Architects of Their Own Making: National Human Rights Institutions and the United Nations

Forthcoming: Human Rights Quarterly

35 Pages Posted: 19 Apr 2016

See all articles by Katerina Linos

Katerina Linos

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law ; University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Tom Pegram

University College London

Date Written: April 1, 2016

Abstract

The United Nations promoted a novel idea in the 1990s: National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). Their codification in the Paris Principles and subsequent UN General Assembly endorsement precipitated a global norm cascade. We demonstrate that NHRIs have spread rapidly. Furthermore, we document that structures established after UN endorsement had just as many institutional safeguards as earlier NHRIs. What explains this compliance pull? A transgovernmental NHRI network operating a system of independent monitoring of NHRIs is an important part of the explanation. We examine how this network has interacted with the UN system to create incentives for governments to strengthen NHRIs.

Keywords: human rights, compliance, national human rights institutions, international organization

Suggested Citation

Linos, Katerina and Pegram, Tom, Architects of Their Own Making: National Human Rights Institutions and the United Nations (April 1, 2016). Forthcoming: Human Rights Quarterly, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2765907

Katerina Linos

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law ( email )

488 Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

Tom Pegram (Contact Author)

University College London ( email )

29/30 Tavistock Square
London, WC1H 9QU
United Kingdom
442031089291 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/spp/people/thomas-pegram

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