Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 2723 entities
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas 2018, para. 8. (2)
- Paragraph text
- Nevertheless, that authority may delegate powers to the highest local authorities to exact forced or compulsory labour which does not involve the removal of the workers from their place of habitual residence. That authority may also delegate, for such periods and subject to such conditions as may be laid down in the regulations provided for in Article 23 of this Convention, powers to the highest local authorities to exact forced or compulsory labour which involves the removal of the workers from their place of habitual residence for the purpose of facilitating the movement of officials of the administration, when on duty, and for the transport of Government stores.
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas 2018, para. 9 (b)
- Paragraph text
- [Except as otherwise provided for in Article 10 of this Convention, any authority competent to exact forced or compulsory labour shall, before deciding to have recourse to such labour, satisfy itself] that the work or service is of present or imminent necessity;
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas 2018, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Collective punishment laws under which a community may be punished for crimes committed by any of its members shall not contain provisions for forced or compulsory labour by the community as one of the methods of punishment.
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas 2018, para. 4. (1)
- Paragraph text
- The competent authority shall not impose or permit the imposition of forced or compulsory labour for the benefit of private individuals, companies or associations.
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas 2018, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The annual reports that Members which ratify this Convention agree to make to the International Labour Office, pursuant to the provisions of Article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation, on the measures they have taken to give effect to the provisions of this Convention, shall contain as full information as possible, in respect of each territory concerned, regarding the extent to which recourse has been had to forced or compulsory labour in that territory, the purposes for which it has been employed, the sickness and death rates, hours of work, methods of payment of wages and rates of wages, and any other relevant information.
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic 2018, para. 182
- Paragraph text
- 2. The human rights and fundamental freedoms of all, without discrimination of any kind, shall be respected in the exercise of the rights enunciated in the present Declaration. The exercise of the rights set forth in the present Declaration shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law and that are compliant with international human rights obligations. Any such limitations shall be non-discriminatory and necessary solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others, and for meeting the just and most compelling requirements of a democratic society.
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas 2018, para. 1. (2)
- Paragraph text
- With a view to this complete suppression, recourse to forced or compulsory labour may be had, during the transitional period, for public purposes only and as an exceptional measure, subject to the conditions and guarantees hereinafter provided.
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas 2018, para. 17. (4)
- Paragraph text
- [Before permitting recourse to forced or compulsory labour for works of construction or maintenance which entail the workers remaining at the workplaces for considerable periods, the competent authority shall satisfy itself] (4) that, in case of illness or accident causing incapacity to work of a certain duration, the worker is repatriated at the expense of the administration;
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas 2018, para. 2. (2) (c)
- Paragraph text
- [Nevertheless, for the purposes of this Convention, the term forced or compulsory labour shall not include] any work or service exacted from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law, provided that the said work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority and that the said person is not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations;
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas 2018, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour shall be punishable as a penal offence, and it shall be an obligation on any Member ratifying this Convention to ensure that the penalties imposed by law are really adequate and are strictly enforced.
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2018
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- State compliance with the right to adequate housing must ultimately be assessed in relation to the circumstances of rights-holders. A human rights framework for addressing the financialization of housing must challenge the way in which accountability to the needs of communities and the human rights obligations of Governments has been replaced with accountability to markets and investors. Mechanisms must be established for rights-holders to be fully heard and engaged in decisions that affect them. States must ensure that financial institutions and investors are responsive to the needs of marginalized communities, behave in a manner that is consistent with the full realization of the right to adequate housing and provide complaints procedures and access to effective remedies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The excessive financialization of housing is directly related to systemic patterns of inequality in investment treaties and in domestic law that fail to recognize the paramountcy of human rights over investor interests and deny access to justice for those whose right to housing is at stake. Ensuring meaningful accountability of financial institutions and private actors to the right to housing will require a significant transformation of current systems of law and accountability and new avenues of access to justice at the local, national and international levels.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Policy responses to the financialization of housing have tended to prioritize support for financial institutions over responding to the needs of those whose right to adequate housing is at stake. Spending on bailouts of banks and financial institutions after the 2008 financial crisis far outstripped spending to provide assistance to the victims of the crisis. In fact, many national Governments made substantial cuts to their housing programmes. As noted above, the World Bank continues to promote "financial liberalization" rather than active State intervention in housing provision in emerging economies, despite the evidence that financialization generally increases inequality and fails to address the needs of the millions of households living in situations of homelessness or grossly inadequate informal housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- There is a strong risk that when confronted with the challenge of addressing economic insecurity the human rights system will proceed in zombie mode. It will keep marching straight ahead on the path mapped out long ago, even as the lifeblood drains out of the enterprise. Its supervisory and monitoring organs will address themselves ever more insistently to State actors that have made themselves marginal, and they will continue to demand respect for standards that have long since been overtaken by the grim realities of global supply chains. For the most part, the human rights machinery is cumbersome, lacking in agility, and poorly placed to develop new thinking in such contexts. But it will need to do so if it is to remain relevant.