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International Human Rights Law: Relevant Literature

By ​Eduardo Sánchez Madrigal​

Eduardo Sánchez Madrigal is a master’s student and research assistant at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. His research interests include human rights and public international law.

International Human Rights Law: Relevant Literature

Main Titles

2020-2015

Ilias Bantekas and Lutz Oette, International Human Rights Law and Practice, Cambridge University Press, 3rd Edition (2020).

This unique textbook merges human rights law with its practice, from the courtroom to the battlefield. Human rights are analysed in their particular context, and the authors assess, among other things, the impact of international finance, the role of NGOs, and the protection of rights in times of emergency, including the challenges posed by counter-terrorism. In parallel, a series of interviews with practitioners, case studies and practical applications offer multiple perspectives and challenging questions on the effective implementation of human rights. Although the book comprehensively covers the traditional areas of international human rights law, including its regional and international legal and institutional framework, it also encompasses, through distinct chapters or large sections, areas that have a profound impact on human rights worldwide, such as women’s rights, human rights and globalisation, refugees and migration, human rights obligations of non-state actors, debt and human rights, and others.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 37.99

Jack Donnelly and Daniel J. Whelan, International Human Rights Law, Routledge, 6th Edition (2020).

Fully updated, the sixth edition of International Human Rights examines the ways in which states and other international actors have addressed human rights since the end of World War II. This unique textbook features substantial attention to theory, history, international and regional institutions, and the role of transnational actors in the protection and promotion of human rights. Its purpose is to explore the difficult and contentious politics of human rights, and how those political dimensions have been addressed at the national, regional, and especially international levels.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 120.00 (hardback) and £ 32.99 (paperback)

Olivier de Schutter, International Human Rights Law: Cases, Materials, Commentary, Cambridge University Press, 3rd Edition (2019).

International human rights law has expanded remarkably since the 1990s. It is therefore more important than ever to identify, beyond specific controversies, its deeper structure and the general pattern of evolution. Moreover, it has a logic of its own: though part of international law, it borrows many of its principles from domestic constitutional law. This leading textbook meets both challenges. It has been significantly updated for the new third edition, introducing sections on subjects including business and human rights, amongst other key areas. Features include forty new cases from various jurisdictions or expert bodies, and figures offering visual descriptions of the procedures discussed in the text. The ‘questions for discussion’ have also been systematically updated. The text retains its student-friendly design, and the features which made the previous editions so engaging and accessible remain. This popular textbook continues to be an essential tool for all students of human rights law.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 45.99

Rhona K. M. Smith. International Human Rights Law, Oxford University Press, 9th Edition (2019).

Illustrating the scope of this fascinating and wide-reaching subject to the student, this clear and concise text gives a broad introduction to international human rights law. Coverage includes regional systems of protection, the role of the UN, and a variety of substantive rights. The author skillfully guides students through the complexities of the subject, and then prepares them for further study and research. Key cases and areas of debate are highlighted throughout, and a wealth of references to cases and further readings are provided at the end of each chapter.

Link to Publisher ǀ £39.99

Daniel Moeckli, Sangeeta Shah, and Sandesh Sivakumaran (editors), International Human Rights Law, Oxford University Press, 3rd Edition (2018).

Written by leading experts in the field, this compelling textbook explores the essentials of international human rights law, from foundational issues to substantive rights and systems of protection. A variety of perspectives bring this multifaceted and sometimes contentious subject to life, making International Human Rights Law the ideal companion for students of human rights.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 37.99

Adam McBeth, Justine Nolan, and Simon Rice, The International Law of Human Rights, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition (2017).

The International Law of Human Rights examines the fundamentals of human rights law from the advent of the United Nations Charter through to the challenging contemporary issues facing the human rights regime. The second edition introduces the intricacies of human rights law and provides up-to-date coverage of human rights issues while exploring emerging areas of human rights law. Expert author commentary illuminates a range of examples while Snapshots throughout the text demonstrate real life decisions, thoroughly covering the scope of human rights law. This text has been restructured and comprehensively updated throughout to reflect current legislation, cases and international jurisprudence and is the ideal text for students of human rights law.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 65.00

Aaron X. Fellmeth, Paradigms of International Human Rights Law, Oxford University Press (2016).

