IMPLEMENTATION OF

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

DEAN REY OLIVER S. ALEJANDRINO, DCL
INTRODUCTION
 Article 8, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 affirms that everyone has the right to an effective

remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts
violating the fundamental rights granted him by the
constitution or by law. And human rights without
effective implementation are shadows without
substance
Human rights law is implemented:

UN human rights bodies

Courts
Committees
reporting requirement
communications
OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR)
 addresses most pressing human rights violations
 attendson those who are at risk and vulnerable on
multiple fronts
 pays attention to the realization of civil, cultural,
economic, political, and social rights, including the
right to development
 measures the impact of its work through the
substantive benefit that is accrued, through it, to
individuals around the world
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (HRC)

 hasjurisdiction over consistent patterns of gross

and reliably attested violations of all human
rights and fundamental freedoms
 committed by any State member of the United
Nations
 whetherthey ratified or not any particular treaty
or made reservations thereof
WHO MAY FILE?
Any individual, group of individuals
or non-governmental organization
can file a complaint before the
UNHRC. The communications (or
complaints) procedure is
confidential in nature.
Universal Periodic Review
(UPR)
Human rights records of all UN Member
States are periodically reviewed by the
OHCHR to give each State the
opportunity to defend their actions in
improving the human rights situations
in their countries and in fulfilling their
human rights obligations.
 AIM
aim is to improve the human rights
situation in all countries and address
human rights violations whenever and
wherever they occur. It also aims to
provide technical assistance to States
to improve their human rights
situations.
Special Procedures
independent human rights experts
appointed by the Human Rights
Council whose term is limited to a
maximum of six years and serve in
their personal capacities.
WHO ARE THEY?
They are called Special Rapporteur or
Independent Expert or a group
composed of five members, each one
coming from Africa, Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean, Eastern
Europe, and the Western Group.
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC)

ICC has jurisdiction over:

Genocide
Crimes against humanity
War crimes
Crimes of aggression
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Crimes against humanity include any

of the following acts when committed
as part of a widespread or systematic
attack directed against any civilian
population, with knowledge of the
attack:
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

 murder;
 extermination;
 enslavement;
 deportation or forcible transfer of population;
 imprisonment or other severe deprivation of
physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules
of international law;
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

 torture;
 rape,sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced
pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other
form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
 enforced disappearance of persons;
 other inhumane acts of a similar character
intentionally causing great suffering, or serious
injury to body or to mental or physical health
COMMITTEES UNDER THE TREATIES
Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (CERD)
 Consistsof independent experts who monitors the
implementation of the CERD by the State parties
which are obliged to submit regular reports to the
Committee on how the rights are being
implemented.
 The Committee assesses the said reports and
addresses its concerns and recommendations to
the State party.
Committee on Civil and Political Rights
(CCPR) [Human Rights Committee]
 monitors the implementation of the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
 by the State parties
 obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee
 publishesits interpretation of the content of
human rights provisions
 reporting
requirement and the power to receive
communications.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(CESCR)
Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Committee Against Torture (CAT)
Committee on the Rights of the
Child (CRC)
Committee on Migrant Workers
(CMW)
Committee on Enforced Disappearance (CED)
 
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
 
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COURTS
AND BODIES
 European Court of Human Rights
 (Article 41, European Convention on Human Rights)
 Inter-American Court of Human Rights
 (Articles 9, 33, 62, American Convention on Human Rights)
 African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights
 (Rule 33, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights)
 Arab Human Rights Committee
 (Article 45, Arab Charter on Human Rights)
ASEAN Human Rights Bodies

ASEANInter-Governmental
Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)

ASEAN Commission on the Promotion

and Protection of the Rights of
Women and Children
DOMESTIC IMPLEMENTATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

CivilRemedies
Criminal Remedies 
Administrative Remedies
Philippine Commission on Human
Rights
THANK YOU!