International human rights law
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
International human rights law codifies legal provisions governing human rights in various international human rights instruments. It is related to, but not the same as International Humanitarian Law and Refugee Law.
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights is generally agreed to mark the beginning of the modern International Human Rights Law era, but the notion of human rights has a much longer historical lineage, dating back to ancient legal times. The Universal Declaration is a non-treaty text that has over time been complemented by a series of legally binding international treaties. It has since obtained the status of customary international law.
Declarations and treaties relating to International Human Rights Law are discussed in the article International human rights instruments.
Some customary peremptory norms of human rights are also recognised, and these are considered binding on all nations, whether party to a human rights treaty or not
These are then administered by various international bodies – such as the United Nations, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights – and monitored by various non-governmental organizations. Over 250 multilateral conventions are binding States in the field of Human Rights and humanitarian Law. Access and understanding of those norms are getting easier thanks to the Internet and to on-line legal search engine such as www.whatconvention.org
- International Law
- International Humanitarian Law
- Refugee Law
- International human rights instruments
- European Convention on Human Rights