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Human Rights Law

University of Michigan Law School

Series

International human rights law

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Sources, Christine Chinkin Jan 2010

Sources, Christine Chinkin

Book Chapters

This chapter outlines the sources of international human rights law that are listed in Article 38(1) Statute of the International Court of Justice: treaties, custom, general principles of law, and, as subsidiary sources, judicial decisions and the writings of jurists. The chapter also considers how so-called 'soft law' instruments such as resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the work of human rights expert bodies may also be regarded as sources of human rights law.


Individual Accountability For Human Rights Abuses: Historical And Legal Underpinnings, Steven R. Ratner, Jason S. Abrams, James L. Bischoff Jan 2009

Individual Accountability For Human Rights Abuses: Historical And Legal Underpinnings, Steven R. Ratner, Jason S. Abrams, James L. Bischoff

Book Chapters

The international legal community is beset today with talk of accountability. Governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and scholars speak of the need to hold individuals responsible for official acts that violate the most cherished of international human rights. Some study the nature of various infractions with an eye toward codification; others seek to create or engage mechanisms for trying or otherwise punishing individuals. Their common mission is based on a shared understanding that international law has a role to play not only in setting standards for governments, non-state actors, and their agents, but in prescribing the consequences of a failure …