Paradigms of International Human Rights Law explores the legal, ethical, and other policy consequences of three core structural features of international human rights law: the focus on individual rights instead of duties; the division of rights into substantive and nondiscrimination categories; and the use of positive and negative right paradigms. Part I explains the types of individual, corporate, and state duties available, and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating each type of duty into the world public order, with special attention to supplementing individual rights with explicit individual and state duties. Part II evaluates how substantive rights and nondiscrimination rights are used to protect similar values through different channels; summarizes the nondiscrimination right in international practice; proposes refinements; and explains how the paradigms synergize. Part III discusses negative and positive paradigms by dispelling a common misconception about positive rights, and then justifies and defines the concept of negative rights, justifies positive rights, and concludes with a discussion of the ethical consequences of structuring the human rights system on a purely negative paradigm. For each set of alternatives, the author analyzes how human rights law incorporates the paradigms, the technical legal implications of the various alternatives, and the ethical and other policy consequences of using each alternative while dispelling common misconceptions about the paradigms and considering the arguments justifying or opposing one or the other.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 75.00

Andreas Føllesdal, Johan Karlsson Schaffer, and Geir Ulfstein (editors), The Legitimacy of International Human Rights Regimes: Legal, Political and Philosophical Perspectives, Cambridge University Press (2015).

The past sixty years have seen an expansion of international human rights conventions and supervisory organs, not least in Europe. While these international legal instruments have enlarged their mandate, they have also faced opposition and criticism from political actors at the state level, even in well-functioning democracies. Against the backdrop of such contestations, this book brings together prominent scholars in law, political philosophy and international relations in order to address the legitimacy of international human rights regimes as a theoretically challenging and politically salient case of international authority. It provides a unique and thorough overview of the legitimacy problems involved in the global governance of human rights.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 24.99

Other Relevant Titles by Year

Forthcoming 2020

Julie Fraser, Social Institutions and International Human Rights Law:
Every Organ of Society
, Cambridge University Press (September 2020).

Having articulated numerous human rights norms and standards in international treaties, the pressing challenge today is their realisation in States’ parties around the world. Domestic implementation has proven a difficult task for national authorities as well as international supervisory bodies. This book examines the traditional State-centric and legalistic approach to implementation, critiquing its limited efficacy in practice and failure to connect with local cultures. The book therefore explores the permissibility of other measures of implementation, and advocates more culturally sensitive approaches involving social institutions. Through an interdisciplinary case study of Islam in Indonesia, the book demonstrates the power of social institutions like religion to promote rights compliant positions and behaviours. Like the preamble of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the book reiterates the role not just of the State but indeed ‘every organ of society’ in realising rights.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 85.00

2020

Stian Øby Johansen, The Human Rights Accountability Mechanisms of International Organizations, Cambridge University Press (2020).

International organizations are becoming increasingly powerful. Today, they affect the lives of individuals across the globe through their decisions and conduct. Consequently, international organizations are more capable of violating the human rights of individuals. But how can they be held to account for such violations? This book studies the procedural mechanisms that may hold international organizations to account for their human rights violations. It establishes a general framework for identifying, analyzing, and assessing the accountability mechanisms of international organizations. This general framework is then applied to three distinct cases: the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy missions, refugee camp administration by the UNHCR, and detention by the International Criminal Court. The overall conclusion is that none of the existing accountability mechanisms across the three cases fulfill the normative requirements set out in the general framework. However, there are significant variations between cases, and between different types of accountability mechanisms.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 95.00

Alison Bisset, Blackstone’s International Human Rights Documents, Oxford University Press, 12th Edition (2020).

Unsurpassed in authority, reliability and accuracy; the 12th edition has been fully revised and updated to incorporate all relevant legislation for international human rights courses. Blackstone’s International Human Rights Documents is an abridged collection of legislation carefully reviewed and selected by Alison Bisset. With unparalleled coverage of international human rights law, Blackstone’s International Human Rights Documents leads the market: consistently recommended by lecturers and relied on by students for exam and course use.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 14.99

Paul M. Taylor, A Commentary on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: The UN Human Rights Committee’s Monitoring of ICCPR Rights, Cambridge University Press (2020).

A new and an essential reference work for any international human rights law academic, student or practitioner, A Commentary on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights spans all substantive rights of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), approached from the perspective of the ICCPR as an integrated, coherent scheme of rights protection. In detailed coverage of the Human Rights Committee’s output when monitoring ICCPR compliance, Paul M. Taylor offers extraordinary access to forty years of its Concluding Observations, Views and General Comments organised thematically. This Commentary is a solid and practical introduction to any and all of the civil and political rights in the ICCPR, and a rare resource explaining the requirements for domestic implementation of ICCPR standards. An indispensable research tool for any serious enquirer into the subject, the Commentary speaks to the accomplishments of the ICCPR in striving for universal human rights standards.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 200.00

Rhona K. M. Smith, Texts and Materials on International Human Rights, 4th Edition, Routledge (2020).

