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1312. The Value of the European Court of Human Rights to the United Kingdom
- Author:
- Merris Amos
- Publication Date:
- 07-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- National debates concerning the appropriate role of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the United Kingdom (UK) recently intensified with the suggestion by the government that the UK might leave the European Convention on Human Rights system. It has been argued that a British Bill of Rights, to replace the current system of national human rights protection provided by the Human Rights Act 1998, would provide better protection than the ECtHR, making its role in the national system redundant. Claiming that the ECtHR is legitimate and has an impact that is usually illustrated by the transformative power of judgments more than 10 years’ old, have not provided a convincing answer to this claim. In this article, rather than legitimacy or impact, the value of the ECtHR to the objective of protecting human rights through law is assessed. Three different levels of value are identified from the relevant literature and then applied to the judgments of the Court concerning the UK from 2011 to 2015 to determine what has happened in practice. It is concluded that given that the UK government’s objective remains to protect human rights through law, although some types of value are now more relevant than others, overall the potential value of the Court to the UK in achieving this objective is still clearly evident.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, and Courts
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom and Europe
1313. The Responsibility to Protect beyond Borders in the Law of Nature and Nations
- Author:
- Luke Glanville
- Publication Date:
- 10-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- While histories of human rights have proliferated in recent decades, little attention has been given to the history of thinking about duties to protect these rights beyond sovereign borders. We have a good understanding of the history of duties of sovereign states to ensure the safety and well-being of their own citizens and of the right of other states to forcefully intervene when these duties are violated. But the story of the development of thinking about duties to assist and protect the vulnerable beyond borders remains to be told. This article defends the importance of excavating and examining past thinking about these duties. It then sketches key aspects of Western natural law thinking about such duties, from Francisco de Vitoria through to Immanuel Kant, claiming that such study holds the promise of exposing from where ideas that prevail in international law and politics have come and retrieving alternative ideas that have been long forgotten but that may reward renewed consideration. It concludes by briefly outlining how three such retrieved ideas might be of particular use for those seeking to push international law and politics in a more just direction today.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Sovereignty, History, Humanitarian Intervention, and Philosophy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Global Focus
1314. Feminist Strategy in International Law: Understanding Its Legal, Normative and Political Dimensions
- Author:
- Catherine O'Rourke
- Publication Date:
- 10-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- While international law has typically waxed and waned in feminist favours, contemporary feminist engagements reveal a strongly critical, reflective thrust about the costs of engaging international law and the quality of ostensible gains. To inform this reflection, this article draws on feminist scholarship in international law – and a specific feminist campaign for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security in Northern Ireland – to distil three distinct feminist understandings of international law that underpin both theory and advocacy. International law is understood, first, as a system of rules to which states are bound; second, as an avenue for the articulation of shared feminist values; and, third, as a political tool to advance feminist demands. The study finds that feminist doctrinalists, and those working within the institutions of international law, share concerns about the resolution’s legal deficiencies and the broader place of the Security Council within international law-making. These concerns, however, are largely remote for local feminist activists, who recognize in the resolution important political resources to support their mobilization, their alliances with others and, ultimately, it is hoped, their engagement with state actors. The article concludes that critical reflection on feminist strategy in international law is usefully informed by more deliberate consideration of its legal, political and normative dimensions as well as by an awareness that these dimensions will be differently weighted by differently situated feminist actors.
- Topic:
- International Law, United Nations, Women, and Feminism
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Northern Ireland
1315. Doris Leuthard, President of Switzerland
- Author:
- Doris Leuthard
- Publication Date:
- 09-2017
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- Her Excellency Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation, addresses the Columbia University World Leaders Forum in Low Library.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Development, Globalization, Human Rights, International Law, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Switzerland
1316. Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria
- Author:
- Alexander Van der Bellen
- Publication Date:
- 09-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- His Excellency Dr. Alexander Van der Bellen, Federal President of the Republic of Austria, addresses the Columbia University World Leaders Forum in Low Library.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Human Rights, International Cooperation, International Affairs, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- New York, Europe, Austria, and European Union
1317. Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of Croatia
- Author:
- Andre Plenković
- Publication Date:
- 09-2017
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- His Excellency Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, addresses the Columbia University World Leaders Forum at the Casa Italiana.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, International Affairs, European Union, and Brexit
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Croatia, United States of America, and New York
1318. Brexit -- What Does It Mean for Ireland?
- Author:
- John Bruton
- Publication Date:
- 05-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Transatlantic Relations
- Abstract:
- Testimony by CTR Distinguished Fellow and former Irish Prime Minister John Bruton at the Seanad Special Select Committee on the UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union on Thursday, April 27 2017.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, Border Control, European Union, and Brexit
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Europe, Ireland, and European Union
1319. Russia-China Relations and the West
- Author:
- Marcin Kaczmarski
- Publication Date:
- 03-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Transatlantic Relations
- Abstract:
- This paper is part of CTR's Working Paper Series: "Russia and the West: Reality Check." U.S. domination in global politics provided a powerful incentive for the post-Cold War rapprochement between Russia and China. The worsening of Russia’s relations with the West since 2014 made Moscow even more willing to offer significant concessions to Beijing. However, closer Russian-Chinese cooperation predates the Russian-Western crisis over Ukraine and reaches back to the 2008-2009 global economic crisis. Even the growing power asymmetry has not dissuaded Moscow from deepening its cooperation with China. This challenged widespread Western expectations that Russia would be eager to cooperate with the West in order to compensate for China’s increasing advantage. Hence, a potential improvement of Russian-Western relations is highly unlikely to result in the weakening of Russian-Chinese ties
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, Bilateral Relations, Trump, and Alliance
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, Europe, and United States of America
1320. Belarus-West Relations: The New Normal
- Author:
- Dzianis Melyantsou
- Publication Date:
- 03-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Transatlantic Relations
- Abstract:
- This paper is part of CTR's Working Paper Series: "Eastern Voices: Europe's East Faces an Unsettled West." The new geopolitical environment formed after the annexation of Crimea and the war in the Donbas, together with emerging threats and challenges, are pressing both Belarus and the West to revise their policies in the region as well as their relations with each other. In this new context, Belarus is seeking a more balanced foreign policy and, at least towards the Ukrainian crisis, a more neutral stance.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Diplomacy, International Trade and Finance, War, Territorial Disputes, Foreign Aid, Sanctions, and Geopolitics
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Ukraine, Belarus, Crimea, United States of America, and European Union