Soft Law and the Protection of Vulnerable Migrants

Since the 1980s, an increasing number of people have crossed international borders outside of regularized migration channels, whether by land, air or sea. Policy debates on these kinds of movements have generally focused on security to the neglect of a focus on rights. In a range of situations, though, irregular migrants, who fall outside of the protection offered by international refugee law and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), may have protection needs and, in some cases, an entitlement to protection under international human rights law. Such protection needs may result from conditions in the country of origin or as a result of circumstances in the host or transit countries. However, this article argues that despite the existence of international human rights norms that should, in theory, protect such people, there remains a fundamental normative and institutional gap in the international system. Rather than requiring new hard law treaties to fill the gap, the article argues that a “soft law” framework should be developed to ensure the protection of vulnerable irregular migrants, based on two core elements: first, the consolidation and application of existing international human rights norm into sets of guiding principles for different groups of vulnerable irregular migrants; and second, improved mechanisms for inter-agency collaboration to ensure implementation of these norms and principles. This article suggests that learning from the precedent of developing the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and its corresponding institutional framework can be particularly instructive in this regard

LGBT Issues and Social Work Responses International Standards and Practice Principles

近年、ソーシャルワークにおける国際的な諸基準は性の多様性について明確な立場を示しているが、日本の専門職界においてLGBTに関する取り組みはまだ少ない。本稿は、日本を含めて性的マイノリティの実態の把握と関連基準の比較を目的とする。この目的を達成するために、本稿は4部構成となっている。 第一部は、性の多様性をソーシャルワークにおいてどのように理解すれば良いかについて論じ、クライエントの性をアセスメントするために、身体・心理・社会・文化的・スピリチュアルな枠組みを採用している。第二部は、世界中と日本のLGBTについて入手可能な国内外の量的データをまとめている。第三部は、性の多様性に関するソーシャルワークの専門的な基準に係る国内外の文書を比較している。第四部は、理論的モデルのレビューに基づき、LGBTに特化して、反差別的及び文化的力量アプローチに基盤をおいたソーシャルワークの原則を整理している

Human Rights in Global Health Governance

Human rights frame global health governance. In codifying a normative foundation for global governance in the aftermath of World War II, states came together under the auspices of an emergent United Nations (UN) to develop human rights under international law. Human rights law, establishing international norms to advance global justice, has thereby become a universally accepted framework for global health, and the past seventy years have witnessed an evolution of international human rights law to define the highest attainable standard of health. Conceptualizing health disparities as rights violations, these health-related human rights offer universal standards to frame government responsibilities for the progressive realization of health and facilitate legal accountability for health policy. Where globalizing forces have created an imperative for global governance institutions to meet an expanding set of global health challenges, human rights have come to guide institutions of global health governance.As rights-based approaches have become fundamental to global health governance, the proliferation of global governance institutions has warranted a wider sharing of human rights responsibilities for health beyond the UN human rights system. Institutions of global governance are not only seen as instrumental to the development of international human rights law but also as essential to assuring the implementation of rights-based obligations in a rapidly globalizing world. Over the past twenty-five years, the UN has sought to formalize these human rights implementation responsibilities across the entire global governance system. Translating international law into organizational action, global governance institutions seek to “mainstream” human rights across their policies, programs, and practices. To understand the ways in which human rights are realized in global health, this Special Issue of Global Health Governance examines the role of global health governance institutions in structuring the implementation of human rights for public health

Knowledge Summary 23: Human Rights & Accountability

Progress has been made in reducing maternal and child mortality, yet millions continue to die from preventable causes. These deaths represent an accountability challenge and a major concern shared by both the health and human rights communities. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) commit to reducing these deaths. Powerful complementarities exist between MDGs and human rights.1 The MDGs generate attention, mobilise resources and contribute technical health monitoring approaches. Human rights offer a fundamental emphasis on accountability, systematic and sustained attention to inequities and a legal grounding of commitments. This knowledge summary explores human rights accountability systems at community, country, regional and international levels and the potential synergies for achieving both human rights and public health goals including, and beyond, the MDGs

Human Rights for Health across the United Nations

The United Nations (UN) plays a central role in realizing human rights to advance global health. Looking beyond state obligations, the UN has called on all its specialized agencies to mainstream human rights across all their activities. With globalization compelling these UN institutions to meet an expanding set of global challenges to underlying determinants of health, human rights are guiding these international organizations in addressing public health. These international organizations within the UN system are actively engaged in implementing health-related human rights—in both their mission and their actions to carry out that mission. Through this mainstreaming of human rights, global health institutions have embraced human rights treaty obligations as a framework for global governance. Given the dramatic development of human rights law through the UN and the parallel proliferation of UN institutions devoted to global health and development, there arises an imperative to understand the implementation of human rights in global health governance. This special section analyzes the evolving UN focus on health and human rights in global governance, examining an expansive set of UN institutions that employ human rights in responding to public health challenges in a rapidly globalizing world. To understand the ways in which human rights are implemented, this special section examines the role of institutions across the UN system in the realization of human rights for public health. Drawing from our recent Oxford University Press volume on Human Rights in Global Health: Rights-Based Governance for a Globalizing World, this special section brings together several of the contributors to analyze ongoing efforts to reform UN institutions to mainstream human rights. These contributors—from academia, nongovernmental organizations, and the UN system—explore (1) the foundations of human rights as a framework for global governance, (2) the work of UN organizations across a range of health-related human rights, (3) the influence of rights-based economic governance on public health, and (4) the advancement of health through UN human rights institutions. Looking beyond the chapters in Human Rights in Global Health, this special section examines how international institutions are changing to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with sweeping implications for the mainstreaming of human rights for health across the UN

Unresolved Questions in the Bill of Rights of the New Iraqi Constitution: How Will the Clash Between Human Rights and Islamic Law Be Reconciled in Future Legislative Enactments and Judicial Interpretations?

This Article endeavors to answer the question, are the provisions on “human rights” and “Islamic Law” in the new Iraqi constitution compatible? The new Iraqi Constitution recognizes the concept of “human rights” in accordance with Iraq\u27s international obligations, establishes an independent “Supreme Commission for Human Rights,” limits the work of governmental intelligence agencies in accordance with human rights, and prohibits tribal customs that contradict human rights. At the same time, the Constitution makes some references to Islamic Shari\u27ah: it establishes Islam as the official religion of the State, recognizes Islam as a source of legislation, recognizes Iraq as a part of the Muslim world, guarantees the Islamic identity of its majority, allows Iraqis to choose their personal status law according to Islamic Law, and requires that the Federal Supreme Court contain jurists of Islamic Law. This Article endeavours to answer the question by briefly examining the various provisions of the Iraqi Constitution that cover the rights of the Iraqi people