Inter-State Complaints in International Human Rights Law

Event Details

The possibility to complain about the violation of human rights before a supra-national body is an essential element towards the effective implementation of international human rights law. Beyond the possibility of individuals bringing complaints before UN Treaty Bodies or regional human rights courts, various human rights treaties establish inter-state complaint mechanisms.

However, within the UN system, this mechanism has been used for the first time only in 2018, when the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination received three inter-state communications, including State of Qatar vs. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Qatar vs. United Arab Emirates, and State of Palestine vs. State of Israel. These communications provide an opportunity to reflect on the procedure (including its conciliatory function), its challenges and the reasons why other similar procedures remain underutilized.

This webinar will discuss those communications, as well as the system of inter-state complaints more broadly. It will discuss parallels with inter-state applications before the European Court of Human Rights and the challenges and opportunities of regional human rights bodies in this context.

Chair:

Tim Eicke, Judge, European Court of Human Rights

Speakers:

• Dr. David Keane, Dublin City University
• Jan Eiken, University of Potsdam
• Dr Isabella Risini, University Bochum and University of Augsburg
• Graham Coop, Volterra Fietta
  

Convened by: Dr Rosana Garciandia, Research Fellow in Labour Exploitation and Human Rights, BIICL and Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci, Arthur Watts Senior Research Fellow in Public International Law and Director of Teaching and Training, BIICL

Join the conversation @BIICL #interstatecomplaints

Watch a recording of the event

Download the Event Report