Texts and Materials on International Human Rights offers a carefully tailored overview of the subject that covers sources and theories, institutions and structures, and substantive rights. The fourth edition is fully updated to include all key developments in the law, in particular issues around reform in the UN and the topical application of human rights around the world. This collection of materials offers a comprehensive overview of the institutional structures relevant to international human rights law, crucial to the understanding of how law works in this challenging area. Designed to guide students through the fundamental texts for this subject, the author’s commentary contextualises each extract to explain its relevance, while highlighted further reading makes links to cutting-edge academic commentary to provide next steps for student research. Offering a clear text design that distinguishes between materials and author commentary, and including reflective questions throughout to aid understanding, this book is ideal for students seeking to engage with the key issues in the study of international human rights.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 29.99 (paperback) and £ 115.00 (hardback)

Gayatri H. Patel, Women and International Human Rights Law: Universal Periodic Review in Practice, Routledge (2020).

This book presents the findings of the first comprehensive study on the most recent and most unique and innovative method of monitoring international human rights law at the United Nations. Since its existence, there has yet to be a complete and comprehensive book solely dedicated to exploring the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. Women and International Human Rights Law provides a much-needed insight to what the process is, how it operates in practice, and whether it meets its fundamental aim of promoting the universality of all human rights.The book addresses the topics with regard to international human rights law and will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students interested in the monitoring and implementation of international human rights law at the United Nations. In addition, it will form supplementary reading for those students studying international human rights law on undergraduate programmes and will also appeal to academics and students with interests in political sciences and international relations.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 120.00

Katie Boyle, Economic and Social Rights Law: Incorporation, Justiciability and Principles of Adjudication, Routledge (2020).

This book develops principles of adjudication to facilitate accountability for violations of Economic and Social Rights. Economic and Social Rights engage with areas relating to social justice and their violation tends to impact on the most vulnerable members of society. Taking the UK as a case study, the book draws on international experience and comparative practice, including progressive reform at the devolved subnational level, that demonstrate the potential reach of Economic and Social Rights when the rights are given legal standing in domestic settings according to their status in international law. The work looks at different models of incorporation of rights into domestic law and sets out existing justiciability mechanisms for their enforcement as well as future models open to development. In so doing the book develops principles of adjudication drawn from deliberative democracy theory that help address some of the critiques of social rights adjudication. This book will have a global and cross-sectoral appeal to legal practitioners, the judiciary and the civil services, as well as to researchers, academics and students in the fields of human rights law, comparative constitutional law and deliberative democracy theory.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 115.00

2019

Martin Scheinin. Human Rights Norms in ‘Other’ International Courts, Cambridge University Press, (2019).

This unique book examines the role and impact of human rights norms in international courts other than human rights courts. It covers a whole range of courts and jurisdictions, looking at the practice of prominent international courts, such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, as well as various fora of economic adjudication, including the World Trade Organisation, regional integration organisations in Europe and Africa, and investment arbitration. The book systematically explores the role of human rights norms at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, thereby providing an insight into the future evolution of environmental law towards judicial enforcement at the international level. Within each jurisdiction under study, the respective authors, who all are experts within their fields, address the role of different categories of human rights, as well as the range of available modes of operation of human rights norms.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 110.00


Ingrid Leijten. Core Socio-Economic Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, Cambridge University Press, (2019).

Core Socio-Economic Rights and the European Court of Human Rights deals with socio-economic rights in the context of the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The book connects the ECtHR’s socio-economic case law to an understanding of the Court’s responsibility to recognize the limitations of supranational rights adjudication while protecting the most needy. By exploring the idea of core rights protection in constitutional and international law, a new perspective is developed that offers suggestions for improving the ECtHR’s reasoning in socio-economic cases as well as contributing to the debate on indivisible rights adjudication in an age of ‘rights inflation’ and proportionality review. Core Socio-Economic Rights and the European Court of Human Rights will interest scholars and practitioners dealing with fundamental rights and especially those interested in judicial reasoning, socio-economic and supranational rights protection.

