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 European Union and Human Rights: Towards A Post-National Human Rights Institution?

There is growing evidence that the European Union (EU) is becomingmore involved in human rights protection and has the capacityto turn into an unprecedented post-national human rights protectioninstitution. Based on that evidence, this article suggests differentarguments in favour of a further development in this direction.These arguments stem not only from a general global justiceapproach to post-national institutions’ responsibilities,but also from the concept of human rights itself and the specificneeds of human rights protection at the post-national level.The EU's institutional framework presents advantages that fitthe general criteria of institutional design in the human rightscontext. Of course, many doubts and critiques may be raisedagainst an entity which started primarily as a functional andeconomic institution, and important reforms, some of which areventured in the present article, are still needed to get theEU closer to this institutional ideal. More generally, the articleemphasises the unique example and precedent the EU may constitutefor normative institutional thinking about global justice atthe post-national level.     

论国际人权法中的平等与不歧视

国际人权法对我国是越来越重要的领域 ,而几乎所有的国际人权文件都包含平等与不歧视的内容。平等与不歧视成为国际人权法的核心。本文着重论述和分析了主要的国际人权文件中有关平等与不歧视的规定 ,揭示了平等与不歧视既是一般原则又是一项独立的权利 ,从法律效力上讲 ,它已经具有了强行法的地位。国家在国际人权法下承担不歧视的积极义务。     

Standing and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

On 7 June 2018, the UK Supreme Court held that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) did not have standing under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (NIA) and Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) to challenge the legality of abortion law in Northern Ireland. This case note argues that while a literal reading of the NIA exposes its inconsistencies, a purposive reading of both the NIA and HRA indicates that the NIHRC should have had standing. The note seeks to highlight the unique democratic function of the NIHRC in a consociational setting in protecting rights that are not represented along ethno‐national lines. It also considers the negative ramifications that the judgment will have on women who have been victims of the legislative regime and seek to challenge the compatibility of Northern Irish abortion law with the HRA in the future.     

试论人权的法制度-学说史意义

从法史学角度较为系统地考察了迄至上个世纪末为止的相关人权法文献,包括相关人权法论著及凝结其上的人权法制度,据此认为,人权所呈现出的,实际是某种由弱势方指向强势方的单向度权利关系,其合法性依据不限于实在法,而包括了政治、道德、习惯等众多渊源.     

欧洲人权法院视野下的司法令状原则

司法令状是司法审查原则的重要形式,与两大法系国家的司法令状制度相比,欧洲人权法院的审查机制和审查标准独具特色,欧洲人权法院关于强制侦查司法审查的相关判例本身已经预示着欧洲主要国家令状制度的发展方向。此外,其司法审查标准对其它国家的司法令状制度的变革和令状程序的运行实践均有深刻的借鉴意义。     

Canadian Human Rights Commission recommends prison needle exchange programs

In a report released on 28 January 2004, the Canadian Human Rights Commission recommended that the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) implement a pilot needle exchange program in three or more correctional facilities, at least one of them a women's facility, by June 2004.     

Disability Rights Commission: From Civil Rights to Social Rights

This paper argues that, although originally conceived as part of the ‘civil rights’ agenda, the development of disability rights in Britain by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is better seen as a movement towards the realization of social, economic, and cultural rights, and so as reaffirmation of the indissolubility of human rights in the round. As such, that process of development represents a concrete exercise in the implementation of social rights by a statutory equality body and a significant step towards the conception of disability rights as universal participation, not just individual or minority group entitlement. The paper considers the distinctive features of that regulatory activity. It asks what sort of equality the DRC set out to achieve for disabled people and where, as a result, its work positioned it on the regulatory spectrum. From the particular experience of the DRC, the paper looks forward to considerations of general relevance to other such bodies, including the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.     

