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General Measures of Implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The Committee welcomes the incorporation of the Convention into domestic law, which is the traditional approach to the implementation of international human rights instruments in some but not all States. Incorporation should mean that the provisions of the Convention can be directly invoked before the courts and applied by national authorities and that the Convention will prevail where there is a conflict with domestic legislation or common practice. Incorporation by itself does not avoid the need to ensure that all relevant domestic law, including any local or customary law, is brought into compliance with the Convention. In case of any conflict in legislation, predominance should always be given to the Convention, in the light of article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Where a State delegates powers to legislate to federated regional or territorial governments, it must also require these subsidiary governments to legislate within the framework of the Convention and to ensure effective implementation (see also paragraphs 40 et seq. below).
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2003
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to education (Art. 13) 1999, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- The Committee notes that since the General Assembly adopted the Covenant in 1966, other international instruments have further elaborated the objectives to which education should be directed. Accordingly, the Committee takes the view that States parties are required to ensure that education conforms to the aims and objectives identified in article 13 (1), as interpreted in the light of the World Declaration on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990) (art. 1), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 29 (1)), the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (Part I, para. 33 and Part II, para. 80), and the Plan of Action for the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (para. 2). While all these texts closely correspond to article 13 (1) of the Covenant, they also include elements which are not expressly provided for in article 13 (1), such as specific references to gender equality and respect for the environment. These new elements are implicit in, and reflect a contemporary interpretation of article 13 (1). The Committee obtains support for this point of view from the widespread endorsement that the previously mentioned texts have received from all regions of the world.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Environment
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1999
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Follow-up to the Durban Review Conference 2009, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- Welcoming the adoption of the Outcome Document of the Durban Review Conference, held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 20 to 24 April 2009,
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2009
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Political and public life 1997, para. 47a
- Paragraph text
- [When reporting under article 7, States parties should:] Describe the legal provisions that give effect to the rights contained in article 7;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1997
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Technical advisory services for reporting obligations 1990, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Noting that 36 initial and 36 second periodic reports were due by 3 March 1989 and had not yet been received,
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1990
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention (Descent) 2002, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Commending the efforts of those States that have taken measures to eliminate descent based discrimination and remedy its consequences,
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2002
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women’s access to justice 2015, para. 68a
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] The Committee recommends that States parties:Ratify the Optional Protocol;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to social security (Art. 9) 2007, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Social security, through its redistributive character, plays an important role in poverty reduction and alleviation, preventing social exclusion and promoting social inclusion.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2007
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Discrimination against non-citizens 2004, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Recognizing the need to clarify the responsibilities of States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination with regard to non citizens,
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2004
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Amending article 20 of the Convention 1995, para. N/A
- Paragraph text
- Concerned about the workload of the Committee as a result of the growing number of ratifications, in addition to the backlog of reports pending consideration, as reflected in annex I,
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Following the adoption of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, many States or regional organizations have adopted action plans on business and human rights. This is a welcome development, particularly if such action plans set specific and concrete targets, allocate responsibilities across actors, and define the time frame and necessary means for their adoption. Action plans on business and human rights should incorporate human rights principles, including effective and meaningful participation, non-discrimination and gender equality, and accountability and transparency. Progress in implementing such action plans should be monitored, and such plans should place equal emphasis on all categories of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. As regards the requirement of participation in the design of such plans, the Committee recalls the fundamental role that national human rights institutions and civil society organizations can and should play in achieving the full realization of Covenant rights in the context of business activities.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- States parties have the duty to take necessary steps to address these challenges in order to prevent a denial of justice and ensure the right to effective remedy and reparation. This requires States parties to remove substantive, procedural and practical barriers to remedies, including by establishing parent company or group liability regimes, providing legal aid and other funding schemes to claimants, enabling human rights-related class actions and public interest litigation, facilitating access to relevant information and the collection of evidence abroad, including witness testimony, and allowing such evidence to be presented in judicial proceedings. The extent to which an effective remedy is available and realistic in the alternative jurisdiction should be an overriding consideration in judicial decisions relying on forum non conveniens considerations. The introduction by corporations of actions to discourage individuals or groups from exercising remedies, for instance by alleging damage to a corporation’s reputation, should not be abused to create a chilling effect on the legitimate exercise of such remedies.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Victims of transnational corporate abuses face specific obstacles in accessing effective remedies. In addition to the difficulty of proving the damage or establishing the causal link between the conduct of the defendant corporation located in one jurisdiction and the resulting violation in another, transnational litigation is often prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, and in the absence of strong mechanisms for mutual legal assistance, the collection of evidence and the execution in one State of judgments delivered in another State present specific challenges. In some jurisdictions, the forum non conveniens doctrine, according to which a court may decline to exercise jurisdiction if another forum is available to victims, may in effect constitute a barrier to the ability of victims residing in one State to seek redress before the courts of the State where the defendant business is domiciled. Practice shows that claims are often dismissed under this doctrine in favour of another jurisdiction without necessarily ensuring that victims have access to effective remedies in the alternative jurisdiction.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has previously considered the growing impact of business activities on the enjoyment of specific Covenant rights relating to health, housing, food, water, social security, the right to work, the right to just and favourable conditions of work and the right to form and join trade unions. In addition, the Committee has addressed the issue in concluding observations on States parties’ reports, and in its first decision on an individual communication. In 2011, it adopted a statement on State obligations related to corporate responsibilities in the context of the Covenant rights. The present general comment should be read together with these earlier contributions. It also takes into account advances within the International Labour Organization and within regional organizations such as the Council of Europe. In adopting the present general comment, the Committee has considered the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights endorsed by the Human Rights Council in 2011, as well as the contributions made to this issue by human rights treaty bodies and various special procedures.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The present general recommendation complements and updates the guidance to States parties set out in general recommendation No. 19 and should be read in conjunction with it.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to social security (Art. 9) 2007, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The right to social security, like any human right, imposes three types of obligations on States parties: the obligation to respect, the obligation to protect and the obligation to fulfil.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2007
