Regional Judicial Bodies Research Articles

The Human Rights-Based Constitutionalization of Global Environmental Protection: A Framework for Action and Understanding

Abstract The underlying premise of a global constitutional order is dictated by the singular, unitary nature of the environment, a deeply interdependent whole. This premise aside, international environmental law, as we know it today, is far from constituting an international constitutional order. Rather, it presents a broad set of principles and mixed legal and political commitments of states dispersed in a myriad of international instruments possessing varying degrees of formality, legal status, scope of regulation, and effect. Its unparalleled dispersion, organizational and regulatory flexibility, and overall indeterminate features of normative content and procedure are neither improbable nor inconceivable for a relatively new genre of international legal regulation, namely the environment. Simply put, a consolidated international legal order as it ordinarily exists in other arenas is missing in the case of the environment. In shaping its contents and effects, a new institutional ally is found in national and regional judicial bodies, which instead rely on human rights to ground their decisions in pursuit of climate goals and aspirations. The ensuing result is that framing the order that will govern the global environmental change, resort must be made to the models already fashioned by the practice of national and regional systems. Ultimately, this article proposes the principal parameters of a constitutional order for the environment.

Bridging the Gaps Between Human Rights and Climate Governance at the International and Regional Judicial Spheres

Climate litigation underscores the critical role of judicial systems in addressing the legal complexities that emanate from global climate governance. The lead-up to and the aftermath of the Paris Agreement saw the emergence of climate litigation with claims encompassing a human rights dominance. Climate litigation serves as a critical tool that not only exposes the deficiencies within the existing international climate change regime, but also sheds light on the pressing human rights issues arising from the widespread effects of climate change. This article examines the value and effectiveness of climate litigation in enhancing the connection between climate change impacts and the protection of human rights. This article emphasises the role of the international and regional judicial bodies in orchestrating the gaps and overlaps in the human rights and climate change regimes.

International Legal Regulation of the Principle of Non-Discrimination in the Field of Protection of the Rights of Person s With Disabilities

Problem setting. Opposing discrimination and ensuring equality for all individuals is one of the most important responsibilities of every democratic, rule-of-law state. Legal regulations regarding these issues are enshrined in numerous provisions not only in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but also in regional legal acts Analysis of recent researches and publications. Because of the importance of ensuring equality and prevention of discrimination of people with disabilities this problem was analyzed by many foreign authors, including D. L. Hosking, S. Charitakis, L. Waddington, Sh. Quinlivan and others. Domestic lawyers such as: O. Melnyk, S. Vavzhenchuk, L. Susharnyk and others also worked on this topic but only in some areas, so it didn’t get enough attention. Target of the research is to analyze the characteristics and compare the anti-discrimination provisions regarding persons with disabilities at both the universal and regional levels, while providing examples of such regulation at the national level. Article’s main body. The article focuses on the analysis of international legal acts of the United Nations, Council of Europe, and the European Union in the field of combating discrimination against persons with disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the main document that serves as a reference point for all other acts, although it has a more programmatic character and requires further implementation steps. The author notes that at the regional level, there are successful examples of further development and clarification of the Convention’s provisions, including a clear division and characterization of types of discrimination, which is not present in the Convention. The author also emphasizes the important role that regional judicial bodies (the ECHR and the EU Court) play in protecting persons with disabilities from discrimination, as they carry out both interpretative and legal gap-filling functions through their practice. Сonclusions and prospects for the development. Since the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities occupies a central place in the system of international legal acts in the field of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, both individual states and the Council of Europe with the European Union use it as a basis for developing their own normative acts on the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, including regarding ensuring equality and non-discrimination. At the same time, it should be pointed out the existence of positive practices in this direction and not only the implementation, but also the development of the provisions of the Convention, such as the Council of the EU Directive on Employment Discrimination or the case law of the ECHR in this area. The author highlights that one of the most important elements of fighting discrimination in the context of disability is the imposition by the Convention of positive obligations on state parties to combat it, the implementation of which is already reflected in some normative acts.

