Human Rights, Culture and the Rule of Law

Human Rights, Culture and the Rule of Law PDF Author: Jessica Almqvist
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1847310044
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
This new book examines the relationship between culture and respect for human rights. It departs from the oft-made assumption that culture is closely linked to ideas about community. Instead, it reveals culture as a quality possessed by the individual with a serious impact on her ability to enjoy the rights and freedoms as recognised in international human rights law in meaningful and effective ways. This understanding redirects attention towards a range of issues that have long been marginalised, but which warrant a central place in human rights research and on the international human rights agenda. Special attention is given to the circumstances induced by cultural differences between people and the laws by which they are expected to live. The circumstances are created by differing tools, know-how and skills (cultural equipment), diverse settlements on matters that are ultimately indifferent from the standpoint of cosmopolitan moral law (adiaphora), and conflicts having their source in conflicting doctrinesethical, religious and philosophicaladdressing deep questions about the ultimate purpose of human life (comprehensive doctrines). Each of the circumstances shifts the focus with the aim of securing effective and adequate protection of individual freedom, as societies become increasingly diversified in cultural terms and issues arise of access to laws and public institutions, exemption from legal obligations for reasons of conscience, fair resolution of conflicts having their source in differing ethical, religious and philosophical outlooks, and, excuse for breach of law in case of involuntary ignorance.

Human Rights, Culture and the Rule of Law

Human Rights, Culture and the Rule of Law PDF Author: Jessica Almqvist
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1847310044
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book

Book Description
This new book examines the relationship between culture and respect for human rights. It departs from the oft-made assumption that culture is closely linked to ideas about community. Instead, it reveals culture as a quality possessed by the individual with a serious impact on her ability to enjoy the rights and freedoms as recognised in international human rights law in meaningful and effective ways. This understanding redirects attention towards a range of issues that have long been marginalised, but which warrant a central place in human rights research and on the international human rights agenda. Special attention is given to the circumstances induced by cultural differences between people and the laws by which they are expected to live. The circumstances are created by differing tools, know-how and skills (cultural equipment), diverse settlements on matters that are ultimately indifferent from the standpoint of cosmopolitan moral law (adiaphora), and conflicts having their source in conflicting doctrinesethical, religious and philosophicaladdressing deep questions about the ultimate purpose of human life (comprehensive doctrines). Each of the circumstances shifts the focus with the aim of securing effective and adequate protection of individual freedom, as societies become increasingly diversified in cultural terms and issues arise of access to laws and public institutions, exemption from legal obligations for reasons of conscience, fair resolution of conflicts having their source in differing ethical, religious and philosophical outlooks, and, excuse for breach of law in case of involuntary ignorance.

The Human Rights Culture

The Human Rights Culture PDF Author: Lawrence Meir Friedman
Publisher: Quid Pro Books
ISBN: 1610270738
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
Lawrence M. Friedman's newest book explores the sheer phenomenon of a near-global arc favoring the idea, and sometimes even the practice, of human rights. Not the usual legal or philosophical examination of rights, this book instead asks: Why is it--as a social and historical matter--that rights discourse is so prevalent and compelling to the current world?"Reams of books and articles have been written about human rights, but THE HUMAN RIGHTS CULTURE is unique. It is the first comprehensive, sociological study of human rights in the contemporary period. With his characteristic erudition and graceful style, Lawrence Friedman addresses all the central topics: women's rights, minority rights, privacy, social rights, cultural rights, the role of courts, whether human rights are universal, and much more. This surprisingly compact book presents a balanced discussion of each issue, filled with fascinating details and examples. Friedman's core argument is that the recent rise of human rights discourse around the globe is the product of modernity--in particular the spread of the cultural belief that people are unique individuals entitled to respect and the opportunity to flourish. This terrific book will be informative not only to human rights experts and practitioners but also to people who wish to read a clear and sophisticated introduction to the field." -- Brian Z. Tamanaha, Professor of Law, Washington UniversityQuality ebook formatting from Quid Pro Books features active Contents, linked footnotes, linked textual cross-references, and active URLs in references. Professor Friedman's latest book joins Quid Pro's Contemporary Society Series.

International Law for Common Goods

International Law for Common Goods PDF Author: Federico Lenzerini
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782254714
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 489

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Book Description
International law has long been dominated by the State. But it has become apparent that this bias is unrealistic and untenable in the contemporary world as the rise of the notion of common goods challenges this dominance. These common goods – typically values (like human rights, rule of law, etc) or common domains (the environment, cultural heritage, space, etc) – speak to an emergent international community beyond the society of States and the attendant rights and obligations of non-State actors. This book details how three key areas of international law – human rights, culture and the environment – are pushing the boundaries in this field. Each category is of current and ongoing significance in legal and public discourse, as illustrated by the Syrian conflict (human rights and international humanitarian law), the destruction of mausoleums and manuscripts in Mali (cultural heritage), and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (the environment). Each exemplifies the need to move beyond a State-focused idea of international law. This timely volume explores how the idea of common goods, in which rights and obligations extend to individuals, groups and the international community, offers one such avenue and reflects on its transformative impact on international law.

The Culture of Judicial Independence

The Culture of Judicial Independence PDF Author: Shimon Shetreet
Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
ISBN: 9004257810
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 600

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Book Description
This volume offers an in depth analysis of current issues of culture of judicial independence in comparative perspective by senior academics, judges and practitioners across jurisdictions. It deals with central topics that stand high in the academic and public discourse on the role of judges in society and in the system of government, their constitutional position, and the relations between top domestic courts and international and supra-national courts.

