HUMAN RIGHTS VIS A

VIS STATE
SOVEREIGNTY
 1. Define state sovereignty;

2. Describe and explain the principles of progressive

Realization;

3. Explain the three obligations of state in reference

to Human
Learning Rights;

Objectives: 4. Explain the principles of effective remedy;

5. Differentiate the different types of victims; and

6. Explain the Right to Remedies.

 STATE SOVEREIGNTY

• States are a political organization of society (body politic)

or, more commonly known as the institutions of
What is a government.
• States are seen as being like individuals; equal,
State? autonomous, and possess a right to self-determination.
• It is a form of human association that aims to establish
and promote order and security, by means of enacting
and enforcement of the laws within its geographical
boundaries.
 1933 Montevideo Convention

• The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States is a

treaty signed at Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 26, 1933, during
the Seventh International Conference of American States
• The Convention codifies the declarative theory of statehood as
accepted as part of customary international law,
 1. a permanent population
FOUR 2. a defined territory;
QUALIFICATIONS 3. government; and
A STATE SHOULD 4. capacity to enter into relations
with the other states.
POSES
 What is a Sovereignty?

• Sovereignty is a political concept that refers to dominant power or

supreme authority.
• It is derived from the Latin word "superanus" through the French
"souveraineté", the term means supreme power.
• It is the ultimate overseer in the decision-making process of the state
and in the maintenance of order.
 Peace of Westphalia in 1648
• The concept of sovereignty originated at the Peace of Westphalia.
• It concluded in 1648 in Munster (Germany), which marks the end of the Thirty
Years' War, that started with an anti-Habsburg revolt in Bohemia in 1618 but
became an entanglement of different conflicts concerning the constitution of the
Holy Roman Empire, religion, and the state system of Europe.
• The treaty recognized the full territorial sovereignty of the member states of the
then Habsburg Empire. It gave the Swiss independence of Austria and the
Netherlands independence of Spain, while the German principalities secured
their autonomy (Cavendish, 1998).
 • State sovereignty is the capability of a
nation-state to enact laws for its citizens
without interference from other states or
What is a other external organizations.

State • It entitles states to non-intervention in their

domestic affairs.
Sovereignty? • The traditional concept of sovereignty has
two aspects; internal and external.
 1. INTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY
The state has the supreme authority
within their borders. Hence there are no
higher authorities and no entities with the
authority to take coercive action inside
the territorial limit of the state.
TWO ASPECTS OF
2. EXTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY
SOVEREIGNTY External Sovereignty implies the states'
freedom from interference in the
jurisdiction (legislative, judicial, and
administrative competence) within their
territory, and the formal equality of states
in their dealings with each other
 Principles of Sovereign Equality has the
following Elements
1. States are juridically equal;
2. Each state enjoys the rights inherent in full sovereignty;
3. Each state has the duty to respect the personality of other States
4. The territorial integrity and political independence of the State are inviolable;
5. Each state has the right freely to choose and develop its political, social, economic and
cultural systems;
6. Each state has the duty to comply fully and in good faith with its international obligations and
to live in peace with other States.
 4 Principal Forms of Claimed Rights

1.Right to territorial jurisdiction - the right to issue legal directives and to coercively
regulate the activities of the people situated within its borders.
2.Right to non intervention - the exclusive rights to govern an area and its population
free from the interference or efforts at "regime change" on the part of foreign states,
individuals, or groups.
3.Right to control borders - the regulation of the movement of people and goods
across their territories.
4.Rights to resources - the utilization and regulation of extraction of minerals, oil, and
other natural resources in their territories.
 • The concept of "progressive realization"
entails a central role of government and
their obligations to recognize and protect
economic, social, and cultural rights under
Principles of international treaties.
Progressive • This means that governments have an
obligation to take appropriate actions to the
Realization maximum of their available resources to
make sure of the full realization of the right
to social security of all its subjects.
 • Economic, social and cultural
What are rights are those human rights
Economic, pertaining to the workplace, social
security, family life, participation
Social and in cultural life, and access to
housing, food, water, health care
Cultural rights? and education.
 Basic List of Economic, Social and Cultural rights

1.Workers' rights
2.The right to social security and social protection
3.Protection of and assistance to the family
4.The right to an adequate standard of living
5.The right to health
6.The right to education
7.Cultural rights
 1. Obligation to Respect Human Rights
2. Obligation to Protect Human Rights
3 OBLIGATIONS 3. Obligation to Fulfill Human Rights
OF STATE IN • Obligation to Facilitate
REFERENCE TO • Obligation to Promote
HUMAN RIGHTS • Obligation to Provide
 • Human rights law imposes an obligation on
countries to provide remedies and reparation for
the victims of human rights violations.
• The right to an effective remedy encompasses an
Principles of obligation to bring to justice perpetrators of
Effective human rights abuses, including discrimination,
and also to provide appropriate reparation to
Remedy victims.
• Reparation can involve measures including
compensation, restitution, rehabilitation, public
apologies, guarantees of non-repetition and
changes in relevant laws and practices.
 Victims and Other Persons Entitled to Reparation

• Human rights treaties often presuppose the concept of victim implicitly, postulating the victim
as the person whose rights have been violated.
• According to the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of
Power (1985), a victim is a persons who, individually or collectively, have suffered harm,
including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial
impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of
criminal laws operative within Member States, including those laws proscribing criminal abuse
of power.
• In addition to this, a person may be considered a victim, regardless of whether the perpetrator
is identified, apprehended, prosecuted or convicted and regardless of the familial relationship
between the perpetrator and the victim.
 1. PRIMARY VICTIM
a person who is injured or dies as a direct result of:
1. a violent crime committed against him or her;
2. trying to arrest someone he/she believes, on reasonable
grounds, has committed a violent crime;
3. trying to prevent the commission of a violent crime; or
4. trying to aid or rescue someone he/she believes is the
3 TYPES OF victim of a violent crime.

