Human Rights, Democratization, and Global Justice

Study Notes

The Trolley Problem is used to explain what is just
Measuring human rights and democracy:
- The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index

The Hague laws of war (1907) and Geneva Convention and Protocols (1949 and 1977) outlaw crimes against humanity
Treaties act as the law in international law, signed and ratified by states
The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) outlines the rules for creating treaties
Derogations allow states to avoid taking responsibility
Customary international law applies to accepted state practices
The Human Rights Council promotes universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
Secondary treaty bodies monitor compliance, but are not coercive

Foundations of human rights:
- Response to absolute monarchy and emergent capitalism
- Positivization: national legal systems
- Trend towards universality of rights
- Controlling state power via human rights
- Respect, protect, fulfill
Generations of human rights:
- Civil and political rights (first generation)
- Economic and social rights (second generation)
- Group rights (third generation)
Conflicts of human rights:
- Conflict of human rights and values
- Conflict of human rights and politics
- Conflict of two human rights
- Relativism vs. universalism
Human rights and war:
- Human rights do not apply during war
- Humanitarian intervention: using force to stop crimes against humanity
Animal rights:
- Peter Singer's animal liberation

Establishment of courts and judicial review
Judicial review: evaluating legislation for clashes between laws
Courts make final decisions and are an important check on state power
States are willing to have independent judicial review to prevent autocratic situations

Justice: getting what one is due
Principles of justice: needs, interests, equality, compensation, and rights
Global justice was triggered by:
- Incompleteness of domestic level theories
- Empirical considerations: globalization, poverty, power, and economic inequalities

International criminal tribunals:
- Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals
- Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals
- Sierra Leone tribunal
Jurisdiction of the court:
- Ratione materiae: crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression
- Ratione personae: permanent and applies to natural persons over 18 years old
- Ratione loci: territorial and personal jurisdiction
- Ratione temporis: temporal jurisdiction covers crimes since July 1, 2002
Trigger mechanism: initiation of an investigation
Principle of complementarity: state responsibility for investigation and prosecution### Assessment of Aggression
Assessment is necessary to determine if an act of aggression has taken place
Any act that meets the criteria of paragraph 1 is considered an act of aggression

To determine if an act of aggression has been committed, consideration of all circumstances of each particular case is required, including gravity of acts and consequences

Character, gravity, and scale of an act must be sufficient to justify a manifest determination
No single component can satisfy the manifest standard on its own
Understandings were created to make it more difficult for the court to find a manifest violation

Situations that cannot be classified as solely black or white in international law
Examples of gray areas:
- Unilateral human intervention
- Intervention in a civil war on request of one party
- Protection or rescue of nationals abroad
- Anticipatory self-defense
- Terrorism (operations abroad)
- Reprisals (extensive reaction to a minor border issue)

Use of force in accordance with international law (e.g., self-defense or intervention under UN Security Council resolution) is legal and cannot amount to a crime of aggression

Each case must be assessed individually to determine if use of force is illegal or not
Criteria will need to be developed to distinguish between gray area cases that are legal and those that breach international law

Use of force that breaches international law but does not amount to a manifest violation of the UN Charter
Use of force that breaches international law and amounts to a manifest violation of the UN Charter