The Right to Life under International Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Casey-Maslen ◽  
Christof Heyns

The Right to Life under International Law offers the first-ever comprehensive treatment under international law of the foundational human right to life. It describes the history, content, and status of the right, considers jurisdictional issues, and discusses the application of the right to a wide range of groups, such as women, children, persons with disabilities, members of minorities, LGBTI persons, refugees, and journalists. It defines the responsibility of not only governments but also the private sector, armed groups, and non-governmental organisations to respect the prohibition on arbitrary deprivation of life. It also explains the nature and substance of the duty to investigate potentially unlawful death as well as the mechanisms at global and regional level to promote respect for the right to life.

Author(s):  
Thielbörger Pierre

This chapter addresses water security, which is a contested normative concept, without clear definitions, meanings, or interpretations. With this in mind, the term ‘water security’ must be understood in two distinct ways: security through water (meaning individuals’ access to water to sustain their lives and livelihoods) and security against water (meaning the absence of water-related threats, both natural and man-made). The concept of water security as security through water is a tool to guarantee certain minimum standards of water for individuals. This aspect of water security is closely related to the idea of a human right to water as derived from and related to other human rights such as the right to life, an adequate standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. However, water can also pose threats. For instance, given its outstanding political and economic significance, the likelihood of ‘water wars’ has been discussed in international law and politics for some time. Special challenges to water security include the widespread privatization of water, climate change as catalyst for future water conflicts and water-related natural disasters, and the often forgotten ‘sanitation gap’.


Author(s):  
Paul Behrens

Personal inviolability is one of the oldest rights of diplomatic agents and is often considered to be at the root of diplomatic immunity. The wording it received in the Vienna Convention does not allow for any exceptions. But the absolute nature of the right can lead to difficulties—especially in situations in which diplomats themselves cause a danger to the general public or particular individuals. This chapter explores potential inroads under international law into the concept of inviolability and thus discusses the applicability of self-defence, necessity, and distress in situations of emergency. It also raises the question whether the human right to life imposes certain obligations on the receiving State which are capable of limiting diplomatic inviolability. In a concluding section, the chapter reflects on the justifications which are particularly likely to carry validity in situations marked by a need to deal with dangers arising from diplomatic actions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-32

The relevance of the work is determined by the fact that the right to life belongs to the basic constitutional human rights, therefore, its observance and protection is the duty of the state. Despite its undeniable importance, today the right to life anywhere in the world is not really ensured in sufficient quantities. The constitutional consolidation of the right to life raises a number of issues related to the concept, nature, legislative and practical implementation of this right. It should be noted that various aspects of the human right to life were considered in the scientific works of G.B. Romanovsky, O.G. Selikhova, T.M. Fomichenko, A.B. Borisova, V.A. Ershov and other Russian authors. The aim of the study is to study and comparative analysis of the legal content of the constitutional norm that defines the right to life, to comprehend and identify possible problems of the implementation of this right. To achieve this goal, this article discusses relevant issues of ensuring the right to life, proclaimed by Article 20 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Article 27 of the Constitution of Azerbaijan Republic. The results of a comparative analysis of these constitutional norms and the relevant norms of industry law allow us to determine, that there is no contradiction between Article 20 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the norms of the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation, which imply the death penalty as an exceptional measure of punishment, because a moratorium has been imposed on the death penalty in the Russian Federation since April 16, 1997. However, after the abolition of the death penalty in the criminal legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1998, there was a discrepancy between parts II and III of Article 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the criminal legislation of Azerbaijan Republic that requires the introduction of the necessary changes in the content of the analyzed constitutional norm. The value of the work is determined by the fact that the introduction of appropriate changes will contribute to the further improvement of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the effective implementation of the right to life of everyone.


Author(s):  
Ian Park

There is a difference between a State’s substantive and procedural right to life obligations. This chapter explores what amount to a state’s substantive right to life obligations with reference to Article 2, ECHR and Article 6, ICCPR. The respective provisions are analysed to determine the extent of a state’s substantive right to life obligations during armed conflict and then a comparison between the two international law instruments is undertaken. In order to undertake such a comparison, the exceptions to the right to life in both the ECHR and ICCPR are examined. Once determined, the planning and conduct of a military operation are considered, to assess the extent to which, in general terms, right to life obligations are considered in these areas.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Edward Guntrip

International investment law balances public and private interests within the broader framework of international law. Consequently, when water supply services, which constitute a public good, are privatized and operated by foreign investors, questions arise regarding whether foreign investors could be held responsible for the right to water under international law. This article considers how the tribunal in Urbaser v. Argentina allocated responsibility for compliance with the right to water between the host State and the foreign investor when resolving a dispute over privatized water services. It highlights how the tribunal in Urbaser v. Argentina supports different understandings of public and private based on whether the human rights obligation is framed in terms of the duty to respect or protect. The article argues that the tribunal’s rationale overcomplicates the process of allocating responsibility for violations of the human right to water when water supply services have been privatized.


