3 - Domestic Implementation of International Human Rights Treaties: Legislative and Other Effective Measures

Summary

Having articulated the need for and benefits of culturally sensitive approaches to human rights implementation involving social institutions, Chapter 3 considers their permissibility under international law. It does this by analysing the obligations on states parties to implement international human rights treaties, focusing on their discretion to employ measures so long as they are effective. This includes enacting legislation or undertaking a variety of other measures of implementation. Despite this broad discretion, Chapter 3 discerns a preference for the domestic legal incorporation of treaties evinced by scholars and the UN treaty bodies. This preference is critiqued as part of the legalisation of human rights, which marginalises other effective implementation measures that may be more culturally sensitive. Analysing the human rights treaties, as well as the interpretations of their respective treaty bodies, Chapter 3 identifies the wide scope for UN human rights treaties to be implemented via measures other than legislation.