Acta Humana – Emberi Jogi Közlemények

Sahrawi Women and the Liberation Struggle:

Lucrezia Giordano — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This paper aims to explore Sahrawi women’s experiences of maternity within the Sahrawi liberation struggle, framing it as both an individual and a collective act of resistance against the occupation of Western Sahara. Rooted in the pronatalist politics of the Sahrawi liberation front’s (Polisario), it investigates how Sahrawi women approach biological reproduction as part of a minority group. Choices of biological reproduction among Sahrawis are inscribed within a history of occupation and refuge that, together with colonialism and nationalism, also shape Sahrawi women’s agency in navigating the socio-political dimensions of reproduction. This paper critically engages with an increasing number of humanitarian interventions in reproductive health, exploring the balance between addressing health concerns and the potential imposition of Western perspectives on biological reproduction. Empirical evidence highlights Sahrawi women’s adaptive strategies within in response to changing realities, emphasising the intricate interplay between reproductive autonomy, collective resistance, and identity.

Crisis of Human Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Japan

Erika Miyamoto — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

The year 2022 marks the 40^th anniversary of the start of Japan’s refugee recognition system. Despite being a prosperous democracy and a staunch supporter of the international system, Japan has consistently admitted only a small number of refugees. According to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the number of people recognised as refugees in 2022 reached a record high of 202, while those not recognised exceeded 10,000. Furthermore, the legislative bill to revise the Immigration Control Law, passed by the House of Councillors Judicial Committee on June 8, 2023, limits applications for refugee recognition to twice in principle. From the third application onwards, there is a possibility for forced deportation to the applicants’ home countries. This legislative bill can be seen as violating the human rights of refugees and asylum-seekers, contravening international human rights law, and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Therefore, this article specifically explores Japan’s stronger stance on control over protection, whether its low recognition rate indicates non-compliance with international refugee protection criteria, and the reasons behind this. These aspects will be methodically examined, employing rationalist, normative, and domestic institutional theories of international conformity. Finally, the article will suggest measures to improve Japan’s refugee recognition rate and enhance the protection of the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers.

Violence against Women as a Structural Risk:

Ana Srovin Coralli, Sulekha Agarwal — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Situations of crises such as the Covid–19 pandemic expose the fissures in society, both domestic and global. Using violence against women as an example, the paper shows how structural risks amplify during crises and how the concept of due diligence can be used to address these risks. By focusing on prevention, it analyses the existing approaches towards due diligence in the context of violence against women by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women. The paper looks at how these mechanisms have considered the invocation and applicability of the duty of prevention with due diligence as well as the measures that states need to take to discharge such a duty. It concludes with a reflection on what can be done to further strengthen the arguments of the mechanisms analysed in this paper to utilise the full potential of due diligence concerning state obligations towards the prevention of violence against women.

Extraterritorial Application of the European Convention on Human Rights at Sea

Kiss Amarilla — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

We live in a world where we face countless crises and directly experience armed conflicts. The seas, such as the Red Sea, the Black Sea, and South China Sea hold strategic importance in these crises and conflicts. The sea is a unique and challenging environment, considering both its distinct physical characteristics and the jurisdictional issues. At sea, human rights can be compromised in various ways, and these cases often go unreported or they lack sufficient public awareness. It is also an expansive area to monitor, and the effectiveness of the police or military forces is sometimes hindered by limited resources or the reluctance to take action due to the non-compliance with legal regulations. It is the responsibility of the international community to encourage the authorities to prosecute the perpetrators by establishing a legal framework that effectively safeguards human rights and can be enforced by state authorities. This paper aims to explore the challenges of enforcing human rights during the arrest and detention process in cases of transnational crimes or violations of international law, such as piracy, terrorism, and drug trafficking committed on sea, involving the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The Crime of Ecocide through Human Rights Approach

