Regional Human Rights Tribunals (DP IB Global Politics: HL): Revision Note

Purpose and relation to IGOs

• The United Nations is often said to represent global governance

  • However, regional IGOs and other actors claim they have a direct understanding of their region’s issues, and are therefore better able to monitor and enforce human rights

• Many regional IGOs have their own documents outlining human rights

  • These are usually linked to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

  • Some have their own courts to enforce these rights, including

    • The Organisation of American States

    • European Union

    • African Union

The European Convention and Court of Justice

• The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was signed in Rome in 1950

  • It was created to make human rights legally enforceable in European states

• It is overseen by the Council of Europe (not the European Union), which is a separate organisation

  • All member states of the Council of Europe must follow the Convention

• Individuals can take cases to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) if they believe their rights have been violated

  • The ECtHR’s judgements are legally binding on member states, although enforcement depends on state compliance

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration

  • This means it is not legally binding

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

• The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by the United Nations to prosecute serious crimes committed during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s

  • It became one of the first major international war crimes tribunals since World War II and played an important role in developing global justice