Binding Principles and Contested Concepts: The Principles of Equality, Indivisibility and Universality before the Human Rights Council

Zsolt Körtvélyesi, Balázs Majtényi, Péter Kállai

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapter

Abstract (may include machine translation)

The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) was established in 2006 as a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) 1 and replaced its predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights (CHR). The former Commission played an undeniable role in the history of international human rights protection, yet the body was criticised by many scholars, states and NGO representatives for various reasons, including the protection of regional interests and the lack of political will to hold influential human rights violators accountable. 2 Criticism led to the consensus that, for lack of credibility, 3 the Commission “should disappear”. 4
The Council’s task is to be the primary UN forum for discussing and mainstreaming human rights, setting standards, promoting development, monitoring implementation and intervening where needed. 5 An important development is the introduction of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) where states review each other’s human rights records and make recommendations that the responding state can note or accept.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEuropean Yearbook on Human Rights 2017
EditorsBenedek Wolfgang, C. Ketteman Matthias, Klaushofer Reinhard, Lukas Karin, Nowak Manfred
Place of PublicationWien
PublisherNeuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag (NWV)
Pages267-285
Number of pages19
ISBN (Print)9783708311661
StatePublished - 2017

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