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- In certain jurisdictions, individuals enjoy direct recourse against business entities for violations of economic, social and cultural rights, whether in order to impose on such private entities (negative) duties to refrain from certain courses of conduct or to impose (positive) duties to adopt certain measures or to contribute to the fulfilment of such rights. There are also a large number of domestic laws designed to protect specific economic, social and cultural rights, that apply directly to business entities, such as in the areas of non-discrimination, health-care provision, education, the environment, employment relations and consumer safety.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Such extraterritorial obligations of States under the Covenant follow from the fact that the obligations of the Covenant are expressed without any restriction linked to territory or jurisdiction. Although article 14 of the Covenant does refer to compulsory primary education having to be provided by a State “in its metropolitan territory or other territories under its jurisdiction”, such a reference is absent from the other provisions of the Covenant. Moreover, article 2 (1) refers to international assistance and cooperation as a means of fulfilling economic, social and cultural rights. It would be contradictory to such a reference to allow a State to remain passive where an actor domiciled in its territory and/or under its jurisdiction, and thus under its control or authority, harmed the rights of others in other States, or where conduct by such an actor may lead to foreseeable harm being caused. Indeed, the Members of the United Nations have pledged “to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the Organization” to achieve the purposes set forth in article 55 of the Charter, including “universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”. This duty is expressed without any territorial limitation, and should be taken into account when addressing the scope of States’ obligations under human rights treaties. Also in line with the Charter, the International Court of Justice has acknowledged the extraterritorial scope of core human rights treaties, focusing on their object and purpose, their legislative history and the lack of territorial limitation provisions in the text. Customary international law also prohibits a State from allowing its territory to be used to cause damage on the territory of another State, a requirement that has gained particular relevance in international environmental law. The Human Rights Council has confirmed that such prohibition extends to human rights law, when it endorsed the guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights, in its resolution 21/11.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- In the years since, elaboration of the right to information has been a common thread in reporting under the mandate. In 2013, the Special Rapporteur gave a full rationale for a robust right to information: “… public authorities act as representatives of the public, fulfilling a public good; therefore, in principle, their decisions and actions should be transparent. A culture of secrecy is acceptable only in very exceptional cases, when confidentiality may be essential for the effectiveness of their work. There is consequently a strong public interest in the disclosure of some types of information. Moreover, access to certain types of information can affect the enjoyment by individuals of other rights. In such cases, information can be withheld only in very exceptional circumstances, if at all (A/68/362, para. 20).”
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- In parallel with the work of the Human Rights Committee and its special procedures mechanisms, the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly also articulated the importance of freedom of information. As recently as 2016, the Council called upon all States to ensure disclosure of information held by public authorities and “to adopt transparent, clear and expedient laws and policies that provide for the effective disclosure of information held by public authorities and a general right to request and receive information, for which public access should be granted, except within narrow, proportionate, necessary and clearly defined limitations”. Access to information has become a standard element of other human rights treaties (A/70/361, para. 6), and has been widely adopted in international agreements pertaining to development, the environment, food and agriculture and corruption, among other substantive areas. The Aarhus Convention provides an example of international agreement that access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters, an area of major public interest, “contribute[s] to the protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being”. Similarly, in recognition of the essential role played by the right to freedom of information, Sustainable Development Goal 16 links access to information to good governance, human rights and accountability and calls on all Member States to adopt and implement public access to information laws and policies (resolution 70/1, paras. 16.6-16.10).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Third, the United Nations whistle-blower policy provides that: “The individual must make the report in good faith and must submit information or evidence to support a reasonable belief that misconduct has occurred” (ST/SGB/2017/2, para. 2.1 (a)). In the context of whistle-blowing, a “good faith” requirement should not require justification other than the fact that the whistle-blower aims to disclose waste, fraud, abuse or some other illegal conduct. It should not be understood to require or permit any kind of inquiry into other motives that the whistle-blower may have.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Although many everyday practices in health-related services may not be considered as corruption, legally speaking, their accumulation and their acceptance by various stakeholders have a detrimental cumulative effect on the performance of health-care systems and, indirectly, on individual and societal health. It is for that reason that the present report is focused not only on those forms of corruption that are legally defined as breaking the law and should be brought to justice, but also on those practices which undermine principles of medical ethics, social justice, as well as effective and transparent health-care provision. When such practices are not properly addressed, they pave the way to non-transparent decisions at all levels of policymaking, policy implementation and services provision and thus lead to corrupt environments and foster institutional corruption.