Sziebig Orsolya Johanna — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

The environment is often called the “silent victim of war” – the case is not different in the Russo–Ukrainian armed conflict. Since 2014, nature − home to 35% of European biodiversity and varied natural habitats − has suffered a tremendous loss in Ukraine. The war has been responsible for the emission of 33 m tonnes of CO₂ , and postwar reconstruction is estimated to generate even more. Additional environmental concerns include extensive pollution, degradation of natural habitats, and species extinction. Regarding the new data, more than 2 thousand events can be considered ecocide. Ecocide is the destruction of the natural environment by deliberate or negligent human action. Transboundary environmental harm is also a pressing issue, as pollution “travels” by wind, air, and water to other countries. Ecocide is a new yet old concept concerning severe environmental destruction. In the last decade, a debate has emerged concerning legislation, definition and enforcement. Instead of international criminal law, many believe that the solution will be the human rights approach. Meanwhile, the right to a healthy environment, initially not included in “traditional” human rights conventions, is getting more attention worldwide and in Europe. Recently, the European Economic and Social Committee adopted an own-initiative opinion on the right to a healthy environment in the EU in the context of the war. The aim is to criminalise Russia’s actions under European law and ensure environmental protection to safeguard fundamental rights. In the paper, the author would like to focus on the parallel development of the right to a healthy environment and ecocide.

Climate Litigation

Bartuszek Lilla Judit — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

The last decade has seen an increase in the number, specificity and importance of laws codifying national and international responses to climate change. As these laws have recognised new rights and created new obligations, they have led to the initiation of lawsuits challenging either their effectiveness or their concrete application. The aim of these disputes is to force legislators and policy makers to take a more ambitious and thorough approach to climate change. In addition, litigation has continued to fill the gaps left by legislative and regulatory inaction. As a result, the courts are increasingly adjudicating disputes over actions – or inaction – in relation to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Identifying Problems of International Investment Law (IIL) and Evaluating the Focus of Reform Initiatives

Muhammad Abdul Khalique — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

The normative structure of international investment law is highly asymmetrical. Generally, current IIAs grant investors significant substantive and procedural rights, while States and affected communities often lack equivalent safeguard. In recent years, scholars have critcised and identified many problems including human rights concerns ingrained in the international investment law framework. The States and other stakeholders also raised many concerns regarding international investment agreements and investor-State dispute settlement. Moreover, there’s agreement on the need for comprehensive reform of IIL to make ISDS effective. Yet, issues with ISDS go beyond systemic flaws, also entrenched in substantive deficiencies in existing IIAs. Furthermore, the current legitimacy crisis provides a unique chance to amend the international IIAs comprehensively. However, the WGIII and ICSID reform initiative primarily focuses on procedural aspects of ISDS, avoiding substantive issues raised by various stakeholders. While procedural reforms are essential, resolving substantive issues is equally necessary.

Conceptual Difficulties in the Transformation of Human Rights to the Realm of Artificial Intelligence

Hárs András — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Artificial intelligence has been seeping into various fields of international law for some time, affecting fields such as international humanitarian law – especially regarding the legality of autonomous weapon systems, but also intellectual property law and the legal profession as a whole. A conflicting zone encompassing many subfields is human rights, where an already sensitive subject that is open to debates and interpretation is met with rough questions. For instance, should and could human rights norms be transferred into pre-programmed entities? What relevance can human rights have to a non-human being that has been created, programmed and assembled by humans? Vast regional differences exist between the European, African and Inter-American systems with a lack of coherent structure in the Asia-Pacific region. Our understanding of human rights has also developed substantially over the decades, especially regarding norms on slavery, free speech, the prohibition of discrimination and the rights of women, of disabled persons and indigenous peoples to name a few examples. Furthermore, a vast array of international documents on human rights are political manifestos utilising expressions such as “respecting” and “ensuring” human rights as obligations for members of the international community. Since these provisions deliberately leave a lot of room for interpretation, it seems almost an impossible task to translate them to “binary code”, to a format that is digestible for an artificial entity. The article aims to answer these questions by analysing the abovementioned line of thought and combining it with various attempts at international regulation by states, international organisations as well as non-governmental organisations and think-tanks. The fundamental focus of this paper is to ascertain whether human rights and AI can be made compatible under the current framework of international law at today’s level of development.

Human Rights and Sovereign Debt Restructurings:

Paoletta María Belén — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This article delves into the intersection of sovereign debt restructurings with human rights. It emphasises that, in disputes under international law, States often omit to raise arguments concerning how adverse judgments could potentially harm the economic, social, and cultural rights of their citizens. The article also draws attention to the applicable law approach of some arbitral tribunals and the behaviour of certain holdouts, explaining how they can also contribute to this ecosystem. Ultimately, it is argued that the current hard-law international architecture is neither optimal nor encouraging to robustly link sovereign debt restructurings and human rights. To this end, the article recommends that these processes be guided by certain general principles of law. These principles, considered sources of international law, should be infused with international human rights law nuances. Rather than advocating for an overhaul, suggestions are made to refine the existing international legal framework and better suit human rights in sovereign debt restructurings.