Author(s):  
Mesut Güvenbaş ◽  
Omur Sayligil

Organ transplantation is an issue that concerns two people (donor and recipient) at the same time in terms of the right to life, which is the most basic human right. The direct utility arising from organ transplantation involves the patient to whom the organ is transplanted, and the indirect utility relates to the donor. Today, the decision to obtain an organ from a living donor is based on the idea of doing something good by those who sacrifice themselves for their relatives. The person who donates an organ treats their body as an instrument and uses their willpower on it. If the statement “I will care about the health of others” is accepted as a universal principle, it will be very important to establish a balance between the duty of caring for the health of others and protecting one’s own health. If we want to introduce a new approach to be adopted in the assessment of living donors in society, we must look at the real situation in terms of utility, altruism, and volunteering. This Chapter thus evaluates organ transplantation from living donors in terms of utility, altruism, and volunteering.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.30) ◽  
pp. 182
Author(s):  
Syafiq Sulaiman ◽  
Salawati Mat Basir ◽  
Mohd Zamre Mohd Zahir

The protection of the right to life and the duty to rescue persons in distress at sea are the fundamental obligations under two specialized international law regimes which are the international human rights law and the law of the sea. These rules when read together form a strong protection of the human rights of the asylum-seekers stranded at sea. However, often states failed to honour this obligation for various reasons ranging from national security to economic reasons. This article will analyse Malaysia’s responsibilities as regards the right to life and the duty to rescue of these asylum-seekers. It will also identify the existing international and domestic legal framework relevant to the application of these obligations upon Malaysia and whether it has acted in breach of such obligations. The article then proceeded with suggestions for further improvement that Malaysia can adopt in order to better perform its obligations. This study is a pure doctrinal legal research which is qualitative in nature. The data used in this research is collected from library-based resources. These data were then analyzed by using methods of content analysis as well as critical analysis. The article found that Malaysia has a duty to protect the right to life under international human rights law. Additionally, Malaysia is also bound under the law of the sea to perform its duty to rescue. In view of Malaysia’s failure to perform these duties in two occasions in the past consequently had resulted in a violation of international law. Therefore, it is suggested that Malaysia should initiate a revision of its national laws and policies regarding treatment of asylum-seekers stranded at sea to be in line with Malaysia’s duty under international law. Besides, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency is call upon to comply with the international standards of treatment of persons in distress at sea which includes the asylum-seekers.  


Author(s):  
Ndjodi Ndeunyema

This article evaluates the existence of a freestanding, general human right to water under each of the three principal sources of international law: treaty, customary international law, and the general principles of law. To date, the right to water has been derived from treaty law, most prominently as part of the right to an adequate standard of living in article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (as implied by General Comment 15 to the ICESCR). The potential importance of a non-treaty based right to water––as a matter of customary international law or a general principle of law––is that it would bind all states, including states that are not parties to treaties with right to water provisions. Therefore, this article evaluates the state practice and opinio juris elements of custom supporting a right to water. Recognizing the disputed nature of how these two elements generally interact to crystallize into a customary norm, the article considers the problem using two distinct methodological approaches: the sliding scale approach and the reflective equilibrium approach. Finally, the paper considers whether a right to water is supported by the general principles of law. Although the right to water is not directly created by the general principles of law, the principles can nevertheless be applied to develop states’ positive and negative obligations for water provision.


2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (08) ◽  
pp. 225-240
Author(s):  
Hiba Thamer MAHMOOD

Acquiring the mother's nationality is a human right in general and the rights of the mother and child in particular stipulated in international conventions and the Iraqi constitution in force for the year 2005, in addition, the Iraqi Nationality Law stipulates the mother’s right to transmit nationality to her children, but according to conditions previously set by the Iraqi legislature, because it helps to reduce the issue of statelessness, is considered one of the important and contemporary jurisprudence topics, which stirred controversy among legal jurists between supporters and opponents, especially Islamic law jurists because the child is attributed to his father, and the state legislations differed in it, as well as in the legal implications of acquiring the mother’s nationality, including dual nationality, applicable law, inheritance issues and other Private international law matters. Therefore, the research dealt with the topic according to the comparative approach in two topics, the first study on the child's right to the nationality of his mother and was divided into two demands, the first requirement is what is the mother’s nationality, and the second requirement is about equality in the right to acquire a nationality, while the second topic examined the foundations of acquiring the mother’s nationality In the Iraqi Nationality Law, it was divided into two topics: The first requirement is the cases of acquiring the mother’s nationality in the Iraqi Nationality Law. The second requirement relates to how to acquire the mother’s nationality and its implications. Through the foregoing, where a number of results and proposals have been reached, we found that the transmit of nationality from the mother to the child born in the territory of a state would be beneficial in the event that the father's nationality had been rejected for political reasons, the issue of granting nationality by the mother to her children helped in the transfer of inheritance from the mother to the children and the acquisition of ownership, especially real estate, which states require the foreigner to have multiple conditions for approval of ownership, where countries have to unify their legislation regarding the mother's right to grant citizenship to her children based on the right of blood to limit the problems of international law, such as the issue of determining the applicable law, Actual nationality and other matters‎‎. Keywords: Mother's Nationality, Human Rights, Gender Equality, Acquisition of Nationality, Discrimination Against Women, International Conventions


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