Link to Publisher ǀ £23.99

Heidi Nichols Haddad. The Hidden Hands of Justice: NGOs, Human Rights, and International Courts, Cambridge University Press, (2019).

The Hidden Hands of Justice: NGOs, Human Rights, and International Courts is the first comprehensive analysis of non-governmental organization (NGO) participation at international criminal and human rights courts. Drawing on original data, Heidi Nichols Haddad maps and explains the differences in NGO participatory roles, frequency, and impact at three judicial institutions: the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Human Rights System, and the International Criminal Court. The Hidden Hands of Justice demonstrates that courts can strategically choose to enhance their functionality by allowing NGOs to provide needed information, expertise, and services as well as shame states for non-cooperation. Through participation, NGOs can profoundly shape the character of international human rights justice, but in doing so, may consolidate civil society representation and relinquish their roles as external monitors.

Link to Publisher ǀ £21.99

Walter Kälin and Jörg Künzli. The Law of International Human Rights Protection, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition (2019).

At a time when human rights are coming under increasing pressure, in-depth knowledge and understanding of their foundations, conceptual underpinnings and current practice remain crucial. The second edition of Walter Kälin and Jörg Künzli’s authoritative book provides a concise but comprehensive legal analysis of international human rights protection at the global and regional levels. It shows that human rights are real rights creating legal entitlements for those who are protected by them and imposing legal obligations on those bound by them. Based, in particular, on a wide-ranging analysis of international case-law, the book focuses on the sources and scope of application of human rights and a discussion of their substantive guarantees. Further chapters describe the different mechanisms to monitor the implementation of human rights obligations, ranging from the regional human rights courts in Africa, the Americas and Europe and the UN treaty bodies to the international criminal tribunals, the International Court of Justice and the UN Security Council. The book is based on an understanding of human rights as legal concepts that address basic human needs and vulnerabilities, and highlights the indivisibility of civil and political rights on the one and economic, social and cultural rights on the other hand. It also highlights the convergence of international human rights and international humanitarian law and the interlinkages with international criminal law as well as general international law, in particular the law of state responsibility.

Link to Publisher ǀ £95.00

2018

Matthew Saul, Andreas Follesdal, and Geir Ulfstein (editors). The International Human Rights Judiciary and National Parliaments: Europe and Beyond, Cambridge University Press (2018).

The emerging international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) threatens national democratic processes and ‘hollows out’ the scope of domestic and democratic decision-making, some argue. This new analysis confronts this head on by examining the interplay between national parliaments and the IHRJ, proposing that it advances parliament’s efforts. Taking Europe and the European Court of Human Rights as its focus – drawing on theory, doctrine and practice – the authors answer a series of key questions. What role should parliaments play in realising human rights? Which factors influence the effects of the IHRJ on national parliaments’ efforts? How can the IHRJ adjust its influence on parliamentary process? And what triggers the backlash against the IHRJ from parliaments and when? Here, the authors lay foundations for better informed scholarship and legal practice in the future, as well as a better understanding of how to improve the effectiveness and validity of the IHRJ.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 27.99

Malcolm Langford, César Rodríguez-Garavito, and Julieta Rossi (editors). Social Rights Judgments and the Politics of Compliance: Making it Stick, Cambridge University Press (2018).

The past few decades have witnessed an explosion of judgments on social rights around the world. However, we know little about whether these rulings have been implemented. Social Rights Judgments and the Politics of Compliance is the first book to engage in a comparative study of compliance of social rights judgments as well as their broader effects. Covering fourteen different domestic and international jurisdictions, and drawing on multiple disciplines, it finds significant variance in outcomes and reveals both spectacular successes and failures in making social rights a reality on the ground. This variance is strikingly similar to that found in previous studies on civil rights, and the key explanatory factors lie in the political calculus of defendants and the remedial framework. The book also discusses which strategies have enhanced implementation, and focuses on judicial reflexivity, alliance building and social mobilisation.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 29.99

Danwood Mzikenge Chirwa and Lilian Chenwi (editors). The Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Africa, Cambridge University Press (2018).

The Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Africa critiques the three main models of constitutionally protecting economic, social and cultural rights in Africa – direct, indirect and hybrid models. It examines the choices that states have made, how the models have worked, whether they have been tested in litigation and the jurisprudence that has arisen. The book analyses the protection of the economic, social and cultural rights in a range of African countries: Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. Leading legal academics explore how these rights feature at the regional and sub-regional levels, as well as the link between domestic and international mechanisms of enforcement.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 32.99

2017

Ruth Costigan and Richard Stone, Civil Liberties & Human Rights, Oxford University Press (2017).

