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Much remains to be achieved to protect women during conflict. This book analyzes the way that international law has contended with sex and gender crimes and examines the need for a separate recognition of sex and gender crimes under international criminal law.

The Changing Arctic and the European Union a book based on the report "Strategic Assessment of the Development of the Arctic: Assessment Conducted for the European Union". It provides a balanced overview of changes taking place in the Arctic. The ways how the EU affects Arctic developments is considered, including the process of formulating an umbrella EU Arctic policy.

In Beyond Parliament, Horman Chitonge, draws from diverse experiences around the rights to water and food in the global South, to illustrate that giving effect to these rights require going beyond parliamentary politics to the radical politics of social change.

In the years to come the international legal order will have to face a broad range of challenges, of both an institutional and substantive nature. That is precisely the focus of this collective volume written by contributors from Flanders and the Netherlands. Although they are specialists in different fields of international law, what unites them is their position as Emeritus professors, with long and respected careers and a wealth of experience and insight. Their brief was to reflect - from their silver perspective - on the future of their respective fields and the most pressing challenges that lie ahead for them. The result is a thought-provoking and above all original collection, offering the reader the benefit of the collective wisdom of this group of eminent "silver" scholars.

What is sensible when it comes to developing and implementing a policy with regard to products which in the case of regular use are harmful, but which at the same time exert a strong attraction, even so strong that people (may) become dependent on or addicted to them? This question relates to many illicit drugs, but these days it is, both nationally and internationally, mainly related to the policy regarding the production, distribution and consumption of cannabis. Generally speaking, the legalization of cannabis in Uruguay and in some states of the United States of America, in particular Colorado and Washington State, has given a powerful impetus to the discussion about the cannabis policy. In the Netherlands, that discussion has become increasingly relevant over the past years because of the struggle of coffeeshop owners and political parties. This volume offers the first English-language analysis of the situation in the Netherlands in order to make a contribution to the international debate on this heated topic. Since the 1960s, the Dutch cannabis policy has been an important point of reference in the international discussion about the policy that should be pursued regarding the use of cannabis. However, in international and foreign literature about cannabis policy the developments in the Netherlands are often depicted in an incomplete or one-sided manner, which has a negative impact on the quality of the international debate about what has happened and what should happen now. This volume seeks to redress that imbalance.

This book has emerged out of the author's experience as Director of an innovative peacemaking, peacekeeping and humanitarian initiative, the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, between 1992 and 1996. What was striking about this conference was the experiment of two full-time Co-Chairmen, one from the United Nations and one from the European Union, who laboured tirelessly for peace in different parts of the former Yugoslavia for three and a half years. The strategies and organization of the conference had to be pieced together from the start by the Co-Chairmen and their colleagues; only in retrospect could the question whether there might have been experiences of international peace conferences that might have been useful at the beginning of this process be reviewed. This research is contained in Part One of this book, which offers a review of the role of international peace conferences in history. Part Two contains a case study of the strategies and experiences of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia.

Outlining and analyzing the 100-year (1912-2012) sequence of proposals to formalize the legal status of International Non-Governmental Organizations, this work provides the benchmark against which contemporary and future initiatives can be evaluated and conceptualized.

Taking a historical and comparative perspective, the book analyses current attempts of regime change in various parts of the world, their intended and unintended consequences, as well as moral, legal and political aspects of external interference in internal processes.

In Unity in Connectivity? Evolving Human Rights Mechanisms in the ASEAN Region, Vitit Muntarbhorn discusses developments concerning the growth of human rights institutions and processes at the national and regional levels in Southeast Asia, and related challenges.

This edited volume explores some of the key international law issues to have arisen from the events which comprised the 'Arab Spring.'

The book analyses the concept and application of justice in every domain of life. Justice has a universal character, relevant to every part of the world. Deviation from its norms brings injustice entailing denigration of human nature in all its expressions. The book is worth reading by everyone interested in justice.

Freedom of expression - particularly freedom of speech - is, in most Western liberal democracies, a well accepted and long established, though contested constitutional right or principle. Whilst based in ethical, rights-based and political theories such as those of: justice, the good life, personal autonomy, self determination, and welfare, as well as arrangements over legitimate government, pluralism and its limits, democracy and the extent and role of the state, there is always a lack of agreement over what precisely freedom of expression entails and how it should be applied. For the purposes of this book we are concerned with freedom of expression and the media with regard to the current application of legal standards and self-regulation to journalistic practice.

