Law Commons^™

Empowering Persons With Disabilities: Socio-Economic Rights As A Pathway To Personal Autonomy And Independence, Francesco Seatzu

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

Recent years have witnessed a growing awareness of the importance of the status of persons with disabilities as right-holders, and increasing linkages being made between human rights and persons with disabilities’ vulnerabilities in the development context. Stimulated by mounting concerns about the impact of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 on persons with disabilities, these changes have unsurprisingly catalyzed attention on those rights of persons with disabilities that are most closely connected to ensuring persons with disabilities’ development needs—namely their social and economic rights. Focusing on the content of, and duties imposed by, persons with disabilities’ socio-economic rights, this article starts …

International Lawyers As Disrupters Of Corruption: Business And Human Rights In Africa’S Most Populous Country—Nigeria, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

Be it bribery, embezzlement, or the abuse of public trust, corruption poses a major challenge to global security and democratic governance, along with undermining the rule of law, especially within the Global South. Key to this phenomenon is understanding how lawyers are enabling but also disrupting this epidemic. Unfortunately, the literature on this subject is lacking. This study, therefore, offers a nuanced story of globalization and the complicated role that lawyers play in corruption, by relying on the case study of Nigeria—a crucial Global South market that has the largest population on the African continent. While Nigeria has been able …

Elusive Justice: Reflections On The Tenth Anniversary Of Afghanistan's Law On Elimination Of Violence Against Women, Mehdi J. Hakimi

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

The Taliban’s fall in 2001 elevated hopes for improving the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan. Those aspirations were bolstered with the promulgation of the country’s landmark Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) in 2009. The tenth anniversary of Afghanistan’s EVAW Law, however, offers little cause for celebration. This essay examines Afghanistan’s legal framework on combating gender-based violence against women, and the mounting challenges on the ground. The ongoing rampant violence against women, pervasive use of mediation in criminal cases, and violations perpetrated by State agents have made Afghan women’s quest for justice increasingly more elusive. …

A "Dignified Life" And The Resurgence Of Social Rights, Thomas M. Antkowiak

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

The international human rights movement and its institutions have faced searing criticism that they have abandoned social, economic, and cultural rights (“social rights”). While favorable treaties and constitutions have proliferated over the last decades, grave poverty, inequality, and disease still run rampant across the globe. Many have attributed the latest rise of demagogues and terrorist groups to this widespread social disenfranchisement.

The supranational human rights courts have historically avoided social rights enforcement due to limited subject-matter jurisdiction. Yet more recently the Inter-American Court of Human Rights introduced a conceptual breakthrough to assess social rights, which was affirmed by the U.N. …

Paradox Of Hierarchy And Conflicts Of Values: International Law, Human Rights, And Global Governance, Jootaek Lee

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

In an international society, hierarchies are set up differently among different countries and societies based on different values, which are naturally conflicting and colliding with each other and result in unstable conditions. Is hierarchy really necessary in an international society? Does more hierarchical order in international society mean more peace? Do we need a supranational organization like the European Union whose laws can pierce state sovereignty and bind citizens of each member state? Does the United Nations need to be reformed to create an effective hierarchy, which will give international society more peace, security, and protection of human rights? This …