Impact of the Core International Human Rights Treaties on the Human Rights Situation in States: doctrinal approach

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The paper considers the problem of the realisation of the core international human rights treaties at the national level from a perspective of the importance of conducting doctrinal research in this area. The authors provide the analysis of the content of the study project “The Impact of the United Nations Human Rights Treaties on the Domestic Level”, launched in 2018 in continuation of the study carried out almost 20 years ago initiated by Ch. Heyns and F. Viljoen, professors of the Center for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria (South Africa), with the support of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), to study the impact of the six existing at that time core international human rights treaties on the human rights situation in 20 States, including the Russian Federation. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The research was based on a variety of study materials, including international treaties, outcome documents of the international conferences, recommendations of the human rights treaty bodies, doctrinal studies, national legislation and the court practice of the Russian Federation. The authors applied historical legal and comparative legal methods when comparing the contents of the 1999 research and the 2018 study project, tracking the developments in the universal human rights system since 1999 till today, comparing the current tendencies in the realisation of the human rights treaties in Russia with the conclusions of the previous research on Russia. The method of legal forecasting was used to determine the perspectives of the present and possible future research on the impact of human rights treaties in States. RESEARCH RESULTS. Demonstrating the developments in the universal human rights system and the dynamics in the realisation of the human rights treaties in Russia taken place since 1999, the authors examined the tasks of the new research they need to conduct as the successors of professors Yu. Kolosov and Yu. Reshetov and identified the specifics of the approach of the new study comparing to the previous one. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. The authors demonstrate the potential of the study to determine the measures to enhance the effectiveness of the human rights treaty body system within the ongoing process on its strengthening, including the 2020 UN comprehensive review of the progress achieved in this field. The paper points out the importance of expanding the research to more than 20 countries, already covered by the research, with a view of forming a comprehensive picture of the way in which the international human rights treaty system influences the situation of rights holders at local level, just where it really matters.