International Human Rights Law
Background
In 1948 and in the aftermath of World War Two, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This was the first international document to consolidate the basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that should be enjoyed by everyone. Based on the principles of the declaration, a range of subsequent international human rights treaties have been adopted. These differ from the UDHR in that the Declaration has no legal effect. By ratifying the covenants and treaties, states undertake to adhere to certain conditions and to put into place domestic measures and legislation compatible with their treaty obligations and duties. Over time, the texts of a number of the treaties have been supplemented by Optional Protocols.
Ireland has ratified six of the international human rights conventions:
- the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) 1965;
- the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966;
- the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1966;
- the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 1979;
- the Convention against Torture (CAT) 1984;
- the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989.
It has yet to ratify:
- the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers (CMW) 1990;
- the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 2006;
The implementation of each of the conventions is overseen by a monitoring committee called a treaty body. The secretariat of these bodies is staffed by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The bodies carry out their function through the periodic reporting mechanism which provides for States to produce a report every few years detailing their compliance with the provisions of the conventions. In some cases, individual complaints and communications can be made to the treaty bodies relating to allegations of violations of particular conventions.
Ireland and the ICCPR
In July 2008, Ireland was reviewed for the third time by the UN Human Rights Committee, a group of eighteen international experts that monitors the implementation of the ICCPR. This Covenant sets out an extensive list of rights including the right to life; freedom from torture, seriously harm and inhuman treatment; the right to liberty and security; the right for detained persons to be treated with humanity and the right to a fair trial.
Ireland signed the ICCPR in 1973, ratified it in 1989 and was first examined by the UN Human Rights Committee in 1993 and again in 2000. The Irish Government produced a report detailing its compliance with the ICCPR for use during each of these examinations. The UN Human Rights Committee invites non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to submit their own independent reports and to lobby the Committee to highlight areas where Ireland is failing to meet its human rights obligations. Many of the concerns raised by NGOs are reflected in the recommendations in the UN Committees reports on Ireland under the ICCPR, showing the extent to which the Committee relies on the quality advice of NGOs.
The text of the treaties and the optional protocols as well as information on the treaty bodies are available at www.ohchr.org/
The UN has produced a handbook for civil society and its dealings with the organisation. It can be downloaded at the following address.
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/NgoHandbook/ngohandbook.pdf