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of everyone to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he or she is the author (Art. 15, para. 1 (c)) 2005, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- United Nations organs, as well as specialized agencies, should, within their fields of competence and in accordance with articles 22 and 23 of the Covenant, take international measures likely to contribute to the effective implementation of article 15, paragraph 1 (c). In particular, WIPO, UNESCO, FAO, WHO and other relevant agencies, organs and mechanisms of the United Nations are called upon to intensify their efforts to take into account human rights principles and obligations in their work concerning the protection of the moral and material benefits resulting from one's scientific, literary and artistic productions, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2005
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of everyone to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he or she is the author (Art. 15, para. 1 (c)) 2005, para. 39a
- Paragraph text
- [In general comment No. 3 (1990), the Committee confirmed that States parties have a core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of minimum essential levels of each of the rights enunciated in the Covenant. In conformity with other human rights instruments, as well as international agreements on the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from one's scientific, literary or artistic productions, the Committee considers that article 15, paragraph 1 (c), of the Covenant entails at least the following core obligations, which are of immediate effect:] To take legislative and other necessary steps to ensure the effective protection of the moral and material interests of authors;
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2005
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to the highest attainable standard of health (Art. 12) 2000, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- In determining which actions or omissions amount to a violation of the right to health, it is important to distinguish the inability from the unwillingness of a State party to comply with its obligations under article 12. This follows from article 12.1, which speaks of the highest attainable standard of health, as well as from article 2.1 of the Covenant, which obliges each State party to take the necessary steps to the maximum of its available resources. A State which is unwilling to use the maximum of its available resources for the realization of the right to health is in violation of its obligations under article 12. If resource constraints render it impossible for a State to comply fully with its Covenant obligations, it has the burden of justifying that every effort has nevertheless been made to use all available resources at its disposal in order to satisfy, as a matter of priority, the obligations outlined above. It should be stressed, however, that a State party cannot, under any circumstances whatsoever, justify its non compliance with the core obligations set out in paragraph 43 above, which are non-derogable.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2000
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to education (Art. 13) 1999, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Sharp disparities in spending policies that result in differing qualities of education for persons residing in different geographic locations may constitute discrimination under the Covenant.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1999
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to education (Art. 13) 1999, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- [The right to fundamental education] Fundamental education includes the elements of availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability which are common to education in all its forms and at all levels.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 1999
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to education (Art. 13) 1999, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- [The right to higher education] So far as the wording of article 13 (2) (b) and (c) is the same (e.g. "the progressive introduction of free education"), see the previous comments on article 13 (2) (b).
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1999
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The meaning and scope of special measures in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Racial Discrimination 2009, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The reference in article 2, paragraph 2, regarding the objective of special measures to ensure "adequate development and protection" of groups and individuals may be compared with the use of the term "advancement" in article 1, paragraph 4. The terms of the Convention signify that special measures should clearly benefit groups and individuals in their enjoyment of human rights. The naming of fields of action in the paragraph - "social, economic, cultural and other fields" - does not describe a closed list. In principle, special measures can reach into all fields of human rights deprivation, including deprivation of the enjoyment of any human rights expressly or impliedly protected by article 5 of the Convention. In all cases, it is clear that the reference to limitations of "development" relates only to the situation or condition in which groups or individuals find themselves and is not a reflection on any individual or group characteristic.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2009
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention (Descent) 2002, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Noting that the existence of such discrimination has become evident from the Committee's examination of reports of a number of States parties to the Convention,
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2002
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Article 6 of the Convention 2000, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination believes that the degree to which acts of racial discrimination and racial insults damage the injured party's perception of his/her own worth and reputation is often underestimated.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2000
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Article 3 of the Convention 1995, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- The Committee believes that the obligation to eradicate all practices of this nature includes the obligation to eradicate the consequences of such practices undertaken or tolerated by previous Governments in the State or imposed by forces outside the State.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1995
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Successor States 1993, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- Encourages successor States that have not yet done so to confirm to the Secretary General, as depositary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, that they continue to be bound by obligations under that Convention, if predecessor States were parties to it;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1993
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Application of article 9 of the Convention 1993, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- With respect to this obligation of the States parties, the Committee has noted that, on some occasions, reports have made references to situations existing in other States.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1993
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Technical assistance 1991, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- Recommends that the services of the staff of the Centre for Human Rights as well as of the experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination should be utilized, as appropriate, in the conduct of such training courses and workshops.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 1991
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Application of article 8, paragraph 1, of the Convention 1990, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- Strongly recommends that they respect unreservedly the status of its members as independent experts of acknowledged impartiality serving in their personal capacity.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1990
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph