Governance of justice and human rights Sample Clauses

Governance of justice and human rights. According to recent judicial proceedings occurring in Dutch courts about the role of the UN peacekeeping force in Srebrenica, whose mandate was to pre- vent mass atrocities, the immunity of the United Nations seems to prevail.43 In determining whether the immunity of the United Nations was in con- flict with other rights under international law, the Dutch District Court addressed the standards set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Geno- cide Convention. The domestic court in The Netherlands concluded that its inquiry into the possible conflict between the absolute immunity of the UN and other standards of international law did not lead to an exception to the immunity, and determined that it was therefore not competent to hear the case, which could ultimately end up before the European Court of Human Rights. The exclusion of the UN to appear in national courts restricts the 43 Court of Appeal The Hague, Case Number District Court: 07-2973, Mothers of Srebrenica et al. v. State of the Netherlands and United Nations, Judgement of 30 March 2010. Supreme Court of The Netherlands, Final appeal judgment, LJN: BW1999; ILDC 1760 (NL 2012), 12 April 2012. For the analysis of the judgement see, X. xxx Xxxxxxx, Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts, ILDC 1760 (NL 2012), 1 May 2012. right of access to domestic courts. It is clear that the responsibility of the UN needs to be refined, before any changes are likely to occur in national courts on the UN immunity. In fact, as the Dutch Court of Appeals stated correctly, the UN is the international organization with the most far-reaching powers, but with the recent rulings national courts would have no jurisdic- tion even to hear civilian cases brought against the UN. According to the claim of the representative of the Dutch Foundation Mothers of Srebrenica, “human rights should prevail as it is the ultimate objective of human rights to provide protection against the strong powers of public authorities. If the UN is the only organization in the world that stands above the law, human rights lose their fundamental function. How credible is the UN as the fore- most human rights organization if the organization itself severely disregards these fundamental rights?”44 In this study such sensitive issue arises with regard to the UN peace operations and the role of justice, emphasizing the necessity to redefine the accountability of peac...