This work outlines available resources and proposed standards for international NGO fact-finding missions: Chapter One presents an introduction to the issue of NGO fact-finding. Chapter Two discusses the problems caused by the lack of any generally-accepted guidelines for NGO fact-finding, in contrast with contexts where NGOs have achieved consensus. Chapter Three surveys proposed guidelines for human rights and humanitarian NGOs. In addition, this section examines United Nations fact-finding standards, as well as examples of internal fact-finding standards for major NGOs. Chapter Four analyzes the fact-finding standards used in five specific cases: the International Crisis Group (Kosovo, 1999), the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (Georgia, 2008), United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Mapping Exercise on the Democratic Republic of Congo (1993-2003), Conflict Analysis Resource Center/University London study on Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (Colombia, 1988-2004), and Human Rights Watch (Lebanon, 2006). The final chapter offers conclusions and recommendations.

The book takes the reader on a journey to unexplored sources of human rights: ancient China, the golden age of Islam and 16th century Spain. All three share a strong belief in reason, justice and human dignity.

Compliance and Compromise examines the status of gender pay equity that has been largely overlooked and how domestic legal systems respond to the ILO Convention No. 100 on Equal Remuneration, with the novel application of the theory "transnational legal process".

The topical and thought-provoking articles in this volume have been contributed by leading authorities and discuss some of the key issues currently facing the human rights community. The issues discussed include, among others, human rights and the Security Council, slavery, racism on the internet, and religion and human rights.

Nowadays we are fortunate enough to be experiencing a boom in human rights - an enormous increase of their importance in the international sphere at all levels (political, economic, social, legal and moral). For the first time the condition of the individual as "citizen," and not just as "subject," has gained importance. Individuals, and not only states, have now become the subjects of international law, as a result of the boom in humanitarian law and international criminal law. However, although there have been many battles won and goals met concerning human rights, the war against injustice continues and the fight has not ended. It is necessary to stay alert and to avoid a potentially paralyzing self-complacency. This collection focusses on topics that are particularly relevant for the present era. It examines issues such as multiculturalism, globalization, international criminal justice (specifically third and fourth generation rights) and, within this thematic framework, the problems that have come about as a result of the expanding reach of the Internet and of new biomedical advances. In addition, it explores the increasingly urgent challenge of how to respond to international terrorism, in view of worldwide events since September 11, 2001, and its resulting aftermath. Originally published in Spanish, this thought-provoking collection will be of interest to human rights scholars and practitioners alike.

This book comprises 13 articles on topics drawn from the European Convention on Human Rights. The book provides the reader with interesting information on aspects of Human Rights explored for the first time and presented from a critical standpoint.

As the system of human rights special procedures goes forward to deal with the continuing and new challenges of human rights protection it is of great value to record and recall the considerable body of practice and precedents they have developed for the protection of human rights since the first special procedure was established in the mid 1960s. That is the particular merit of this path-breaking book. The author, who was one of the pioneers in the establishment and operation of the system of special procedures, tells in this book the story of the establishment, history, operations, successes and challenges of the special procedures through the lens of efforts for international protection. In the introduction he summarises their protection roles, which he sets out further in the substantive chapters. In the conclusion he provides an assessment of their protection roles. He notes that while they contribute greatly, the challenges of international protection are still many, and the author invites the international community to a higher level of protection.

Under international human rights law, states are required to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish and provide redress for acts of violence against women. Accordingly, the due diligence standard presents a way to measure whether a state has fulfilled its obligations to prevent and respond to violence against women. Despite its growing popularity as a tool for promoting greater state accountability for violence against women by non-state actors, the content and scope of due diligence obligations remain vague. Against the backdrop of contemporary issues that pose threats to womena (TM)s rights, the contributors to this volume examine how the due diligence standard and other strategies can be applied as useful mechanisms to combat violence against women in various cultures worldwide.

Internationally operating nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, are increasingly involved in international politics and policy making. In many respects their involvement resembles activities and policies that, until recently, were typical of traditional national authorities. This book is about the reasons for which NGOs can and the reasons for which NGOs cannot be considered as rightful participants in international governance. It tries to deliver rationally defensible starting points for the discussion and the assessment of claims for the legitimacy of their organizations and activities. The book focuses on the question: What conditions must ideally be met for an organization to be called truthfully legitimate, be it or be it not as a matter of fact perceived as legitimate by the public? This does not mean that empirically descriptive questions are left aside. Practical feasibility is important even to a thoroughly normative conception of legitimacy. For that reason and for heuristic purposes, large parts of this book are dedicated to the ways in which NGOs and stakeholders perceive NGO legitimacy.

