Chapter 21. The extraterritorial application of international human rights law in occupied territory

Abstract

This chapter examines extraterritorial application of international human rights law. The analysis of this issue is carried out to the extent that it can shed crucial insight into the scope of application of international human rights law in occupied territories. The chapter presents some preliminary observations. First, the Human Rights Committee (HRC), in its General Comment No. 31, has stressed that the scope of jurisdiction within the meaning of Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) can encompass acts or omissions of agents or troops of a member state outside its territory. The chapter suggests that in contrast to the notion of jurisdiction under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the corresponding notion under the ICCPR, despite the travaux preparatoires, may go beyond a territorial locus. It presents the circumstances in which extraterritorial application of the ICCPR can be recognised.Keywords: European convention on human rights (ECHR); extraterritorial application; ICCPR; international human rights law; occupied territory