International legal regulation of countering maritime piracy

The relevance of the study is due to the need to actively combat piracy at sea. The purpose of the scientific article is to analyze the international legal regulation of countering maritime piracy. The article examines the historical prerequisites for the formation of international legal acts, examines current international legal acts related to the issue of regulation of countering maritime piracy. The author also analyzes regional agreements that coordinate the actions of states in the field of countering maritime piracy. The object of the study is interstate relations in the field of international legal regulation of countering maritime piracy. The subject of the study is international legal acts of a universal and regional nature aimed at countering maritime piracy. The methodological foundations of the research include such general scientific methods of cognition as abstraction, analysis, generalization, as well as private scientific research methods, including: formal legal, comparative legal, historical legal, as well as the method of interpretation of legal norms. The normative and legal basis of the study is international legal acts adopted under the auspices of the UN and IMO, including resolutions of the UN General Assembly, as well as the IMO Assembly related to countering maritime piracy. The novelty of the research lies in the conclusions made by the author in the work. As a result of the conducted research, the author argues for the need to adopt a specialized international legal act. This document should reflect a unified approach in understanding the term "piracy", while regulating in detail the mechanisms that can be used by the State to combat it, as well as to a greater extent coordinate the actions of States. The article also notes the need to form regional judicial bodies, determine the order of their formation and activities by analyzing the regional level of countering piracy. The powers of these judicial bodies will include the consideration and resolution of cases related to maritime piracy.

The Relationship between Institutional Design and the Efficiency of a Jurisdiction

Regional judicial bodies all serve to protect, interpret, and develop the law of the community in which they are established. While they share these common objectives, differences in admissibility, procedure rules, and jurisdiction can be noted. This study aims to shed light on differences in the design of jurisdictions; specifically, it explores whether they impact the efficiency of such courts. Our hypothesis is that institutional design can be used to fix issues – such as enforcement – that some Courts of Justice face. To test this theory, the study focuses on the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States. Using rational design theory, the study of the Court’s case law, its history, and empirical observations, we found that the particularities in admissibility and procedural rules, as well as the scope of the Court’s jurisdiction, were established to bypass some issues linked to the lack of access to justice and weak rule of law in the area. The innovative institutional design allowed the court to be more efficient and helped to establish it as an alternative to national courts for citizens, which in turn promoted the rule of law in the region. However, some problems were left unsolved, and the Court today again faces issues it had managed to avoid in the past. This study concludes that institutional design can serve to create a more efficient judicial body, especially in complex regions. However, there is a risk of only observing short term effects if the adjustments made do not maintain a certain institutional equilibrium.

Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in African Regional Economic Communities: Lessons and New Developments

Abstract African regional trade agreements often provide for dispute settlement mechanisms and procedures that should be followed. They also establish judicial bodies or tribunals for the respective African Regional Economic Communities. Despite the existence of judicial bodies, African governments do not usually litigate against each other on trade-related disputes. However, the few cases adjudicated by the regional judicial bodies are insightful of how contemporary trade disputes shape the development of community law. With reference to case law, this article presents lessons from regional judicial bodies. Notwithstanding the lessons learnt, there are challenges too. In response to the challenges, new developments on the continent, adopted through the African Continental Free Trade Area signal a move towards respecting rules-based trade through ensuring legal predictability and certainty for trade dispute settlement. Thus, this article will also provide a detailed analysis of the dispute settlement mechanism under the African Continental Free Trade Area, a system akin to World Trade Organisation.

From the Establishment of the Court of Justice of the African Union to Malabo Protocol: The Defies to the Regional Judicial Mode of Protection of Human Rights

The judicial method of dispute resolution has aroused in Africa countless turnarounds of positions, from rejection to acceptance, from construction to destruction, to allow its transformation. It seems to have recently stabilized in the figure of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, merging the two existing regional judicial bodies. It is already known to us that the two Tribunals have two main pre-defined functions, one that deals with the resolution of conflicts between States of the continent and the other on the protection of human rights, which are quite different roles. So, in this article, we analyze all impediments of the judicial system of African human rights to answer the question of whether it is best for African human rights to keep the tribunals separate, regardless of the desire to reduce costs or merger is better to ensure more effectively the protection of human rights?

