和权利能力限制之间的矛盾,权利能力概念的内涵处于不断变化之中。总体来看,权利能力概念的形成使得法律人的概念解体了,人的要素分化为人格、权利能力等个别的制度。而权利能力在本质上仅仅是法律人在实证法上的一种属性。     

The ADA on the Road: Disability Rights in Germany

This paper examines the impact of a "disability rights model" on the emerging disability rights movement in Germany. Traditional German disability politics and activism are based on the expansion of welfare and special needs provisions rather than on equal rights and integration. Inspired by the 1990 Americans with Disability Act, German activists adopted a disability rights model and successfully worked toward the passage of a constitutional equality amendment in 1994 and ant-discrimination legislation in 2002. Using the literature on rights mobilization, this paper argues that German disability activists use rights talk to both support and contest culturally specific approaches to disability rights, equal treatment, and the role of the state in guaranteeing welfare rights. The globalization of disability rights should not be viewed as an imposition of American norms but as a more complex process of adaptation and cultural transformation that involves constructing locally legitimate approaches to disability rights with an American import.     

The Commission for Equality and Human Rights:A New Institution for New and Uncertain Times

The establishment of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights(CEHR) has generated a mixture of praise, controversy and heightenedexpectations. The new Commission has more extensive enforcementpowers than did the previous equality commissions. In addition,the ongoing expansion of anti-discrimination law means thatthe CEHR has new terrain on which to press for change. However,its troubled birth, the pressure of expectation, the ever-increasingcomplexity of enforcing anti-discrimination legislation andthe tensions that lurk within its broad remit present substantialchallenges for the new Commission. It will have to be flexible,creative, strategic and tough-minded where required if it isto win credibility and ensure respect for anti-discriminationand human rights values.     

Homosexuality and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: What Can Be Learned from the History of the European Convention on Human Rights?

Despite differences between the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) in terms of the substantive rights guaranteed and machineries to enforce them, both instruments have been foundational in the establishment of organizations that share a common history of rejecting human rights complaints from homosexuals. Although the contemporary jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on homosexuality may contrast sharply with that of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACtHPR) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACmHPR) – because the ACtHPR and ACmHPR have never upheld a complaint relating to sexual orientation – the early history of the ECtHR and the former European Commission on Human Rights (ECmHR) mirrors the current African stance. This article explores what those seeking to develop gay and lesbian rights in Africa might usefully learn from the historical evolution of similar rights under the ECHR.     

公益诉权论

公益诉权是公民、社会团体等依法所享有的基于公共利益受到侵害或者处于这种侵害的危险中而得以请求法院行使审判权以保护公益不受侵害的权利.公益诉权至少在当事人适格、诉的利益和诉权功能三个方面对传统诉权进行了质的突破,公益诉权作为一种公民权,是一种特殊性的人权,是积极性权利,是行动性权利,或者更透彻地说,这种权利的行使毋宁是一种政治行动.公益诉权的主体是多元的,除公民个人外,社会团体亦可以团体诉讼的方式行使,当下中国的检察机关式公共利益的最佳代表者,赋予其公益诉权有着深厚的法理基础,但从长远来看,"还权于民"是必然趋势,检察机关将维护公共利益提起诉讼的范围限定在国有资产的保护、反垄断诉讼等方面是较为适宜的.     

Repositioning the international human rights protection system: the UN Human Rights Council

The creation of a UN human rights mechanism was meant to address systematically the international protection and promotion of human rights within the context of international relations. Over the years, the Human Rights Commission has dealt with human rights issues in ways which some commentators have labelled unsatisfactory. The United Nations High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, set up by Kofi Anna to conduct an in‐depth study on global threats, and provide an analysis of future challenges to peace and security, recommended a review of HR mechanisms. This led to the establishment of the Human Rights Council, replacing the Human Rights Commission. One of the mechanisms introduced was the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights. This article looks at how the UPR process has progressed so far and makes some assessment as to where it is heading.     

