Introduction to Basic Terminology
Human Rights
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. Everyone is equally entitled to human rights without discrimination. Human rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.
Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the form of treaties, customary international law, general principles and other sources of international law.
International Bill of Human Rights
A term referring to the core UN human rights treaties, consisting of:
· Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1946 (UNDR)
· International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 (ICESCR)
· International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 (ICCPR)
· Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
· Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the abolition of the death penalty (included in the definition prepared by OHCHR)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were born at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges facing our world.
The 17 SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which started a global effort in 2000 to tackle the indignity of poverty. The MDGs established measurable, universally-agreed objectives for tackling extreme poverty and hunger, preventing deadly diseases, and expanding primary education to all children, among other development priorities. There are 169 Targets for the 17 SDGs.
International law
Traditionally, international law is defined as “the set of rules governing the relations between States”. Today, it is well accepted that international law is a set of rules governing:
· the relations between States
· the relations between States and international organizations
· the relations between States, international organizations and persons
Thus, international law has developed from being the law of international co-existence to becoming the international law of co-operation.
Sources of international law are:
· custom
· treaty
· “general principles of law recognized by civilized nations”
Treaties
Treaties are binding legal agreements under international law, in several ways similar to contracts, which are binding legal agreements under domestic law. They may be bilateral (between two states, e.g. Treaties of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation); multilateral (between more than two States, e.g. the Charter of the United Nations); or regional (between several States in a region e.g. the Charters of ASEAN or of the European Union).
The basis of all treaty obligations is the sovereign consent of the people expressed through their Governments.
Negotiation and signing
Treaties are the product of international negotiations between duly authorized representatives of Governments. International law requires that governments consult with and ascertain the wishes of their people, and defend and protect their legitimate interests and rights throughout such process of negotiation. Once agreement is reached on the text of a treaty, it is adopted formally, usually through a process of signing.
Ratification
Ratification is the formal act of a State binding itself to the obligations, rights and privileges contained in a treaty. Government ratification of a treaty at the international level is followed by appropriate action by the relevant national authorities to make such treaty the binding law of the country.
Accession
Even if a country has not participated in the negotiations and signing of a treaty, it can nevertheless agree be bound by it. Such an act is technically known as “accession”.
Reservations
When ratifying or acceding to a treaty, a State Party may enter a reservation making a particular provision of the treaty not binding on itself. But such a reservation cannot be made to any of the core provisions of the treaty, such that it would defeat the very purpose of the treaty. Moreover, States which adopted the Vienna Declaration on Human Rights and Development have agreed to review all existing reservations they have made to human rights treaties with a view to removing them.
Optional Protocol
This is a separate addition to a treaty which States are free to choose to ratify or not. In the past, optional protocols have provided for an individual complaints procedure, or dealt with a specific issue like the death penalty.
National incorporation
The process of making the terms of a treaty the binding law of a country through:
· legislative action;
· executive action;
· judicial action.
Implementation
National incorporation is the first step necessary for implementation, but for the law to assume meaning and significance in day-to-day life, several other implementing actions need to be taken:
· Awareness-raising to promote adherence and self-compliance;
· Programmes of implementation by designated Ministries and government agencies;
· Law enforcement, when the law is being flouted and not complied with, by taking actions to:
o uphold and enforce the law
o stop the non-compliance or breach
o sanction the violator
o provide remedies to those affected
Monitoring
Monitoring is the process for determining whether a law is being followed and implemented. Monitoring is an important aspect of the oversight function of governance.
Monitoring can relate to:
· monitoring of implementation of law;
· monitoring of violations of laws and human rights;
· monitoring of progress in the implementation of laws and in the realization of human rights.
International law requires that the process of monitoring should be transparent, non-discriminatory and participatory. International law also requires that the results/findings of monitoring activities should be accessible and in the public domain.
27th Annual Human Rights & People’s Diplomacy Training Program Timor-Leste