In January 2022, the Commonwealth Secretariat launched a survey of national frameworks for the implementation of international human rights obligations in Commonwealth member states. The primary objectives of the survey were to: a. Contribute to the body of knowledge, such as studies conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and other organisations, on …
Human rights ministries, inter-ministerial delegations or committees, whether with a thematic or comprehensive human rights mandate, have become important domestic actors dedicated to driving human rights implementation and progress. These human rights focal points have emerged in State practice and, more recently, have been recognised in international law and guidance, as recommended drivers of implementation. At the same time, governments …
On 3 July a Human Rights Council side event was held at the Australian Mission in Geneva. Except for the fact that it was a COVID-era ‘hybrid’ side event, held simultaneously offline and online, at a superficial-level the side event was much like any other. Yet dig a little below the surface and the event was extraordinary – or rather, it marked …
One of the most promising yet least-studied and least-understood developments for the universal human rights ‘project’ (as Sir Nigel Rodley coined it) is the emergence and early development over the past three or four years of so-called ‘national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up’ (NMIRFs). These standing bodies, which usually enjoy high-level political backing, are responsible for coordinating the implementation, …
The ‘implementation agenda’ called for in the lead up to the next review of the Human Rights Council in 2021 is a lofty yet largely unrealized ambition. On February 28 this year, almost three years on from its conception, a High Level Panel convened at the Human Rights Council to discuss how this agenda might work in practice, suggesting that it has yet to achieve meaningful change. [1] The emergence …
How do States transpose international human rights recommendations into local reality, and how to measure progress? This project will adopt a ‘bottom-up’ approach to understanding how, and to what extent, States implement international human rights obligations and recommendations at domestic level, and will seek to replicate good practice and provide counsel to UN mechanisms and processes designed to support domestic …
