Lessons for an ASEAN human rights system
International and Regional Protection of Human Rights (LLAW 6072) Written Paper Consider the ways in which the other regional human rights mechanisms could provide suitable precedents for the ASEAN Commission on Human Rights. What form do you think the Commission should take? Introduction There is no doubt that having human rights and a commission written into the ASEAN Charter signals a new dawn in the history of the Association. These are no small steps, given the huge differences in attitudes towards human rights in the region and the Association's strong adherence to the policy of non-interference. Whatever the motivations are for this human rights initiative, ASEAN appears to be compelled by the pressures of globalization to improve their systems of governance and narrow the gap between rich and poor. Without these improvements, the planned economic integration of the region's economies is likely to bring dire consequences which could threaten the very economic survival of the region. The apparent commitment to human rights protection appears to be part of this macro-economic picture. In this paper, I will briefly compare the African, European and Inter-American systems of human rights protection in three areas, namely developmental approaches, sources of law and their form in terms of commissions and courts, their powers and mandate. Examining the experience
Disability - With reference to a topic of your choice, assess the effect of the disability discrimination legislation in the UK since 1995.
With reference to a topic of your choice, assess the effect of the disability discrimination legislation in the UK since 1995. Disability discrimination legislation has since 1995 been presented in various forms, each time addressed with the hope that one shall discover a long awaited evolved version of the previous what many consider, unsuccessful laws. Nonetheless the context of the legislation although has been questioned, it seems it is the practical ineffectiveness of the laws contained within the document that have caused most unrest. Although numerous areas are covered or seem to be included in each of the disability discrimination legislations that shall form the basis of this essay, for the benefit of the question this essay shall assess the effect of the disability discrimination legislation in the UK since 1995 with reference to issues surrounding education. Education is the process by which an individual acquires knowledge, skills and experience, essential to achieve and develop at the very least an average lifestyle academically, professionally and personally. Formal education is "the highly institutionalised chronologically graded and hierarchically structured 'education system' spanning lower primary school and upper reaches of the university".1 The concept of education is universal, the importance attached to it is unchallenged but still there are many that
Critically assess the extent to which the individual complaint mechanism allows for the effective protection of human rights under the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Staffordshire University LAW OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS Assignment 1 Critically assess the extent to which the individual complaint mechanism allows for the effective protection of human rights under the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. LLM Student number: 99-354223 Academic year 2001-2002 Semester 1 After World War II, the reconstruction of Europe was based on the establishment of institutions promoting and restoring those liberal and democratic values and ideals which had been seriously damaged by the dramatic events of the first part of the twentieth century. It is in this context that the Council of Europe was set up in 1949, within which the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was documented 1. The radical innovations that the ECHR introduced are set to protect mostly civil and political rights, as well as some social and economic rights 2 which have been subsequently introduced in the Convention Regime by means of Protocols 3. What makes the Convention a milestone in the development of human rights and of international law, is the creation of a supranational mechanism of control and enforcement of these rights and the fact that individuals are afforded a machinery for the implementation of their human rights whenever there is a failure on the national level to protect them. This
Does Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights achieve the correct balance between allowing States to tackling situations involving a national emergency and ensuring continued protection of human rights?
ECHR Essay - December 2002 Alexander Korff 000378523 Article 15 - Derogation in time of emergency Does Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights achieve the correct balance between allowing States to tackling situations involving a national emergency and ensuring continued protection of human rights? . Introduction The international guarantees for the protection of human rights are of special importance in times of war or national emergencies, as it is precisely then that States will be most likely to deviate from the standards of human rights that would be accepted in times of peace. There are clear reasons why, to give an example, States may require that the period of time for which a person is detained is extended. The interpretation of whether the measures taken were justified at the time and whether the steps taken were 'strictly' necessary and whether a national emergency even exists need to be scrutinised closely by the Courts when overseeing States who have derogated from certain Convention rights. To answer the above question it is necessary to look both at the precise wording of Article 15 and at the way in which that Article is applied by the European Court of Human Rights. In this essay, I will therefore first examine the limitations which Article 15 itself imposes on States - with reference to certain other
SADC, SADC Tribunal and Human Rights
Human Rights, SADC and the SADC Tribunal1 By Tazorora TG Musarurwa LLB, LLM2 Introduction Human rights have become an integral part of our daily lives that it is rather impossible to find a single person who cannot tell you something about what they think human rights are. They have also become such a topical subject that it is no longer plausible to simply dismiss them as a Western phenomenon that has no business in Africa. The history of the Southern African region, like most parts of Africa, has been a call for human rights. In pre-colonial times, the majority of people were denied basic political rights such as those pertaining to voting and fair trials. Black people's movements were restricted by laws. In South Africa, the infamous Group Areas Act of 1950 divided the nation into areas by race and denied people of colour from building homes or establishing businesses in certain areas that were designated as 'white areas'. The region has also witnessed civil wars where the rules of war have taken a back seat and thousands of innocent civilians have been massacred by either of the sides fighting those wars. Furthermore, women have been subjected to a subservient role in their own lives and continue to be subject to the whims and caprices of their male counterparts. There is without doubt an endless list of human rights abuses that have been inflicted on people within
Selecting and discussing up to five cases decided in the UK since 2 October 2000, explain the impact Human Rights Act 1998 has had on the law in England and Wales.