Central to the current development debate is the importance of human welfare in the context of group conflict. When considering ethnic, racial and religious conflict, this debate draws us toward a 'political economy' of conflict. Moreover, notions of an economic paradigm have become prominent when international organizations debate conflict prevention. In looking closer at the political economy of conflict, this publication argues the need to assimilate into our thinking distinct social and ethical economies of conflict prevention. A social economy of conflict prevention considers the interplay of economic with structural and cultural factors in conflict, explaining a much neglected category of conflict, i.e. hidden conflict. The ethical economy of conflict prevention considers implicit ethical statements development practitioners use. From these statements arise ethical paradoxes that influence the evolving economic paradigm, in such way as to contradict one of its intrinsic desires, namely, to restrict conflict prevention strategies to effective technical interventions. Eventually, such narrow focus on technical interventions could identify this evolving paradigm as an 'economical' paradigm. In contrast, a rethinking of the ethical economy of conflict prevention provides a useful tool for international organizations when implementing a human rights-based approach to development and long-term conflict prevention.

The book analyses the administrative system in the European Union with a focus on the efficiency and legitimacy of the administrative practices. In the analysis three distinct theoretical perspectives are used (a structural, a procedural and a cultural), thus ensuring that a broad variety of factors are included.

This volume offers a wealth of information on the protection functions of existing national human rights institutions in a wide selection of countries, drawn from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and Oceania. These essays together make clear the genuine striving by national human rights commissions to act for the protection of human rights in the countries they serve, and the variety of protection models that can and are being adopted, both in developed and developing countries.

The book is an ideal choice for practitioners and researchers because it combines first hand information on the most recent developments on Cyprus with legal evaluations from an international official trained in international and European law.

What are the prospects and means of achieving development through a democratic politics of socio-economic rights? Starting from the position that socio-economic rights are as legally and normatively valid as civil and political rights, this anthology explores the politics of acquiring and transforming socio-economic rights in South Africa. The post-apartheid South African experience shows that democracy is not a guarantee for elimination of poverty and inequality, but also that democratic institutions and politics may provide means for addressing past and present injustices. Thus it is argued that democratic politics of socio-economic rights democratises development while also developing democracy.

This work brings together a number of papers written by experts, mostly senior and active international civil servants, but also retired staff, analyzing the measures taken in international organizations in order to obtain greater accountability.

After decades of striving to prevent international conflict, major armed conflicts in the 1990s have taken place within national boundaries. After the series of national independence wars in the 1950s and 1960s and frequent geopolitical wars in the 1970s and 1980s, a category of 'wars of the third kind' prevailed. The aim of this book is to consider the root causes of recent internal conflicts, and to develop long-term conflict prevention strategies from here. New insights suggest the central role of politico-economic inequalities in ethnic, religious and cultural conflict. The United Nations system has just started to adjust to this new reality of conflict and make long-term conflict prevention a priority issue on international agendas. Whereas development practitioners should principally conceive their work through a conflict prevention lens, there is a shift in focus to United Nations agencies that deal with the economic characteristics of conflict. The unbroken significance of a sustainable industrial development process in developing countries, may allow the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) a particular vantage point and role in the long-term prevention of conflict.

The US administration's pursuit of the Al-Qaeda organisation and Taliban rigime in Afghanistan, responsible for the September 11, 2001 international terrorist attacks, was supported by an international "coalition of the willing" and backed by the full legal authority of UN Security Council Resolutions.The US bid to follow this successful multilateral initiative with similar armed intervention against Saddam Hussein's government failed to rally support in the Security Council.The US then proceeded to act unilaterally, and with British military support, to invade Iraq. The problems for contemporary international law and the UN Charter based World Order system posed by the conflicts within the Security Council and the assorted legal claims advanced, such as a revived doctrine of Humanitarian Intervention; "rigime change as a justification for intervention; Preemptive military strikes as an exercise in Self-defence; and Multilateralism versus Unilateralism in the exercise of the Peace and Security powers under the UN Charter, are canvassed in the present collection of legal opinions.