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Where there is opacity surrounding decisions at the political, macro or micro levels, corruption can flourish, go undetected and occur with impunity. Transparency unveils corruption and is inextricably linked to the right to access information, participation and accountability. Access to information and transparency laws provide a framework for addressing corrupt practices, while the regulations and monitoring arrangements are also vital. Transparency can often be enhanced by the participation of rights holders and civil society organizations in decision-making processes that may be prone to corrupt practices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- There is a significant demand from civil society for accountability of Governments and other institutions. Sustainable Development Goal 16 includes a commitment to create effective, transparent and accountable institutions at all levels. Accountability is at the heart of human rights and central to the fight against corruption. Human rights-based accountability for corruption helps reveal where corruption has taken place and resulted in human rights abuses. Effective accountability processes are also important for the reason that they can have a deterrent effect in relation to corruption. It is therefore troubling that research suggests that accountability for corruption is rare, indicating a need for governments to take concerted steps to strengthen accountability mechanisms and processes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- According to the principle of legality, any use of force by State agents must pursue a lawful purpose and must be based on and regulated by national law. Lawful purposes typically include effecting the arrest or preventing the escape of a person suspected of having committed a crime, self-defence or defence of others against an unlawful threat of death or serious injury, or dispersing violent assemblies. A further parameter of legality is the equal treatment of all persons before the law in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination (see A/HRC/26/36, para. 74, and A/HRC/31/66, para. 15). States must provide express authority for the use of force in their national law and must regulate the matter in line with their obligations under international law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The principle of necessity has a qualitative, a quantitative and a temporal aspect. In qualitative terms, any use of force must be “unavoidable” in the sense that non-violent or other less harmful means remain ineffective or without any promise of achieving the desired purpose. In quantitative terms, whenever the use of force is unavoidable, the degree to which and the manner in which force is employed may not be more harmful than strictly necessary. Finally, in temporal terms, the use of force is unlawful if, at the moment of its application, it is not yet or no longer unavoidable to achieve the desired lawful purpose. Therefore, any law enforcement operation involving the use of force requires a constant reassessment of its necessity to achieve the desired purpose. Should the circumstances evolve so as to permit the achievement of that purpose through less harmful means, force may no longer be used.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Third, while the notion of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment may include a wide range of actions amounting to unlawful infliction of pain or suffering, the aggravated threshold of torture requires a number of additional criteria that may vary slightly depending on the applicable treaty definition and its interpretation by the relevant oversight bodies. Thus, according to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, “an act constitutes torture when the ill-treatment: (a) is intentional; (b) causes severe physical or mental suffering, and (c) is committed with a specific purpose or objective”. Similarly, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has interpreted torture as “the intentional and systematic infliction of physical or psychological pain and suffering in order to punish, intimidate or gather information” and usefully pointed out that torture could be carried out by “State or non-State actors at the time of exercising control over such person or persons”. According to the European Court of Human Rights, torture, as opposed to other inhuman and degrading treatment, involves “deliberate inhuman treatment causing very serious and cruel suffering”. Both the European Court and the African Commission have used article 1 of the Convention against Torture as a reference point for defining torture for the purposes of the European Convention on Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, whereas inter-American bodies have tended to refer to the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In sum, in the view of the Special Rapporteur, while the notion of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment includes essentially any unlawful infliction of pain and suffering by State agents, the aggravated threshold of torture is always reached when, additionally, severe pain or suffering is intentionally and purposefully inflicted on a powerless person. Depending on the applicable treaty definition and its contemporary interpretation by the relevant bodies, either the aggravated threshold of torture may not require that the inflicted pain and suffering be “severe”, or the interpretation of the requirement of severity may have evolved to significantly lower the relevant threshold.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the work of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples 2017, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- A positive development is that in the context of the universal periodic review the Declaration has been referred to as an instrument to measure how Governments adhere to international human rights standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- In order for the use of force by State agents to be lawful, full adherence to all of the above principles is required.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The principle of necessity requires that any use of force by State agents must be restricted to the least harmful means that can reasonably be expected to achieve the purpose pursued. Thus, law enforcement officials must apply non-violent means whenever possible and may use force only when, and only to the extent, strictly necessary to achieve a lawful purpose.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The Special Rapporteur's vision of the mandate 2017, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The mandate is a service, not a personal matter of the individual who happens to be the Special Rapporteur at a given time. Moreover, the mandate is not an end in itself but it is a means to a further end.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph