A World Court of Human Rights : Consolidated statute and commentary

Abstract

Today a plenitude of legal instruments for the protection of a vast number of human rights exists. Many of these rights have reached almost universal ratification. Regional courts have developed and their jurisdiction has brought relief to individual victims of human rights violations and has influenced national legislation and practice. The perpetrators of the most severe human rights violations can be held responsible before the International Criminal Court. Why is it, then, that we are still facing systematic and widespread violations, and that the gap between the high aspirations and the sobering reality, between human rights law and its implementation still exists? The establishment of a World Court of Human Rights could help bridging the gap between codified rights and reality. The idea of such a Court dates back to 1947. Due to the Cold War, however, the proposal did not find consensus among States. Thus the World Court of Human Rights was never realised and remained stigmatised as utopian. Probably due to this sense of political infeasibility, scholars have never undertaken to look into the legal possibilities of drafting a statute for the Court. The authors of this publication tried not only to come up with a solid statute but also took into consideration major challenges to the protection of human rights in our time.