Human Rights, Culture and the Rule of Law
Human Rights, Culture and the Rule of Law

Author: Jessica Almqvist

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2005-09-12

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1847310044

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This new book examines the relationship between culture and respect for human rights. It departs from the oft-made assumption that culture is closely linked to ideas about community. Instead, it reveals culture as a quality possessed by the individual with a serious impact on her ability to enjoy the rights and freedoms as recognised in international human rights law in meaningful and effective ways. This understanding redirects attention towards a range of issues that have long been marginalised, but which warrant a central place in human rights research and on the international human rights agenda. Special attention is given to the circumstances induced by cultural differences between people and the laws by which they are expected to live. The circumstances are created by differing tools, know-how and skills (cultural equipment), diverse settlements on matters that are ultimately indifferent from the standpoint of cosmopolitan moral law (adiaphora), and conflicts having their source in conflicting doctrinesethical, religious and philosophicaladdressing deep questions about the ultimate purpose of human life (comprehensive doctrines). Each of the circumstances shifts the focus with the aim of securing effective and adequate protection of individual freedom, as societies become increasingly diversified in cultural terms and issues arise of access to laws and public institutions, exemption from legal obligations for reasons of conscience, fair resolution of conflicts having their source in differing ethical, religious and philosophical outlooks, and, excuse for breach of law in case of involuntary ignorance.

Cultural Rights in International Law and Discourse
Cultural Rights in International Law and Discourse

Author: Stephenson Chow

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-01-22

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 9004328580

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Challenging questions arise in the effort to adequately protect the cultural rights of individuals and communities worldwide, not the least of which are questions concerning the very understanding of ‘culture’. In Cultural Rights in International Law and Discourse: Contemporary Challenges and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Pok Yin S. Chow offers an account of the present-day challenges to the articulation and implementation of cultural rights in international law. Through examining how ‘culture’ is conceptualised in different stages of contemporary anthropology, the book explores how these understandings of ‘culture’ enable us to more accurately put issues of cultural rights into perspective. The book attempts to provide analytical exits to existing conundrums and dilemmas concerning the protections of culture, cultural heritage and cultural identity.

International Law for Common Goods
International Law for Common Goods

Author: Federico Lenzerini

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2014-12-01

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 1782254706

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International law has long been dominated by the State. But it has become apparent that this bias is unrealistic and untenable in the contemporary world as the rise of the notion of common goods challenges this dominance. These common goods – typically values (like human rights, rule of law, etc) or common domains (the environment, cultural heritage, space, etc) – speak to an emergent international community beyond the society of States and the attendant rights and obligations of non-State actors. This book details how three key areas of international law – human rights, culture and the environment – are pushing the boundaries in this field. Each category is of current and ongoing significance in legal and public discourse, as illustrated by the Syrian conflict (human rights and international humanitarian law), the destruction of mausoleums and manuscripts in Mali (cultural heritage), and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (the environment). Each exemplifies the need to move beyond a State-focused idea of international law. This timely volume explores how the idea of common goods, in which rights and obligations extend to individuals, groups and the international community, offers one such avenue and reflects on its transformative impact on international law.

The Culture of Judicial Independence
The Culture of Judicial Independence

Author: Shimon Shetreet

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

Published: 2015-01-27

Total Pages: 600

ISBN-13: 9004257810

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The Culture of Judicial Independence: Rule of Law and World Peace, is the third book by Shimon Shetreet on Judicial Independence. The first was Judicial Independence: The Contemporary Debate (edited by Shimon Shetreet and Jules Deschênes, Nijhoff,1985). The second was The Culture of Judicial Independence: Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges (Edited by Shimon Shetreet and Christopher Forsyth, Nijhoff, 2012). This volume contains essays by senior academics, judges and practitioners across jurisdictions offering an analysis of several central issues relative to the culture of Judicial Independence. These include judicial review, human rights, democracy, the rule of law and world peace, constitutional position of top courts, relations between the judiciary and the other branches of government, impartiality and fairness of the judicial process, judicial ethics, dispute resolution in arbitral awards and international investments, international courts and cross country issues, judicial selection. The volume also offers an update report on the International Project of Judicial Independence of the International Association of Judicial Independence and World Peace, including the relations of top courts and international courts, administrative judges, culture of judicial independence and public inquiries by judges.

Effective Governance Under Anarchy
Effective Governance Under Anarchy

Author: Tanja A. Börzel

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-04-08

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 1107183693

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Democratic and consolidated states are taken as the model for effective rule-making and service provision. In contrast, this book argues that good governance is possible even without a functioning state.

Rescuing Human Rights
Rescuing Human Rights

Author: Hurst Hannum

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-02-14

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1108417485

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Focuses on understanding human rights as they really are and their proper role in international affairs.

Can Might Make Rights?
Can Might Make Rights?

Author: Jane Stromseth

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-09-25

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 1139458701

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This book looks at why it's so difficult to create 'the rule of law' in post-conflict societies such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and offers critical insights into how policy-makers and field-workers can improve future rule of law efforts. A must-read for policy-makers, field-workers, journalists and students trying to make sense of the international community's problems in Iraq and elsewhere, this book shows how a narrow focus on building institutions such as courts and legislatures misses the more complex cultural issues that affect societal commitment to the values associated with the rule of law. The authors place the rule of law in context, showing the interconnectedness between the rule of law and other post-conflict priorities, such as reestablishing security. The authors outline a pragmatic, synergistic approach to the rule of law which promises to reinvigorate debates about transitions to democracy and post-conflict reconstruction.

Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice
Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice

Author: Jack Donnelly

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780801487767

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(unseen), $12.95. Donnelly explicates and defends an account of human rights as universal rights. Considering the competing claims of the universality, particularity, and relativity of human rights, he argues that the historical contingency and particularity of human rights is completely compatible with a conception of human rights as universal moral rights, and thus does not require the acceptance of claims of cultural relativism. The book moves between theoretical argument and historical practice. Rigorous and tightly-reasoned, material and perspectives from many disciplines are incorporated. Paper edition Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Development in Africa
Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Development in Africa

Author: Paul Tiyambe Zeleza

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2011-06-07

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 0812204514

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Changes in human rights environments in Africa over the past decade have been facilitated by astounding political transformations: the rise of mass movements and revolts driven by democratic and developmentalist ideals, as well as mass murder and poverty perpetuated by desperate regimes and discredited global agencies. Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Development in Africa seeks to make sense of human rights in Africa through the lens of its triumphs and tragedies, its uneven developments and complex demands. The volume makes a significant contribution to the debate about the connections between the protection of human rights and the pursuit of economic development by interrogating the paradigms, politics, and practices of human rights in Africa. Throughout, the essays emphasize that democratic and human rights regimes are products of concrete social struggles, not simply textual or legal discourses. Including some of Africa's leading scholars, jurists, and human rights activists, contributors to the volume diverge from Western theories of African democratization by rejecting the continental view of an Africa blighted by failure, disease, and economic malaise. It argues instead that Africa has strengthened and shaped international law, such as the right to self-determination, inspired by the process of decolonization, and the definition of the refugee. Insisting on the holistic view that human rights are as much about economic and social rights as they are about civil and political rights, the contributors offer novel analyses of African conceptions, experiences, and aspirations of human rights which manifest themselves in complex global, regional, and local idioms. Further, they explore the varied constructions of human rights in African and Western discourses and the roles played by states and NGOs in promoting or subverting human rights. Combining academic analysis with social concern, intellectual discourse with civic engagement, and scholarly research with institution building, this is a compelling and original approach to the question whether externally inspired solutions to African human rights issues have validity in a postcolonial world.