This publication reproduces the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the nine core international human rights treaties and their optional protocols in a user-friendly format to make them more accessible, in particular to government officials, civil society, human rights defenders, legal practitioners, scholars, individual citizens and others with an interest in human rights norms and standards.
The Charter of the United Nations was signed in 1945 by 51 countries representing all continents, paving the way for the creation of the United Nations on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice forms part of the Charter. The aim of the Charter is to save humanity from war; to reaffirm human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person; to proclaim the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small; and to promote the prosperity of all humankind. The Charter is the foundation of international peace and security.
Selected from the papers presented at the twenty-third International Social Philosophy Conference held in July of 2006 at University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia --Preface.
The United Nations, whose specialized agencies were the subject of an Appendix to the 1958 edition of Oppenheim's International Law: Peace, has expanded beyond all recognition since its founding in 1945.This volume represents a study that is entirely new, but prepared in the way that has become so familiar over succeeding editions of Oppenheim. An authoritative and comprehensive study of the United Nations' legal practice, this volume covers the formal structures of the UN as it has expanded over the years, and all that this complex organization does. All substantive issues are addressed in separate sections, including among others, the responsibilities of the UN, financing, immunities, human rights, preventing armed conflicts and peacekeeping, and judicial matters. In examining the evolving structures and ever expanding work of the United Nations, this volume follows the long-held tradition of Oppenheim by presenting facts uncoloured by personal opinion, in a succinct text that also offers in the footnotes a wealth of information and ideas to be explored. It is book that, while making all necessary reference to the Charter, the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and other legal instruments, tells of the realities of the legal issues as they arise in the day to day practice of the United Nations. Missions to the UN, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, practitioners of international law, academics, and students will all find this book to be vital in their understanding of the workings of the legal practice of the UN. Research for this publication was made possible by The Balzan Prize, which was awarded to Rosalyn Higgins in 2007 by the International Balzan Foundation.
A collection of United Nations documents associated with the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these volumes facilitate research into the scope of, meaning of and intent behind the instrument's provisions. It permits an examination of the various drafts of what became the thirty articles of the Declaration, including one of the earliest documents – a compilation of human rights provisions from national constitutions, organised thematically. The documents are organised chronologically and thorough thematic indexing facilitates research into the origins of specific rights and norms. It is also annotated in order to provide information relating to names, places, events and concepts that might have been familiar in the late 1940s but are today more obscure.
The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women - as other international instruments - was negotiated in an international and multicultural context by diplomats and politicians from a number of countries. It dealt with a highly sensitive issue, the position and role of women in society and in the political decision-making process. The vast number of extensive reservations to the Convention bear witness to the fact that this is possibly one of the most contentious topics at the international level. Few other core universal human rights conventions have attracted a comparable number of reservations. This unique Guide is an attempt to create a picture of the legal--political background to the Convention. Its basic layout follows the style of a classical commentary with annotations to the individual provisions. These annotations draw on documentary sources from the years of preparatory discussions and negotiations (the travaux préparatoires). It primarily covers the genesis of the Convention, i.e. the drafting and negotiating process up to its adoption in 1979. To enhance the Guide's usefulness, a number of more recent documents have been incorporated, for example, the General Recommendations issued by the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women have been reproduced and references to relevant recommendations have been inserted in the annotations to each provision in question. In addition to this, a number of other documents relative to the interpretation of the Convention have been reproduced in Part III, including lists of ratifications of and reservations to the Convention. Furthermore, lists of relevant global and regional instruments and case law have been compiled.
Aims to provide a useful analytical tool and practical guidance on good treaty practice. It will be of interest to those working with treaties and treaty procedures in governments, international organisations, and legal practice, as well as legal academics and students wishing to gain insight into the realities of treaty practice.
The United Nations began as an alliance during World War II. Eventually, however, the UN came to approximate a universal organization - i.e., open to and aspiring to include all States. This presents a legal question, for Article 4 of the Charter contains substantive criteria to limit admission of States to the UN and no formal amendment has touched that part of the Charter. This book gives an up-to-date account of admission to the UN, from the 1950s ‘logjam’ through on-going controversies like Kosovo and Taiwan. With reference to Charter law, the book considers how Article 4 came to accommodate universality and what the future of a universal organization in a world of politically diverse States might be.
Mr. Asamoah's book is concerned with an area of growing importance in the evolution of contemporary international law. The traditional division of the sources of International law into custom and treaties has already been supplemented in Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice by the "general principles of law re cognized by civilized nations" and-as subsidiary sources, the judicial decisions and the teachings of highly qualified publicists. But in order to cope with the diversity of international law in our time, we have to look to a far greater variety of sources of international law, and we shall have to recognize that, in accordance with the many-sided character of international law, these sources may vary greatly in intensity. In recent years, Declaratory Resolutions of the General Assembly have been much concerned with the general princi ples of international law. Sometimes these Declarations are interpre tations of the Charter and other instruments; sometimes they are evi dence of state practice and a developing customary international law ; sometimes they formulate new principles which, in some cases will eventually lead to international treaties or new custom, or in other cases will be accepted as authorative statements of international legal principles, in circumstances where a formal treaty cannot be attained. There are many reasons--often of an internal character-which prevent the conclusion of a treaty but not the acceptance of the principles contained in it.