Clashing Rights, the Welfare of the Child and the Human Rights Act

Under the Human Rights Act so far there has been until very recently little judicial or even academic recognition of the difference between resolving clashes of Convention rights and addressing conflicts between utilitarian concerns and such rights. This article has chosen to illustrate that failure of recognition and to consider methods of resolving the conflict between rights, by concentrating on one particular clash of rights – that between media free speech under Article 10 and the privacy of children under Article 8. It argues for presumptive equality for the two rights and for conducting a 'parallel analysis' of their application to the circumstances of a particular case. It contends that therefore the principle that the child's welfare is paramount must be abandoned in its present form, as must the presumptive priority accorded to Article 10 where that principle is not found to apply.     

Towards a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights

The political settlement resulting from the Belfast Agreement recognisedthe fundamental importance of the issue of rights to a stable peace inNorthern Ireland. Indeed, the agreement provided for a Human RightsCommission, one of whose tasks is the drafting of a Bill of Rights thatwill reflect the political reality of the province. This paper arguesthat the proposed document will have to reflect an understanding ofrights and their protection resulting from the particular history ofNorthern Ireland. This specific understanding of rights appeared firstin the Anglo-Irish Agreement and has been gradually developed andconsolidated in the political agreements since. The planned NorthernIreland Bill of Rights will have to reflect this rights thinking. Thearticle also chronicles the recent work of the Northern Ireland HumanRights Commission in drafting the Bill of Rights to be presented to theSecretary of State for Northern Ireland in February 2002. Thereciprocal, if belated, moves in the Republic to set up its own humanrights commission will also be addressed as part of the process to drawup a Charter of Rights for the whole people of Ireland.     

Panel recommends significant changes to federal law against discrimination

In a report released on 23 June 2000, the Review Panel tasked by the federal Minister of Justice with reviewing the Canadian Human Rights Act made some welcome recommendations for improving the Act and the way the Canadian Human Rights Commission functions. Three are of particular significance: the recommendation that "social condition" be added to the prohibited grounds for discrimination listed in the Act; the recommendation that the Canadian Human Rights Commission should have, under its governing legislation, the duty to monitor and report to Parliament and the UN Human Rights Committee on the federal government's compliance with international human rights treaties regarding economic, social, and cultural rights; and the recommendation that "gender identity" should be expressly added to the Act as a prohibited ground of discrimination.     

社会权概念界定之批判与重塑

当前学界对社会权概念的界定,主要存在"内涵—价值分析"、"外延—规范分析"两种路径。虽然以上分析具有逻辑上的内在关联,但它们都没有完整揭示出社会权概念的本质特征。社会权作为一项基本人权,主要立基于对尊严与平等以及社会经济领域公民适当生活水准的价值追求。国家义务作为界定社会权内涵的重要工具性指标,其分别涵括尊重、保护和给付三种义务类型,但在逻辑上,尊重和保护义务只是给付义务的逻辑衍生。在外延上,社会权并非意指《经济、社会及文化权利国际公约》所规定的各项经济、社会和文化权利。受国情因素制约,各国宪法对于社会权的规定并非整齐划一。我国宪法层面上的社会权主要包括适当生活水准权、劳动权、获得物质帮助权以及受教育权等。     

儒家思想对世界新人权理论的贡献——从张彭春对《世界人权宣言》订立的贡献出发

<世界人权宣言>是二战后最重要的国际人权文件之一.它超越抽象的"自然权利"人权理论和地域性"基本权利"人权理论,建立了"全球道德共识"人权理论.这一世界新人权理论的确立与中国学者张彭春的贡献密不可分.张彭春作为人权委员会副主席全程参与了<世界人权宣言>的制定.他以儒家思想为依托,提出了反对西方中心、提倡多元、抛弃宗教哲学纷争寻求道德共识、用良心制约理性等诸多人权理论主张.他提出把"仁"这一道德禀赋作为人权的基础,为面临宗教批判、理性批判和权力批判而陷入困境的传统人权话语找到了新的合法性源泉.     