The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Past, Present and Future

AbstractThis article traces a genealogy of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) and examines the charter's overall implementation. While there has always been a struggle between competing views of how to ensure more or less continental accountability for norms related to democratic governance in Africa, enforcement by the African Union (AU) has definitively become more robust since the ACDEG's adoption. The article argues that this development is observable in three trends: continental legalization, technocratization and judicialization of politics. It evaluates the growth of normative commitments in the field of democracy, elections and governance and their increasing consolidation into binding legal treaties; explores the increasing reliance on AU technical assistance in the implementation and interpretation of these instruments; and assesses the expanding role of continental and regional judicial bodies in enforcing commitments to democracy. Building upon a better understanding of these trends, the article identifies key contextual factors that will shape the ACDEG's future implementation.

A Tale of Convergence? Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation in Regional Human Rights Bodies and the Human Rights Committee

ABSTRACTThe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the regional human rights conventions do not explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, or provide the right to marry and have a family for same-sex couples, thus leaving an open margin of interpretation to their judicial and quasi-judicial enforcement bodies. However, regional courts and the Human Rights Committee (HRC) jurisprudence seems to have followed a path of convergence rather than fragmentation. This article will analyse the case-law of the regional judicial bodies and of the HRC on the matter through the lens of the prohibition of discrimination, assessing how such convergence has been reached and evaluating its nature. The analysis will reveal that beneath a seeming trend of convergence in the case outcomes, there are signs of a strong point of divergence and many threats of future fragmentation. In particular, there is a deep contrast between the European and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in terms of prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation. Moreover, the convergence reached among regional human rights bodies and the HRC hides vague and highly debated concepts and definitions on sensitive topics like marriage and adoption.

Governance, Peace and Human Rights Violations in Africa: Addressing the Application of the Right to Self-Determination in Post-Independence Africa

Abstract Recent claims of self-determination in post-independence Africa have put pressure on African regional judicial bodies to define the scope of this right. This article examines governance, peace and human rights violation issues in the context of the application of the right to self-determination in post-independence Africa. It scrutinizes the ruling by the African Commission in Katangese Peoples Congress v. Zaire, and argues that this ruling exhibits the African Commission’s encouraging view of self-determination under the African Charter, and the likely recognition of a right to an autonomy regime in post-independence Africa. The article maintains that many of the legal issues in Katanga will likely be raised again, either before the African Commission or the African Court, due to recent and increased claims of self-determination by groups within African states. It examines whether the recognition of a right to autonomy regime could have positive impact on good governance, peace and development in Africa.

The European Community’s Anti-Dumping Policy: The Quest for Enhanced Predictability, Rationality, European Solidarity and Legitimacy

I predict the Union of the people of Europe one day will come when you England, when you France, when you Germany, all of you nations of the continent without losing your own distinctive abilities and without losing your glorious individuality, will join together in a higher body and you will find European Brotherhood. Victor Hugo The interface between trade and competition has long been the focus of scholarship. Its international dimension has in recent years increasingly attracted the attention of commentators, international organisations in general and the European Community (EC) in particular, multilateral and regional judicial bodies, as well as nongovernmental organisations. This article analyses one dimension of this interface, namely the EC Anti-Dumping (AD) Policy directed at non-European dumped goods, and its relationship with the EC Competition Policy.

The European Community’s Anti-Dumping Policy: The Quest for Enhanced Predictability, Rationality, European Solidarity and Legitimacy

I predict the Union of the people of Europe one day will come when you England, when you France, when you Germany, all of you nations of the continent without losing your own distinctive abilities and without losing your glorious individuality, will join together in a higher body and you will find European Brotherhood. Victor HugoThe interface between trade and competition has long been the focus of scholarship. Its international dimension has in recent years increasingly attracted the attention of commentators, international organisations in general and the European Community (EC) in particular, multilateral and regional judicial bodies, as well as nongovernmental organisations. This article analyses one dimension of this interface, namely the EC Anti-Dumping (AD) Policy directed at non-European dumped goods, and its relationship with the EC Competition Policy.