The UN Human Rights Treaty System in the 21st Century.

• Author: Provost, Rene
• Position: Book Review

Anne F. Bayefsky, ed., The UN Human Rights [Treaty] System in the 21st Century. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2000. Pp. xx, 1116.

This very large volume is the latest in a series of books that have attempted to take stock of the massive growth of the United Nations human rights system in the last twenty-five years. It is the product of a conference held at York University in 1997, which brought together a diverse group of individuals active in one way or another in the UN human rights system. Contributors to the volume include members of the six UN human rights treaty bodies, in addition to NGO representatives, participants in the regional human rights systems, and members of the academy. Most papers present a hands-on perspective on the topic, with a wealth of insider information that often does not get much attention in the more academic writings.

The overall scheme of the collection is presented by Anne Bayefsky in her introduction. She notes that the rate of ratification of the major UN human rights treaties is quite good, with quasi-universal participation in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and high rates of ratification for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The translation of this increasingly universal participation in the UN human rights system into concrete improvement in state compliance with human rights norms, however, is less than perfect. Part of the reason lies in the significant weaknesses of the various implementation mechanisms created by or pursuant to the treaties, which are effectively exploited by many states. The result is a clear accountability deficit which must be addressed. The conference, and in turn this volume, sought to identify key areas of deficiency in the implementation mechanisms created by UN human rights treaties and to suggest avenues of improvement. Contributions are organized thematically around various means of implementation: periodic reporting, fact-finding, individual complaints, and follow-up. This is completed by chapters on the role of NGOs and the future of the system, as well as a final chapter on discussions and recommendations of the conference.

There are five papers dealing with the reporting process provided for by all major UN human rights treaties. Under this mechanism, states are required to submit a report after ratifying a treaty indicating the measures that have been taken to implement its provisions. Further reports are then required at regular intervals which vary significantly from one treaty to the next. The contributions, both from expert members of the treaty bodies and from NGO representatives assisting these bodies in their task, are interesting in that they all rely on first-hand experience to paint a detailed picture of the successes and frustrations of periodic reporting. The picture is mostly a gloomy one. For...