Access to Justice in the United Nations Human Rights Committee

76 Pages Posted: 18 Jul 2017 Last revised: 9 Aug 2017

See all articles by Vera Shikhelman

Vera Shikhelman

University of Chicago Law School; NYU School of Law

Date Written: July 10, 2017

Abstract

The possibility of individuals to bring complaints against their countries of nationality to international institutions has been seen as one of the most important developments in international human rights law since World War II. This article uses the United Nations Human Rights Committee as a case study for the success of the of individual communications system in international law. The article uses a mixed methods empirical research strategy in order to describe and evaluate the access to justice in the context of the Committee. For the quantitative part of the article (regression analysis), it uses an original dataset of the number of communications filed against different countries throughout the years, and of the different characteristics of those countries. For the qualitative part of the article, it uses interviews conducted by the author with individuals who brought communications to the Committee. In evaluating the success of the system, the article uses a goal-based approach, and analyses the success from the perspectives of different stakeholders. I find that most of the communications to the Committee come from democratic and socio-economically developed countries. The main problems with the accessibility of the Committee are lack of awareness to its existence, fear from state retribution, budgetary problems within the UN, and lack of implementation by states. However, the process is generally perceived as fair, and the Committee is accessible to certain degree even to applicants without legal representation. Finally, the article also discusses what could be done in order to make the system more accessible to people from all over the world.

Keywords: United Nations Human Rights Committee, Access to Justice, International Courts

JEL Classification: K33, K40, K41

Suggested Citation

Shikhelman, Vera, Access to Justice in the United Nations Human Rights Committee (July 10, 2017). Michigan Journal of International Law, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2999668

Vera Shikhelman (Contact Author)

University of Chicago Law School ( email )

Chicago, IL
United States
3124208291 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/jsd/vera-shikhelman

NYU School of Law ( email )

245 Sullivan Street, Suite 340
New York, NY 10012
United States
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3124208291 (Fax)

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