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REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISMS

REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISMS. Lone Lindholt, Senior Advisor, Ph.D February 2014. Overview. European Convention on Human Rights -European Court of Human Rights American Convention on Human Rights - Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights

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REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISMS

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  1. REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISMS Lone Lindholt, Senior Advisor, Ph.D February 2014

  2. Overview European Convention on Human Rights -European Court of Human Rights American Convention on Human Rights - Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights African Convention on Human and People’s Rights - African Commission of Human Rights / African Court of Human Rights

  3. The 3 Major Regional Human Rights systems EUROPE – AMERICA – AFRICA • 3 major regional organisations • 3 major regional human rights instruments and their protocols • 3 major regional implementation organs

  4. Regional HR mechanismsIntroduction Advantage: Possibility to bring your claim at a supranational level (above the State) Problems: Accessibility Political interference Efficiency of implementation (including challenge of relationship with domestic system)

  5. Regional HR mechanisms • Products of historical, institutional and political evolution • Universal human rights • Political organisation • Control mechanism • Subsidiarity • Political will

  6. 1. Europe (1) Two major preoccupations in Europe after the Second World War : • Restoring fundamental human rights • Securing peace in Europe European construction and integration: OSCE, EEC and EU, NATO, etc... and the Council of Europe

  7. 1. Europe (2) • Council of Europe – Member States: • Founding members (1949): Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Netherlands, UK, Sweden, Greece, Turkey • Western Europe (1950-1989): Iceland, Germany, Austria, Cyprus, Switzerland, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Finland • Central and Eastern Europe (1990’s): Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Rep., Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, [Andorra], Albania, Latvia, Moldova, FYR of Macedonia, Ukraine, Croatia, Russian Federation, Georgia • Since 2000: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, [Monaco]

  8. 1. Europe (3) • Council of Europe – Institutions • Committee of Ministers • Parliamentary Assembly • Secretariat Human rights at the centre: + European Convention on Human Rights & European Court of Human Rights (1950) + other human rights instruments + Commissioner

  9. 2. Americas (1) 1948: American Declaration of the Rights of Man and Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) 1959: Inter-American Commission on HR (1965: individual petition) 1969: American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) 1970: Revised Charter of the Organization of American States 1978: Entry into force of the ACHR 1978: Entry in function of the Inter-American Court of HR

  10. 2. Americas (2) 25 American States have ratified or adopted the ACHR: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Granada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.

  11. 2. Americas (3) • Trinidad and Tobago denounced the ACHR in 1998 (death penalty cases) • Cuba is not a Member of the OAS • Canada has not signed nor ratified • USA has signed but never ratified • many small islands and small territories have not signed the ACHR

  12. 3. Other regions - Asia • Many attempts to establish a regional body in the Asian Region (Asia-Pacific region)  UN programs (Tehran framework), LawAsia, Bangkok declaration, Asean meetings, Asian NGOs and Asian human rights commission • ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), Terms of Reference (ToR) adopted 20th July, Phuket, Thailand

  13. 3. Other regions League of the Arab States / Revised Arab Charter on Human Rights (2004) Organization of the Islamic Conference / Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (1990)

  14. 4. Africa (1) Organisation of African Unity (1963):safeguarding African sovereignty; territorial integrity; a commitment to decolonisation, and liberation struggle African Union (2002):peace, security, and stability on the continent; democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance; and promoting and protecting human peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments

  15. 4. Africa (2) 53 members states: all African States except Morocco (Western Sahara dispute) African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1981)

  16. 4. Africa (3) • Main organs of the AU: • Assembly • Executive Council • Commission • Permanent Representatives' Committee • Peace and Security Council (PSC) • Pan-African Parliament • ECOSOCC • The Court of Justice + Specialized Technical Committees, Financial Institutions (African Central Bank; African Monetary Fund; African Investment Bank) + NEPAD (New partnership for African development)

  17. THE TEXTSThe rights protected • Civil and Political Rights (all) • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (African; Inter-American by special protocol but mentioned in text of C.) • Collective/peoples’ Rights (African) • Duties (African Charter; Inter-American Convention) • Derogations (European and Inter-American Conventions)

  18. Complaints Mechanisms European Court of Human Rights (Before: both Commission and Court) Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights African Commission of Human Rights and Court of Human Rights (under establishment)

  19. Who can complain? • States • Individuals / NGOs / groups of persons  Admissibility criteria

  20. Which result? • Judgment or decision on violation • Compensation for pecuniary and non pecuniary damages + costs and expenses • Indication re. what the State should do • Supervision of the implementation of the judgment (by political organ/court)

  21. Other African human rights instruments • OAU Refugee Convention 1969/1974 • African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 1990/1999 • Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa 2003/2005 • Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption 2003/2006 • African Charter on Democracy and Governance 2007/

  22. African human rights supervisory organs/institutions • African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights –Established under the African Charter – 1987 • African Court on Human and People’s Rights 1998/2004 merged with the Court of Justice in 2008, creating an African Court of Justice and Human Rights • Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 1999/2001 • The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) 2002 adoption -

  23. Workings of the African Commission (1) • Mandate to promote and protect • Complaint/Communications mechanism –State and Individual • State reporting system • Special rapporteurs and working groups • On-site visits • Adoption of resolutions • Human rights education

  24. Workings of the African Commission (2) • The Individual complaint system not expressly provided –Serious and massive violations (art 58) • Relevance of art 56 - Admissibility • No victim requirement • Interim/provisional measures –Rule 111 • Challenge of enforcement

  25. African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights • Inaugurated in 2007 – Statute of African Court of Justice and Human Rights Adopted 1 July 2008 • Seat of African HR Court in Arusha • Rules of procedures newly adopted • Jurisdiction over African Charter, Protocol and other relevant instruments • Restricted access for individuals/NGOs

  26. Future of the African Human Rights System ? • New role for the African Commission? • Whither the African Court of Human Rights? • Subregional Courts – Expansion of the system? • What role for domestic courts • Partnership for the future- INGOs and LNGOs

  27. Conclusion • Not a perfect system but it has come to stay and there is only room for improvement. • Every body has a part to play.

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