The Oxford handbook of international human rights law / edited by Dinah Shelton.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Dinah Shelton -- Religion / M. Christian Green and John Witte -- Moral philosophy / Siegfried van Duffel -- Biological foundations of human rights / Chris A. Robinson -- Sociology of human rights / Bryan S. Turner -- The psychological foundations of human rights / Robin Bradley Kar -- Anthropology and the grounds of human rights / Mark Goodale -- The foundations of justice and human rights in early legal texts and thought / Paul Gordon Lauren -- General principles and constitutions as sources of human rights law / Michael O'Boyle and Michelle Lafferty -- The anti-slavery movement and the rise of international non-governmental organizations / Jenny S. Martinez -- Diplomatic protection as a source of human rights law / Annemarieke Vermeer-Künzli -- Humanitarian law as a source of human rights law / Gerd Oberleitner -- Social justice, rights, and labour / Janelle M. Diller -- The protection of minorities under the auspices of the League of Nations / Péter Kovács -- Human dignity / Paolo G. Carozza -- Subsidiarity / Gerald L. Neuman -- Sovereignty / Johan D. van der Vyver -- Solidarity / Rüdiger Wolfrum -- Equality / Jarlath Clifford -- Proportionality / Yutaka Arai-Takahashi -- Democracy and the rule of law / Christian Tomuschat -- The law-making process : from declaration to treaty to custom to prevention / Bertrand G. Ramcharan -- Core rights and obligations / Martin Scheinin -- Jus cogens and obligations erga omnes / Erika de Wet -- Positive and negative obligations / Dinah Shelton and Ariel Gould -- From commission to the council : evolution of UN charter bodies / Miloon Kothari -- The role and impact of treaty bodies / Nigel S. Rodley -- The role of international tribunals : law-making or creative interpretation? / Cecilia Medina Quiroga -- Universality and the growth of regional systems / Christof Heyns and Magnus Killander -- National implementation and interpretation / Nisuke Ando -- Roles and responsibilities of non-state actors / David Weissbrodt -- Interpretation of human rights treaties / Malgosia Fitzmaurice -- Enforcing human rights through economic sanctions / George A. Lopez -- Transnational litigation : jurisdiction and immunities / Chimène I. Keitner -- The use of international force to prevent or halt atrocities : from humanitarian intervention to the responsibility to protect / Ramesh Thakur -- Trade law and investment law / Sarah Joseph -- Creating and applying human rights indicators / Francisco López-Bermúdez -- Compliance / Gisella Gori -- What outcomes for victims? / Fiona McKay -- Human rights make a difference : lessons from Latin America / Juan E. Méndez and Catherine Cone.

"The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law provides a comprehensive and original overview of one of the fundamental topics within international law. It contains substantial new essays by over forty leading experts in the field, giving students, scholars, and practitioners a complete overview of the issues that inform research and a "map" of the debates that animate the field. Each chapter features critical and up-to-date analysis of the current state of debate and discussion, assessing recent work, and advancing the understanding of all aspects of this developing area of international law.Addressing all aspects of international human rights law, the Handbook consists of over forty chapters, divided into seven parts. The first two sections explore the foundational theories and the historical antecedents of human rights law from a diverse set of disciplines, including the philosophical, religious, biological, and psychological origins of moral development and altruism, and sociological findings about cooperation and conflict. They also trace the historical sources of human rights through comparative and international law by conducting a case study of the anti-slavery movement. Section III focuses on the law-making process and certain categories of rights. Sections IV and V examine the normative and institutional evolution of human rights, and discuss its impact on various doctrines of general international law. The final two sections are more speculative, examining whether there is an advantage to considering major social problems from a human rights perspective and, if so, how that might be done. Section VI analyses several current problems that are being addressed by governments both domestically and through international organizations, and issues that have been placed on the human rights agenda of the United Nations, such as state responsibility for human rights violations and economic sanctions to enforce human rights. The final section then evaluates the impact of international human rights law over the past six decades from a variety of perspectives.The Handbook will be an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and practitioners of international human rights law. It provides the reader with new perspectives on international human rights law that are both multidisciplinary and geographically and culturally diverse. It should become the new standard reference work in this area."--Publisher description.