We are right now in the midst of an international human rights law revolution! 💫
I have been having flashbacks to my law school days (I had the immense privilege of getting a scholarship to study international law at American University Washington College of Law surrounded by lawyers involved and active in all the human rights bodies globally). ⚖️
Regional human rights courts matter because they shape and give teeth 🦷 to international human rights law.
We saw this with the European Court of Human Rights, that rules on applications alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court says itself that the “Court’s case-law makes the Convention a modern and powerful living instrument for meeting new challenges and consolidating the rule of law and democracy in Europe.” And what a new challenge for human rights climate change is, and what a way to meet this challenge by ruling that Governments need to step up their climate action efforts. Kudos to the justices on the European Court of Human Rights in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland for reading the latest science and its impacts on human rights.
And we are seeing this with other regional human rights courts.
Chile and Colombia have asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to pronounce itself on climate change, emphasizing that although climate change is happening globally, its effects are not experienced uniformly or fairly – with people in Chile and Colombia already dealing with the daily consequences of climate change (e.g. droughts, floods, landslides, fires). A number of other States have weighed in too. And very interestingly, there has been a focus on intergenerational equity as part of the hearing, including by bringing in children's’ voices. ❤️
The Inter-American Court’s advisory opinion – which could come by the end of this year – will in turn have a ripple effect on how governments, and entities they regulate, will need to tackle climate change, and how they place human rights considerations at the heart of their climate actions. Oh, and we are also watching closely two other similar requests in front of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Our eyes are also firmly rooted on the newly recognised right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. We were thrilled to meet the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur of this right last week, Astrid Puentes, who reminded us of the stark importance of ensuring that this right starts to shape all policy, regulation and reform ahead. 🚀
And the connection between human rights law and company conduct has never been stronger. All of these human rights developments are in turn shaping expectations of companies - with some having greater teeth than others (just take a look at Annex I of the newly approved EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive if you have any doubts!) 📕
I think by now a number of my law school books are out of date - yay! 🙌🏼
We are shaping a new world fit for purpose as we seek to take strides toward a just future together.