性别平等:联合国人权条约机构的实践及其启示

社会性别主流化要求对既有法律和新立法的社会性别检审,男性和女性同为性别歧视的受害者,促进性别平等应该具体考虑妇女在社会中面临的不利地位以及同性恋问题在对现有国际人权法的挑战。这是案例是来自国内社会(其中一些有跨国的因素)、由国际人权条约机构处理的社会性别实践。考察这些实践,有益于我们了解社会性别主流化在全球化层面上的情况,并获得本土化的启示。     

环境权:一种新兴的现代人权

人权是最基本的权利,环境权来自人权。生存权位于人权的核心,而环境权作为一项基本人权是不可剥夺、不可放弃和替代的权利。如果没有环境权,传统人权体系中的生存权就不可能得到完善的保障。环境权源于生存权,但超越了生存权,因此它是一种新兴的现代人权。     

The Human Rights Act: A View from Below

The paper is based on survey work undertaken in the Cynon valley, south Wales, an area of high social deprivation. We interviewed local solicitors to establish their understanding and usage of the Human Rights Act (HRA). Outside of south Wales there is evidence of growing awareness and involvement of specialist practitioners in human rights actions. This we call a top-down process. Our work starts at the other end: a bottom-up account of high-street, small-practice solicitors.     

权利能力制度的理想与现实——人法的英特纳雄耐尔之路

本文在比较中研究了罗马法和现代民法中的能力制度,得出了前者以自由为基础,后者以平等为基础的结论,进而论证了现代权利能力制度的平等理念遇到的重重挑战,尤其揭示了这一制度的全球化理念的充分展开带来的民法消亡命运。通过展示古今立法者对权利能力制度的不平等运用,特别地反驳了权利能力人人平等的谬见,得出了这种不平等为社会治理所必要的结论。     

Headscarves, Human Rights, and Harmonious Multicultural Society: Implications of the French Ban for Interpretations of Equality

Through the lens of the French law prohibiting Muslim headscarves in schools, this article examines the way in which societal tensions that arise in the context of religious and cultural pluralism are translated into legal discourses relating to human rights and equality. It explores the way in which the law is rooted in France's broader sociopolitical structure and history and contrasts it to the United Kingdom and Turkey. It proposes that the law is based on an anachronistic, formal interpretation of equality that is inappropriate for addressing the inevitable cultural diversity of modern French society, and through its permeation into law and policymaking more widely, it is a primary cause of the heightened social tensions involving the Muslim minority. An assessment of the legitimacy of a law that restricts minority groups' cultural practices in this way in any society should be based on a substantive interpretation of equality and should necessarily involve an active endeavor to understand the meanings of those cultural practices for those groups within their distinct context. Upon this foundation, law and policy can be developed in a way that better reconciles the pluralism of modern society with the common objectives of social harmony, stability, and tolerance.     

A Human Rights Law of Internal Armed Conflict: The European Court of Human Rights in Chechnya

The cases on Chechnya recently decided by the European Courtof Human Rights force us to re-evaluate the relationship betweenhuman rights law and humanitarian law. Since the InternationalCourt of Justice held that humanitarian law is lex specialisto human rights law in 1996 – if not since the TehranConference of 1968 – it has been widely accepted that‘human rights in armed conflict’ refers to humanitarianlaw. The ECtHR has directly applied human rights law to theconduct of hostilities in internal armed conflicts. The rulesit has applied may prove controversial, but humanitarian law’slimited substantive scope and poor record of achieving compliancein internal armed conflicts suggest the importance of this newapproach.     

Human Genetics Studies: The Case for Group Rights

In this essay, the author focuses on an underlying theoretical issue which she believes seriously affects our collective response to the idea of group rights in the genetic-control context. That issue is to what extent are our responses to claims of group rights hampered by our bringing to the table (consciously or unconsciously) a model which is structured to acknowledge only individual concerns? Put another way, to what extent are our objections to group rights in this context a product of our inability (or refusal) to imagine the idea of group rights, rather than the product of truly substantive concerns?     

The Effectiveness of Human Rights Due Diligence for Preventing Business Human Rights Abuses

Netherlands International Law Review - Human rights due diligence is today a key aspect of the international, regional and national debates about corporate accountability for human rights abuse. It...     

幸福指数:评价权利与法律制度的新标准

幸福问题是值得法学界重视的问题。在人类观念史上,幸福存在着德性与感性的二元张力,但在现代社会的法律制度里,这种张力逐渐消失,幸福往往被等同为物质财富或形式上的权利的多少,这进而容易导致权利的异化以及从财富的绝对数量等单一维度评价法律制度的弊端。要正确评价法律制度在促进幸福实现中的作用,有必要探讨幸福指数这更客观、更丰富的评价标准。