VICTIMS 2. SECONDARY VICTIM

1. a person who is present at the scene of a violent crime and
who is injured as a direct result of witnessing that crime; or
2. a person injured as a direct result of subsequently
becoming aware of an act of violence and who is the
parent/guardian of the primary victim who was under the
age of 18 at the time the criminal act was committed.
 3. RELATED VICTIM
A related victim is a person who, at the time of the
violent crime (VOCAT, 2016):
3 TYPES OF 1. was a close family member of a deceased primary
victim;
VICTIMS 2. was a dependant of a deceased primary victim; or
3. had an intimate personal relationship with a
deceased primary victim.
 Close Family Member

A person who has a genuine personal relationship with the victim at the time of
the victim's death and who is:
1. the spouse of the victim;
2. a parent, guardian or step-parent of the victim;
3. a child or step child of the vid, or some other child of whom the victim is the
guardian; or
4. a brother, sister, step-brother or step-sister of the victim
 Collective Victim

• Some international treaties and declarations posit groups, along with

individuals, as rights-holders.
• When a great number of persons have suffered from human rights violations,
there should also be collective procedures to enforce their rights, a practice
accepted by some international human rights bodies.
 Treatment of Victims and Right to Remedies

According to the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a

Remedy and Reparation (BPGRRR), (2005), victims should be treated
with humanity and respect for their dignity and human rights, and
appropriate measures should be taken to ensure their safety, physical
and psychological well-being and privacy, as well as those of their
families.
 1. Equal and effective access to
justice;
RIGHT TO 2. Adequate, effective, and prompt
reparation for harm suffered;
REMEDIES
3. Access to relevant information
concerning violations and
reparation mechanisms.
 RIGHT TO REMEDIES
1. Equal and Effective Access to Justice
Access to justice is a basic human right as well as an indispensable means to combat poverty, prevent and resolve
conflicts.
The government has the responsibility to
1. Disseminate, through public and private mechanisms, information about all available remedies for gross violations of
international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law
2. Take measures to minimize the inconvenience to victims and their representatives, protect against unlawful interference
with their privacy as appropriate, and ensure their safety from intimidation and retaliation, as well as that of their
families and witnesses, before, during, and after judicial, administrative, or other proceedings that affect the interests of
victims
3. Provide proper assistance to yictims seeking access to justice
4. Make available all appropriate legal, diplomatic, and consular means to ensure that victims can exercise their rights to
remedy for gross violations of international human rights law or serious violations of international humanitarian law
 1. Legal Protection - it serves as the legal basis for all other
support areas on access to justice.
2. Legal Awareness - This includes the development of
capacities and effective dissemination of information that
6 Support to would help the victims understand the following:
• their right to seek redress through the justice system;
Promote • the different officials and institutions entrusted to
protect their access to justice; and
Access to • the steps involved in initiating legal procedures
Justice 3. Legal Aid and Counsel - This includes the development of
the capacities (from technical expertise to representation that
people need to enable them to initiate and pursue justice
procedures. Legal aid and counsel can involve professional
lawyers.
 4. Adjudication - It refers to the legal process of resolving a
dispute or deciding a case. This includes the development of
capacities to determine the most adequate type of redress or
compensation.
6 Support to 5. Enforcement - It is the process of making people obey a
Promote law or rule, or making a particular situation happen or be
accepted. This includes the development of capacities for

Access to enforcing orders, decisions and settlements emerging from

formal or traditional adjudication.

Justice 6. Civil Society and Parliamentary Oversight- This involves

the development of civil society's watchdog and monitoring
capacities, in order to strengthen overall accountability
within the justice system. An example of this are the Media
and the different NGOs working on monitoring and advocacy.
 RIGHT TO REMEDIES
2. Adequate, Effective, and Prompt Reparation for
Harm Suffered
• In order to promote justice by redressing gross violations of human rights,
adequate, effective and prompt reparation is necessary.
• Reparation should be proportional to the gravity of the violations and the harm
suffered.
• The government has the duty to provide reparation to victims for acts or
omissions which constitute gross violations of international human rights law or
serious violations of international humanitarian law
 1. RESTITUTION
Restitution refers to measures that restore victims to the original situation
before they suffered gross violations of international human rights law and/or
serious violations of international humanitarian law

2. COMPENSATION
Compensation pertains to a monetary quantifiable award for any economically
assessable damage, whether pecuniary or non-pecuniary, as appropriate and
proportional to the gravity of the violation and the circumstances of each case,
such as lost opportunities, loss of earnings, and moral damage

5 FORMS OF 3. REHABILITATION
Rehabilitation refers to medical and psychological care as well as legal and
REPARATIONS social services.

4. SATISFACTION
Satisfaction refers to a broad category of measures, ranging from those aiming
at a cessation of violations, to truth seeking, the search for the disappeared, the
recovery and reburial of remains, public apologies, judicial and administrative
sanctions, commemoration and memorialization, and human rights training

5. GUARANTEES OF NON-REPETITION
Guarantees of non-repetition are measures that serve as safeguards against
the repetition of an initial violation
 RIGHT TO REMEDIES
3. Access to Relevant Information Concerning
Violations and Reparation Mechanisms
• According to the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a
Remedy and Reparation (2005), The States should develop means of
informing the general public and, in particular, victims of gross violations
of international human rights law and serious violations of the
international humanitarian law of the rights and remedies addressed by
the Basic Principles and Guidelines and of all available legal, medical,
psychological, social, administrative and all other services to which
victims may have a right of access