Keeping the Act for Special Procedures

One of the hallmarks of the Human Rights system in the United Nations is the Act for Special Procedures which allowed the Commission on Human Rights to appoint individuals or working groups to examine areas of international law and create manuals, guides, draft resolutions, etc.  These documents are indisputably some of the most important on international law given the breadth of their coverage and findings which often serve as the basis for international treaties, resolutions and declarations, as well as evidence of rules of customary international law.  For example, it was Cherif Bassiouni, as an independent investigator for the UN, that broke news on the existence of secret prisons by US forces in Afghanistan.  Despite that fact, and as Amnesty International notes:

The UN Human Rights Council is currently discussing changes to the Special Procedures through a review, which must be completed by June 2007. Despite the clear need for the Human Rights Council to strengthen the Special Procedures, several states are instead proposing changes that would cripple the ability of Special Procedures to promote and protect human rights effectively.

By eliminating the role of special rapporteurs and independent investigators, the UNHRC would become greatly crippled in its ability to assure the promotion and protection of human rights, but also in assuring that rules of international law, generally, are flushed out and defined.  I encourage everyone to sign the global petition which calls on the UN to maintain the Act for Special Procedures.

Comments

[Patrick S. O'Donnell]

This does seem blatantly and scandalously regressive: A Vitoria, Grotius, or Vattel would have that much less public space outside the academy to put their talents to work and spread their knowledge of law as it has been, is, and might otherwise be. Was not the General Assembly empowered by the UN Charter to "initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of promoting international cooperation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification"?

Layperson's question: Does the Act for Special Procedures play a role similar or analogous to that played by a Special Master in our municipal legal system?

And thanks for the link to the petition.