A straightforward and stimulating account of this fascinating area of law that covers all the key topics on undergraduate human rights modules. It includes detailed analysis of key cases throughout that puts the law into context and encourages students to engage with contemporary issues and debates. Covers all the essential topics clearly and concisely and provides a solid foundation for students to build on. Straightforward writing style allows students to easily understand complex material. Puts the law in context and guides students through key cases with detailed analysis. Includes questions for discussion at the end of each chapter to check students’ understanding and encourage engagement with key issues. Further reading suggestions for each chapter encourage students to develop their knowledge and understanding of each topic.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 39.99

Nihal Jayawickrama, The Judicial Application of Human Rights Law:
National, Regional and International Jurisprudence
, Cambridge University Press, 2nd Edition (2017).

Since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, over 165 countries have incorporated human rights standards into their legal systems: the resulting jurisprudence from diverse cultural traditions creates new dimensions to concepts first articulated in 1948. In this revised second edition, Nihal Jayawickrama draws on extensive sources to encapsulate the judicial interpretation of human rights law in one comprehensive volume. Jayawickrama covers the case law of the superior courts of 103 countries in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, as well as jurisprudence of human rights monitoring bodies. He analyses the judicial application of human rights law to demonstrate empirically the universality of contemporary human rights norms. This definitive volume is essential for legal practitioners, and government and non-governmental officials, as well as academics and students of both constitutional law and the international law of human rights.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 158.00

Surya P. Subedi, The Effectiveness of the UN Human Rights System
Reform and the Judicialisation of Human Rights
, Routledge (2017).

The UN human rights agenda has reached the mature age of 70 years and many UN mechanisms created to implement this agenda are themselves in their middle-age, yet human rights violations are still a daily occurrence around the globe. The scorecard of the UN human rights mechanisms appears impressive in terms of the promotion, spreading of education and engaging States in a dialogue to promote human rights, but when it comes to holding governments to account for violations of these rights, the picture is much more dismal. This book examines the effectiveness of UN mechanisms and suggests measures to reform them in order to create a system that is robust and fit to serve the 21st century. This book casts a critical eye on the rationale and effectiveness of each of the major UN human rights mechanisms, including the Human Rights Council, the human rights treaty bodies, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteurs and other Charter-based bodies. Surya P. Subedi argues most of the UN human rights mechanisms have remained toothless entities and proposes measures to reform and strengthen it by depoliticising the workings of UN human rights mechanisms and judicialising human rights at the international level.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 36.99 (paperback) and £ 115.00 (hardback)

2016

Arne Vandenbogaerde, Towards Shared Accountability in International Human Rights Law: Law, Procedures and Principles, Intersentia (2016).

Non-State actors, principally corporations and international organizations, as well as foreign States, influence decision-making. This reality particularly affects the enjoyment and implementation of economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights. Alongside what has become a fast-moving reality, legal developments in the field of ESC rights are also happening at a fast pace. In the last decade we have not only witnessed the end of the ESC justiciability debate, including a growing recognition of these rights at the domestic level, but also the adoption of an international complaints procedure to deal with violations of ESC rights (OP-ICESCR). Yet, these legal developments fall short of providing accountability in a globalized world. There is a discrepancy between international human rights law – with its focus on the territorial State – and the current globalized context in which non-state actors and foreign States also affect the enjoyment of ESC rights. Scholars have argued for the expansion of the duty-bearer side of human rights law in order ‘to synch’ human rights law with reality. Most of the research in the last decade has focused on the recognition of the obligations of foreign States and NSAs, less so on subsequent rules for the attribution and distribution of obligations, responsibility, and remedies. What are the (legal) building blocks or foundations of a multi-duty-bearer accountability framework?

Link to Publisher ǀ € 85.00

Marc Bossuyt, International Human Rights Protection, Intersentia (2016).

International Human Rights Protection, addressed to judges and lawyers, diplomats and civil servants, researchers and students, is based on the author’s personal research and personal involvement with a wide range of subjects, such as the basic concepts of civil and social rights, discrimination and affirmative action, issues of procedure and jurisdiction and issues such as the death penalty and the protection of refugees, minorities and victims of armed conflicts. At the universal level, the book introduces the reader to the labyrinth of United Nations Charter-based and treaty-based procedures. As well as an overview of the Inter-American and African systems, it deals at the regional level particularly with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and also looks at the national level at the case law of the US Supreme Court and the South African Constitutional Court.

