Documents De Schutter, Olivier 18 results

"In the Bretton Woods era, trade liberalization, the improvement of labour rights and working conditions, and the strengthening of environmental policies, were seen as mutually supportive. But is this always true? Can we continue to pretend to protect the rights of workers and to improve environmental protection, particularly through climate change mitigation strategies, within an agenda focused on trade liberalization? Is it credible to pursue trade policies that aim to expand the volumes of trade, without linking such policies to labour and environmental standards, seen as 'non-trade' concerns? This book asks these questions, offering a detailed analysis of whether linkage is desirable and legally acceptable under the disciplines of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It concludes that trade can work for sustainable development, but only if we see it as a means for social and environmental progress, including climate change mitigation, and if we avoid fetichizing it as an end to be pursued for its own sake."

"The leading textbook on international human rights law is now better than ever. The content has been fully updated and now provides more detailed coverage of substantive human rights, along with new sections on the war on terror and on the progressive realization of economic and social rights, making this the most comprehensive book in the field. It has a new, more student-friendly text design and has retained the features which made the first edition so engaging and accessible, including the concise and critical style, and questions and case studies within each chapter, as well as suggestions for further reading. Written by De Schutter, whose extensive experience working in the field and teaching the subject in both the US and EU gives him a unique perspective and valuable insight into the requirements of lecturers and students. This is an essential tool for all students of international human rights law."

"La Charte sociale européenne a été fondamentalement renouvelée depuis les années 1990 à travers l'adoption de la Charte sociale européenne révisée en 1996 et l'entrée en vigueur, en 1998, du Protocole additionnel prévoyant un système de réclamations collectives. La conviction commune des auteurs est que la Charte a un avenir considérable devant elle, pourvu que ses potentialités soient pleinement réalisées et pourvu, surtout, que l'interprétation qu'en fournit le Comité européen des droits sociaux soit mieux comprise et assimilée, et puisse contribuer ainsi à l'édification progressive d'une Europe sociale. L'ouvrage est divisé en deux parties. La première partie offre une lecture de l'acquis. Cette partie décrit à la fois les transformations considérables qu'a connues la Charte sociale européenne depuis 1961, et le dynamisme de l'interprétation du Comité européen des droits sociaux. La deuxième partie de l'ouvrage est délibérément prospective : elle réunit des contributions qui identifient les défis pour l'avenir et examinent les pistes que la Charte sociale européenne pourrait explorer. Une attention particulière est portée aux rapports qu'entretient la Charte sociale européenne avec le droit de l'Union européenne, d'une part, et avec la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme, d'autre part."

"This report aims at describing the links between nationality and the protection from discrimination under EU and international law, as well as in the domestic legal orders of the EU Member States. Its purpose is to identify whether third-country nationals are protected once they enter the European Union from discrimination on grounds of nationality, or from discrimination on grounds of race, ethnic origin or religion, in situations where nationality is used as a proxy for these grounds."

"Coherent laws enforced by a central authority are part of the reason why human rights protection works at the national level in Europe. But when it comes to the EU these dimensions are lacking. The present system for protecting fundamental rights emerged on an ad hoc basis, with measures being improvised to respond to particular problems. In the next couple of years, however, this situation is likely to change very significantly. The proposed European Constitution incorporates the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and a specialized EU Fundamental Rights Agency is likely to be established. As a result, the situation of the EU will more closely resemble that of its Member States. Fundamental rights will occupy a central role, and coherent and systematic arrangements will be in place to protect rights, using both judical and non-judicial means. The Fundamental Rights Agency, in particular, has immense potential to ensure effective monitoring of fundamental rights in the EU, and to ensure a unified strategy for their promotion in EU law and policy. This volume is the first to critically examine the proposals put forward by the European Commission in October 2004 on the creation of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. Leading scholars in the field of European and international human rights law analyse the potential significance of this innovative Agency, and seek to locate it in relation to various other human rights mechanisms, both in the EU's constitutional structure and within Member States. They review the tasks which the Agency could be called upon to perform, and make proposals as to how it can function most effectively. The relationship of EU law to the international law of human rights emerging from both the United Nations and the Council of Europe is examined. The authors also address the challenge of ensuring improved coherence between EU law and the other human rights obligations undertaken by the Member States. Taken together, these contributions address urgent questions facing the EU at a time when the central unifying function of fundamental rights has been recognized but the way forward remains largely uncharted."