Selecting and discussing up to five cases decided in the UK since 2 October 2000, explain the impact Human Rights Act 1998 has had on the law in England and Wales. In order to answer this question it is first necessary to establish what is the Human Rights Act and how it came about In the UK. It is also important to establish what the law was in England before the act came in to force and how it has changed since, analysing this by reference to Case Law. Prior to the Human Rights Act coming into force protection for Human Rights was minimal. Since the UK does not have a Bill of Rights or a written Constitution in which fundamental basic Human Rights are outlined and protected, the only protection that was available was Parliament, acting as a watchdog against the Government and passing legislation to secure citizen freedoms, i.e. The Data Protection Act 1984 and 1998, protecting the right to privacy with respect to personal information. However the problem with such protection was that Parliament could take away or interfere with rights without challenge from the courts on Human Rights grounds i.e. The Public Order Act 1986 contained restrictions on the right t peaceful protest. The Common law protection was based on the principle that we are free to do whatever is not specifically forbidden by the law. Common Law protection can be seen in Entick v Carrington1 where the
Review of "Alexander Hamilton, American" by Richard Brookshire
Review of "Alexander Hamilton, American" by Richard Brookshire Alexander Hamilton was born as a British subject on the island of Nevis in the West Indies between 1755 and 1757. His father was James Hamilton, a Scottish merchant of St. Christopher. Hamilton's mother was Rachael Fawcette Levine, of French Huguenot descent. When she was very young, she married a Danish proprietor of St. Croix named John Michael Levine. Mrs. Levine left her husband and was later divorced from him on in 1759. Under Danish law, the court ordering the divorce, Mrs. Levine was not allowed to remarry. Thus, Hamilton's birth was illegitimate. Alexander Hamilton had one brother, James Hamilton Jr. Heavy burdens fell upon Hamilton's shoulders during childhood. Business failures caused Hamilton's father to become bankrupt. Soon thereafter, his mother died in 1768. At twelve, Alexander was employed at the counting house of Nicholas Cruger. There, young Alexander served as a clerk and apprentice. At the age of fifteen, Mr. Cruger left Alexander in charge of the business. Early on, Hamilton wished to increase his opportunities in life. This is evidenced by a letter written to his friend Edward Stevens at the age of fourteen on Nov. 11, 1769 where he stated, "my ambition is so prevalent that I contemn the groveling and condition of a clerk or the like,... and would willingly risk my life, though not my
Criminal Law Offences Act
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act No 32 of 20071 that has been going through major reforms since the passing of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, was finally passed into legislation by President Mbeki on 16 December 2007.2 The new Sexual Offences Act has largely been created from amended Acts since the last existing Sexual Offences Act.3 The new Act is a major turning point for the protection of children and other vulnerable members of the society who include the mentally disabled and women.4 The editor of the Herald may be right to say that the Act is likely to violate the rights of an individual in some extent but the broader picture is that it advocates for the protection from sexual abuse of children particularly in a volatile environment like South Africa with one of the highest rates of sexual abuse and rape,5 but I differ to agree with him as I see the new Act as a tool for uplifting the rights of individuals who were victimised prior to the passing of the new Act.6 The Sexual Offences Act7 defines a child as an individual under the age of 18 years but in relation to consensual acts8, as an individual who is at least 12 years old but under the age of 16 years. A child's consent is important in relation to all the decisions she makes and in South Africa the age of consent of the girl child is 16years as compared
Over the last 25 years, there has been a significant movement towards more open government which is largely, but not wholly, attributable to decisions under the European convention on Human Rights" Discuss.
Mike James [hUMAN RIGHTS LAW] ________________ Open government, in short is the concept that, a government will conduct itself in a transparent and fair manner hence allowing the public to scrutinize its initiatives and decisions. It is most significant in the domain of state secrecy which is in direct conflict with the concept of open government as it legitimizes the suppression of information from the public domain. The suppression of information is linked to Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights which guarantees the right of free speech and the right to receive and impart with information freely. However Article 10 is not an absolute right and it allows members to the convention the right of derogation where national security and public safety are at risk. The law must therefore provide a means of balancing the individual's right to guard his or her privacy against the public's right to know about matters of general importance. Yet over the past two decades, British governments have been reluctant to create a specific civil obligation to protect personal privacy. It was argued that privacy is too vague a concept for legal protection[1]. But the enactment of the 1998 Human Rights Act has changed this situation. The Act requires that the government respect both the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression, although it leaves it to the courts
Discussion of the right to information
COMU2311Discussion42761936 Discussion of the right to information The right to information refers to information freedom, which means that everyone should be given the right to equally access information across all platforms (Banisar, 2011). Information is defined by Banisar (2011) as any material, such as papers, documents, that are kept by government bodies. Since the year 1948, Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights has stated that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression”, there is an increasing awareness of citizens’ right to access and collect information (Hachten 1996:159). Nowadays, the right to information plays a significant role in empowering all citizens to monitor governments and promote good governance (Oslo Governance Centre, 2006). As of July, 2012, nearly 90 countries have had national or federal laws with international standard, which declare particular rights for information accessing (Right to information, 2012). Most countries are in Europe, for example, Sweden; this country has enjoyed the right to information since the beginning of 19th century. “The Freedom of the Press Act” of 1766 later became a part of Swedish constitution; it provides comprehensive provisions so as to ensure public access to all documents held by the government (Research, Reference, and Training Division, 2000).