Modules

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UN system

Welcome

Having looked in detail at a range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and the way they are defined and protected in international treaties, we now turn to the key question – can states be forced to abide by the commitments they make when they join the UN and sign human rights treaties? If so, how?

There are a range of UN procedures available to influence and sanction state behaviour, and these are commonly divided into two sorts:

  • those procedures that are established for all UN members by virtue of the authority granted in the UN Charter (“Charter-based procedures”); and
  • those procedures established under specific human rights treaties that states sign up to (“treaty-based procedures”).

In this Module we will look at the Charter-based procedures, and in Module 6 at the treaty-based procedures.

Learning objectives

Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

  1. list and describe the different Charter-based UN human rights bodies;
  2. explain the range of techniques used by the UN to enforce human rights;
  3. explain the strengths and weaknesses of the UN Charter-based system, and of its various mechanisms, and
  4. describe the role human rights NGOs play in the UN system.