Link to Publisher ǀ € 75.00

Howard Davis, Human Rights Law Directions, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition (2016).

A considered balance of depth, detail, context, and critique, Directions books offer the most student-friendly guide to the subject; they empower students to evaluate the law, understand its practical application, and approach assessments with confidence. Gain a complete understanding of the topic: we won’t overload or leave your students short, just the right amount of detail conveyed clearly. Understand the law in context: with scene-setting introductions and highlighted case extracts, the practical importance of the law becomes clear. Identify when and how to critically evaluate the law: we’ll introduce the key areas of debate and give your students the confidence to question the law. Direct and consolidate their knowledge: visually engaging learning and self-testing features aid understanding and help your students tackle assessments with confidence. Elevate their learning: with the ground-work in place you can aspire to take learning to the next level, the authors provide direction on going further.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 37.99

Ben Saul, David Kinley, and Jacqueline Mowbray, The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Commentary, Cases, and Materials, Oxford University Press (2016).

Economic, social, and cultural rights are finally coming of age. This book brings together all essential documents, materials, and case law relating to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – one of the most important human rights instruments in international law – and its Optional Protocol. This book presents extracts from primary materials alongside critical commentary and analysis, placing the documents in their wider context and situating economic, social, and cultural rights within the broader human rights framework. There is increasing interest internationally, regionally, and in domestic legal systems in the protection of economic, social, and cultural rights. The Optional Protocol of 2008 allows for individual communications to be made to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights after its entry into force in 2013. At the regional level, socio-economic rights are well embedded in human rights systems in Europe, Africa and the Americas. At the national level, constitutions and courts have increasingly regarded socio-economic rights as justiciable, narrowing the traditional divide with civil and political rights. This book contextualises these developments in the context of the ICESCR. It provides detailed analysis of the ICESCR structured around its articles, drawing on national as well as international case law and materials, and containing all of the key primary materials in its extensive appendices. New in paperback, this book is an indispensable resource for students of international human rights law.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 53.00

2015

Dinah Shelton, The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law, Oxford University Press (2015).

This Oxford Handbook gives the most comprehensive account yet available of the development, principles, and criticisms of international human rights law. Provides crucial insights into the most topical issues for international human rights law, including the obligations of non-state actors, transnational litigation, and extraterritoriality. Assesses the impact of over half a century of international human rights, attempting to determine whether and how it is possible to measure progress in the enjoyment of human rights. Contributions by over forty leading international and interdisciplinary experts.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 39.99

Hilary Charlesworth and Emma Larking (editors), Human Rights and the Universal Periodic Review: Rituals and Ritualism, Cambridge University Press (2015).

The Universal Periodic Review is an intriguing and ambitious development in human rights monitoring which breaks new ground by engaging all 193 members of the United Nations. This book provides the first sustained analysis of the Review and explains how the Review functions within the architecture of the United Nations. It draws on socio-legal scholarship and the insights of human rights practitioners with direct experience of the Review in order to consider its regulatory power and its capacity to influence the behaviour of states. It also highlights the significance of the embodied features of the Review, with its cyclical and intricately managed interactive dialogues. Additionally, it discusses the rituals associated with the Review, examines the tendency of the Review towards hollow ritualism (which undermines its aspiration to address human rights violations comprehensively) and suggests how this ritualism might be overcome.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 72.99

Marjan Ajevski, Fragmentation in International Human Rights Law: Beyond Conflict of Laws, Cambridge University Press (2015).

This book explores the effects of institutional fragmentation in international human rights law, by comparing the rights jurisprudence of three human rights courts and bodies, namely the European Court for Human Rights, the Inter-American Court for Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee. Contributions cover the areas of freedom of expression (journalism and the media), right to privacy, freedom of assembly and freedom of association (political parties), and measure the extent of fragmentation of human rights protection. Moreover, the volume argues that, while the conflict of laws approach, favoured by the International Law Commission, might work in avoiding outright conflict in obligation, in practice it is not an approach that presents a viable research agenda when it comes to understanding the causes and consequences of institutional fragmentation. This is especially evident in areas like international human rights, where the possibility of a silent drift between the jurisprudence of the three courts is a real possibility. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Nordic Journal of Human Rights.

Link to Publisher ǀ £ 39.99