The Horizontal Effect of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU: Rediscovering the Reasons for Horizontality

This article analyses the horizontal effect of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Horizontal effect has been an integral part of the Union's application of fundamental rights, especially in the field of equality. However, the codification of fundamental rights in the Charter raises important questions as to how horizontal effect will continue to apply in the EU, particularly in the aftermath of the Court's reticent rulings in cases such as Dominguez and Association de Médiation Sociale. This article argues that the emphasis on prior approaches to horizontal effect in recent rulings fails to address the profound constitutional issues that the horizontal effect of a fundamental rights catalogue raises, which concern the role of private responsibility within the developing constitutional order of the European Union. It therefore calls for a more systematically theorised approach towards the horizontal application of fundamental rights under the Charter framework.     

少数人权利及其保护的平等性

少数人作为弱势群体的一部份 ,其权利日益受到各国的关注与重视。然而 ,在对少数人具有重要意义的经济、社会、文化权利上 ,各国却有不同的看法 ,本文在比较了各国在权利问题上的文化传统和近现代的各种平等理论之后 ,分析指出在以经济、社会、文化权利为核心的相当一部份权利上 ,各国政府应当在避免形成“反向歧视”的前提下 ,采取积极措施 ,让少数人有更多机会参与社会竞争 ,实现社会整体的平等和更公正意义上的平等     

试析联合国人权理事会与涉朝人权问题——兼及朝鲜人权问题对周边国家的影响

朝鲜人权问题一直受到联合国的关注。2004年联合国人权委员会首次将朝鲜列入了国别人权审议名单;2006年联合国人权理事会取代了人权委员会,建立了普遍定期审查机制,并于2010年对朝鲜进行普遍定期审议;蒙丹篷特别报告员多次提交关于朝鲜的人权报告,引起了国际社会的关注和朝鲜的抗议。而朝鲜自身的人权问题也对其周边国家产生着重大影响。     

UN Commission on Human Rights adopts resolutions on access to medication, right to health

In April 2002, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted two resolutions that are important in the context of access to treatment. The Commission is the UN's leading body with respect to international human rights issues. It consists of 53 UN member states and meets annually. The Commission's resolutions can be found on the website of the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights via www.unhchr.ch/ by clicking on "Documents of Charter-based bodies".     

Taking the Rights of Parents and Children Seriously: Confronting the Welfare Principle under the Human Rights Act

This article argues that resistance to the Human Rights Acthas built up in the context of disputes relating to childrenand that such resistance is founded in the attachment of thecourts to the welfare or paramountcy principle as currentlyconceived—the principle that the child’s welfareautomatically prevails over the rights of other family members.It argues that the failure to take account of Convention argumentscould only be a legitimate stance if there was no conflict betweenthe demands of the welfare principle and those of the Conventionguarantees, but that in fact the approach of the European Courtof Human Rights differs considerably from that of the UK courtssince it seeks to balance the rights of different family members.The article goes on to argue that, taking account of the Strasbourgstance and of the already established domestic recognition ofthe presumptive equality of competing qualified Convention rights,it is time to accept the adoption of a new model of judicialreasoning in the context of disputes over children—the‘parallel analysis’ or ‘ultimate balancingact’.     

Of Austerity,Human Rights and International Institutions

Austerity measures have led to the denial of social rights and widespread socio‐economic malaise across Europe. In the case of countries subjected to conditionality imposed by international institutions, the resultant harms have highlighted a range of responsibility gaps. Two legal developments come together to expose these gaps: Greece's argument in a series of cases under the European Social Charter that it was not responsible for the impact on rights brought about by austerity measures as it was only giving effect to its other international obligations as agreed with the Troika; and the concern to emerge from the Pringle case before the European Court of Justice that European Union (EU) institutions could do outside of the EU what they could not do within the EU ‐‐disregard the Charter of Fundamental Rights. That the Commission and the European Central Bank were in time answerable to international organisations set up to provide financial support adds an additional layer of responsibility to consider. Taking Greece as a case study, this article addresses the imperative of having international institutions respect human rights.