Cultural Rights in International Law and Discourse

Cultural Rights in International Law and Discourse PDF Author: Stephenson Chow
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004328580
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
In Cultural Rights in International Law and Discourse, Pok Yin S. Chow explains why the very understanding of ‘culture’ as described in international human rights law failed to capture and address the cultural concerns of groups and communities worldwide.

Legal Cultures and Human Rights

Legal Cultures and Human Rights PDF Author: Kirsten Hastrup
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004480773
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
Cultural diversity, as expressed for instance in different normative orders or legal cultures, poses both a practical and a theoretical challenge to the idea of universal human rights. In the present volume, the authors seek to address and contain this challenge with a view to the changing nature of the global society. While 'culture' is sometimes signposted as an obstacle to human rights on the ground, this volume suggests that in so far as the global 'culture of human rights' is primarily seen as a formal and institutional order based on a particular view of equal human worth, local cultures cannot trump it. The main point is that the culture of human rights is inclusive of all and must maintain a standard by which all peoples and cultures can measure their own performances. Further, and as demonstrated in the present volume from a range of disciplines such as law, literature, history and anthropology, culture is not a mental prison but a particular outlook upon the world, for ever changing in response to new experiences and insights.

Law, Legal Culture and Politics in the Twenty First Century

Law, Legal Culture and Politics in the Twenty First Century PDF Author: Günther Doeker-Mach
Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag
ISBN: 9783515083171
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 538

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Book Description
This is a collection of essays on general and specific topics of comparative private and comparative public law by distinguished legal scholars from every part of the world in honour to the work of Alice Ehr-Soon Tay. The essays demonstrate the changing approach to common law in legal culture and present a body of texts on comparative law problems arching from Asia to Europe to Australia. The volume furthermore indicates that there is no area where comparative law has proved more dominant and useful than in regard to human rights and comparative constitutional analysis. Finally, this book is an outstanding cross-cultural contribution to comparative private law and comparative constitutional law in terms of understanding legal culture and law. It will be invaluable to all those who practise, teach or judge law. Articles by Kim Santow, Saul Fridman, W. M. C. Gummow, J. A. Jolowicz, Hiroshi Matsuo, Ivan Shearer, Christopher Birch, Tom Campbell, Roland Drago, Jennifer Hill, Michael Kirby, Karin Lemercier, Aleksander Peczenik, Robert S. Summers, Albert H.Y. Chen, Jianfu Chen, Edward McWhinney, Eric Smithburn, Klaus A. Ziegert, Margaret Allars, Han Depei, Guenther Doeker-Mach, Hoang Van Hao, Tommy Koh, Adam Lopatka, Gabriel A. Moens, Cao Duc Thai, Wang Gungwu, Peter Wesley-Smith, Murray Gleeson, Julia Horne List of Publications of Alice Erh-Soon-Tay .

Rescuing Human Rights

Rescuing Human Rights PDF Author: Hurst Hannum
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108417485
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
Focuses on understanding human rights as they really are and their proper role in international affairs.

From Civil to Human Rights

From Civil to Human Rights PDF Author: Helle Porsdam
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1849802300
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Helle Porsdam s new book is a readable and perceptive analysis of European and American perceptions of essential human rights and their roots in national and regional cultures. Professor Porsdam traces the notions of civil, political, social and economic interests as rights protected and implemented by law on both sides of the Atlantic. From Civil to Human Rights is a must read for Europeans, Americans, and everyone else who wants to learn more about the institutions, values, hopes and dreams that bring us together and hold us apart at the beginning of the 21st century. Peter L. Murray, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, US Is there a special human rights narrative emerging from the chastened soul of post-war Europe? What lies ahead for that great but shattered community? Helle Porsdam, a leader in the related fields of human rights and humane letters, bids fair to answer these and other pressing questions. Along the way her highly nuanced intellect addresses the frustrating differences among those contentious first cousins, Europe and the United States. The result is a wide-ranging, richly informed inquiry about Europe s rise from the ashes and the choices it must make to inspire rather than repulse the world around it. Richard Weisberg, Cardozo Law School, New York, US Europeans have attempted for some time to develop a human rights talk and now European intellectuals are talking about the need to construct European narratives . This book illustrates that these narratives will emphasize a political and cultural vision for a multi-ethnic and more cosmopolitan Europe. The narratives evolve around human rights, partly in the hope that they might function as a cultural glue in an increasingly multi-ethnic Europe, and partly because they are intimately connected with that part of enlightenment thinking that sought to promote democracy and the rule of law. Helle Porsdam discusses the development of human rights as a discourse of atonement for Europeans a discourse which has the potential to become a shared, transatlantic discourse. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this book will be an invaluable research tool for postgraduate students and scholars within the fields of law, history, political science and international relations.

Human Rights in Africa

Human Rights in Africa PDF Author: Abdullahi Ahmed An-naim
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815715634
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
This powerful volume challenges the conventional view that the concept of human rights is peculiar to the West and, therefore, inherently alien to the non-Western traditions of third world countries. This book demonstrates that there is a contextual legitimacy for the concept of human rights. Virginia A. Leary and Jack Donnelly discuss the Western cultural origins of international human rights; David Little, Bassam Tibi, and Ann Elizabeth Mayer explore Christian and Islamic perspectives on human rights; Rhoda E. Howard, Claude E. Welch, Jr., and James C. N. Paul examine human rights in the context of the African nation-state; Kwasi Wiredu, James Silk, and Francis M. Deng offer African cultural perspectives; and Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im and Richard D. Schwartz discuss prospects for a cross-cultural approach to human rights.