International Human Rights Law - Case Study Example

International Human Rights Law - Rights of Women in the international community I. Introduction The protection of human rights has been traditionallya difficult task both in national and in the international communities. Moreover, it has been proved that certain categories of population tend to suffer more from the violation of their rights. In this context, the rights of women of all social levels have been disregarded and violated on a daily basis in the international community. The above violation refers not only to the political and social part of womens lives but also to their private relationships. Fenster (1999, 93) stated that the notions of public and private should be re-examined and re-defined in order to achieve a higher level of womens rights protection. It has also been found that reconceptualization of women, gender and development since the late 1970s has had an impact on human rights formulations; Feminists argue that it is not enough for human rights to be merely extended to women; abuses that stem from gender-based discrimination must be considered human rights violations; This redefinition of human rights standards entails shifting the focus from the public to the domestic sphere, where violations of women’s rights are most likely to take place; Moreover, by re-examining the notions of “public” and “private” in human rights discourse, one can better understand the significance of unequal opportunities for women in education, health and employment (Fenster, 1999, 93). II. Human rights in the international community Human rights are being violated daily around the world. The most common situation that a violation of the human rights occurs is that of the treatment of the foreignersi who are – usually – being differentiated in relation to the domestics of a state. The global development that characterizes our days has made the movement of persons a usual phenomenon. The establishment of the multinational enterprises – in association with their complex corporate governance - has created the need for constant movement and exchange of resources and capitalii. The transfer of their centers of production is usually followed by the relocation of hundreds of people who have then to adapt to a new working and living environment, sometimes not so friendly as the one they used to live (and vice versa). In the above context, the temporary retention of people for safety reason has been considered to be against the principles of law. According to R.K.M. Smith, the deprivation of a person’s liberty, can only be acceptable when there are serious reasons that impose the detention as the only suitable measure. In any case, the whole procedure has to be done in accordance with the relevant legal provisions’ (Smith, R., 2005, 240) The help of National Govermental Organizations to the resolution of the above problem could be proved valuable. More specifically, as OFlaherty (2002, 12) accepted the reporting procedure to a non-governmental organization can help the State to clarify the problem (when constructing an analytical report for the case) and perhaps come to a solution without the interference of the NGO. In case that the State itself cannot resolve the problem, then it can report it to an international body and in this way it will have the support and the advice of a team of international experts. III. Human rights of women - recognition and violations According to Devine et al. (1999, 66) rights are what individuals are entitled to, by virtue of being human beings. This is therefore a focus on the most basic elements of being human. A major concept for the examination and the analysis of the role and the content of human rights is the definition of private and public. Recently this distinction between public and private has been criticized by those who argue that human rights law should be brought to bear on the behavior of private actors in a more imaginative way. Feminists argue, for example, that the starting point of public liability inevitably makes human rights focus more on those abuses perpetrated against men (e.g., when dealt with by the police, a public body) than those perpetrated against women (e.g., domestic violence, which takes place in a private place and involves a private actor). More generally, in a globalized and fragmented world, private actors--from multinational corporations to militias--are in many respects as determinative of individuals rights as states. This shifts the balance away from the states direct liability for its own actions to its indirect liability for the actions of those within its jurisdiction (Devine et al., 1999, 68). The position of women in the international community has been for a long under thorough consideration. Specifically regarding the womens rights Cook (1994, 3) stated that international human rights law has not yet been applied effectively to redress the disadvantages and injustices experienced by women by reason only of their being women. In this sense, respect for human rights fails to be "universal"; The reasons for this general failure to enforce womens human rights are complex and vary from country to country They include lack of understanding of the systemic nature of the subordination of women, failure to recognize the need to characterize the subordination of women as a human rights violation, and lack of state practice to condemn discrimination against women. An issue that has been under discussion is the role and the participation of women in development. From a general view it could be stated that the participation of people is a necessary determinant of human rights in development. Participation is also part of citizen rights, the right to influence one’s life and the right to knowledge and involvement in determining the future of a spatial activity. Nevertheless, although participation is crucial, it is not sufficient to ensure women’s human rights in planning and development (Fenster, 1999, 12). This is especially expressed in the UN Declaration on the Right to Development. This Declaration announces development as the right of ‘every human person and all peoples…to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised’. When it comes to women’s human rights, many governments take a particularly restrictive view with regard to women’s equality and freedom to move, or their rights to have free access to resources, because women represent the reproduction of the family, the code of honour and modesty of a society and a nation. Thus, women’s human rights abuses are often justified in the name of cultural and moral codes. Through their clothing and demeanour, women and girls become visible and vulnerable embodiments of cultural symbols and codes. One such example is the restriction of women’s freedom to move in public because of cultural codes (Fenster, 1999, 15) Furthermore, the violation of women’s rights (especially of their human rights) is constant and extended in multiple levels. Ankenbrand (2002) examined the position women seeking asylum under the German Law. He present the claims of women that are found in this position and he come to the conclusion that although the revision of the existing law has been admitted as necessary from the relevant legal bodies, there is not a positive activity to that direction. IV. Legislation In UK, the Human Rights Act of 1998 has been introduced in order to protect the personal rights from violation. Towards this direction, a person has the option to issue a claim for money owed or damages in the county courts and the High Court in England and Walesiii. The situations that can create such a claim are: bad workmanship; damage to the personal property; road traffic accidents; personal injury; goods not supplied and faulty goods. In all the above cases it is very useful that the person has collected all the necessary evidence and seek advice on how best to prepare his claim in order to achieve the best possible resultiv. More specifically, according to article 2 of the Human Rights Act of 1998 ‘Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by the law’ (article 2, par.1). This article presents the general borders of the legislation aims and creates an obligation for the authorities and the individuals to respect a person’s life and existence. The articles that follow this fundamental provision are being addressed towards particular rights and freedoms of a person, like the right to liberty and security (article 5), the right to a fair trial (article 6), the right to respect for private and family life (article 8), the freedom of thought, conscience and religion (article 9), the freedom of expression (article 10), the freedom of assembly and association (article 11), the right to an effective remedy (article 13) and so onv. The European Union has recognized the human rights through many conventionsvi and orders that have been signed from its members and which provide a high level of protection to those who turn to its court in cases of violations of their rights. There are also many relevant cases (from the European Court of Justice) which have created a strong judicial basis for the citizens of the European Union that have suffered violation of their rights. In the level of European Union, the basic legislation concerning the human rights is the European Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of 1948. The above convention has been amended by a series of protocols (no. 4, 6, 7, 11 and 12) and it presents the basic rules on which the national legislations of the member states should be adapted. The article 2 of the above Convention recognizes the right to life for every person and the following articles are covering the rest of the human rights’ areas of application, such as: the liberty (article 5), the private and family life (article 8), the thought, the conscience and the religion (article 9), the expression (article 10) and so on. IV. Conclusion The need of co-operation and mutual development has lead the countries of the international community to create a legislative net which would have as basic task the regulation of the relationships between them. At a next level, the bodies that were created to handle these provisions and to supervise their application faced the problem of the absence of a suitable legal environment that could guarantee and protect their operation. The only solution seemed to be the extension of the law provisions that regulated the relationships between the States to these international bodies. In this way, the international law was constructed and came into force for every issue that presented elements of international character. The role of international bodies and movements, like the International Women’s Rights Action Watch (Fenster, 1997, 7) which was set up in 1986 could be proved as valuable towards the securization of womens rights mostly through the monitoring of every relevant effort. References Ankenbrand, (2002), ‘Refugee Women under German Asylum Law’, International Journal of Refugee Law, 14(45) Bhabha, (2002), ‘Demography and Rights: Women, Children and Access to Asylum’, International Journal of Refugee Law, 16(227) Blecher, (2004) ‘Above and Beyond the Law’, Business and Society Review, 109:4, 479-492 Cook, (1994). Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia Devine, Hansen, Poole, Wilde, (1999). Human Rights: The Essential Reference Oryx Press. Phoenix Dixon, ‘Textbook on International Law’, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 5th edition, 2005 Fenster (1999). Gender, Planning and Human Rights. Routledge. London Hammond, (2005) ‘Workplace Human Rights’, Canadian Manager, Spring 2005, 26-28 Hilton, (2005) ‘The duties of citizens, the rights of consumers’, Consumer Policy Review, Vol. 15, No.1, 6-12 McGoldrick, (2004), ‘The interface between public emergency powers and international law’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2.2(380) O’ Flaherty, ‘Human Rights and the UN: Practice before the Treaty Bodies’, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002 O’Ferrall, G. M., (2005), ‘Ancillary Relief, Equitable Interests and Criminal Confiscation Orders’, Family Law, 35 (227) Smith, ‘International Human Rights’, 2nd edition, 2005 Steiner, Alston, ‘International Human Rights in Context’, Routledge, New York, 2000 B. CASES UK 14 [2005], R (on the application of Greenfield (FC)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, House of Lords 19 [2005], R (on the application of Hoxha) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; R (on the application of B) v Secretary of State for the Home Department 38 [2005], ID and others v Home Office, Court of Appeal, Civil Division 1494 [2005], R (on the application of Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd) v Director of Serious Fraud Office (Secretary of State for the Home Department and another, interested parties), Court of Appeal, Civil Division 1580 [2004], R (on the application of Trailer and Marina (Levin) Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and another, Court of Appeal, Civil Division 1658 [2004], R (on the application of Clays Lane Housing Co-Operative Limited) v The Housing Corporation, Court of Appeal, Civil Division 1748 [2004], Malcolm v Benedict Mackenzie (A firm) and Another, Court of Appeal, Civil Division 2866 [2004], W v Westminster City Council and Others, Queen’s Bench Division EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE C-17/98, Emesa Sugar (Free Zone) NV v. Aruba C-112/98, Mannesmannrohren-Werke AG v. Commission of the European Communities C-274/99, Bernard Connolly v. Commission of the European Communities T-9/99, HFB Holding fur Fernwarmetechnik Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co KG and Others v. Commission of the European Communities C. Statutes Constitutional Reform Act 2005 Appropriation Act 2005 Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 The Human Rights Act 1998 European Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental freedoms, securing certain rights and freedoms other than those already included in the convention and in the first protocol thereto, as amended by protocol No. 11 Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental freedoms concerning the abolition of the death penalty, as amended by protocol No. 11 Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental freedoms, as amended by protocol No. 11 Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental freedoms Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000/C 364/01) Read More