1,721,164 research outputs found
Rethinking civil liberties in a counter-terrorism world
No full textThis opinion piece argues that the subject of civil liberties has got where it is today by creative exploitation of the pressures that result from three paradoxes that lie at its heart, relating to: national security, democracy, and political violence. The author proposes ways in which progressive vigour can be restored to civil liberties to sustain its radical dimensions, even in the face of an antagonistic anti-terrorism narrative. The author considers these ideas further in his forthcoming book Civil Liberties (Clarendon Press, Oxford, to be published September 2007)
European civil liberties and the European Convention on Human Rights: a comparative study
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The Human Rights Act: an academic sceptic changes his mind but not his heart
No full textExplains why the author has changed the negative position on the Human Rights Act 1998 he held during the 1990s and is now opposed to its repeal. Outlines the reasons why he has changed his opinion to favour the Act. Considers the practical application of the Act, focusing on the use of declarations of incompatibility. Examines the positive role of the judiciary in respect of the Act, noting that numerous challenges were made under the Act in terrorism-related cases. Comments on areas in which the Act has not fared as well
The meanings of rights : the philosophy and social theory of human rights
No full textDoes the apparent victory, universality and ubiquity of the idea of rights indicate that such rights have transcended all conflicts of interests and moved beyond the presumption that it is the clash of ideas that drives culture? Or has the rhetorical triumph of rights not been replicated in reality? The contributors to this book answer these questions in the context of an increasing wealth gap between the metropolitan elites and the rest, a chasm in income and chances between the rich and the poor, and walls which divide the comfortable middle classes from the 'underclass'. Why do these inequalities persist in our supposed human rights-abiding societies? In seeking to address the foundations, genealogies, meaning and impact of rights, this book captures some of the energy, breadth, power and paradoxes that make deployment of the language of human rights such an essential but changeable part of so many of our contemporary discourses
Climate justice: the claim of the past
No full textThis synthetic appraisal of the collection of papers in this issue argues that historical injustice saturates the problem of climate change. Those most vulnerable to climate change today are largely those who already lack resources – who have been on the wrong end of colonial history, or who have been globalization’s losers, or who have suffered neglect, exclusion or simple rapacity at the hands of their own governments. They are those who have benefitted little or not at all from a carbon-intensive global economy, but who have long suffered its side effects – resource stripping, food price spikes, impoverishment and now the ravages of climate change. Following the other authors in this issue – and examining human rights law, trade law and the overarching ideal of the rule of law – the paper notes that the particular form taken by law in international and transnational affairs, having largely followed the historical progress of industrialism, colonialism and globalization, is peculiarly ill-suited to the task of addressing this vulnerability
Reconstituting the universal: human rights as a regional idea
No full textHuman rights are considered one of the big ideas of the early twenty-first century. This book presents in an authoritative and readable form the variety of platforms on which human rights law is practiced today, reflecting also on the dynamic inter-relationships that exist between these various levels. The collection has a critical edge. The chapters engage with how human rights law has developed in its various subfields, what (if anything) has been achieved and at what cost, in terms of expected or produced unexpected side-effects. The authors pass judgment about the consistency, efficacy and success of human rights law (set against the standards of the field itself or other external goals). Written by world-class academics, this Companion will be essential reading for students and scholars of human rights law
States of denial: what the search for a UK Bill of Rights tells us about human rights protection today
Full text linkThe drive by the Conservative Party to dismantle human rights protection in the United Kingdom has found a new focus recently in the country’s planned withdrawal from the European Union, and (it is said therefore to follow) the removal of the Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights from domestic law. This is not to say that the Party’s old enemy the Human Rights Act has been embraced. This Opinion piece assesses the continuing push for a UK bill of rights, a project that is likely, after Brexit, to return to centre stage. The author sees in the plan an indirect move towards the restriction of rights within Britain and in particular the withdrawal of rights protection from unpopular groups. For this reason he argues that the initiative should be resisted, however attractive the notion of a British bill of rights might seem to some to be
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