Judicial Protection of Human Rights: Myth or Reality

(Hardback)

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The central question taken up by this essay collection is the degree to which judges haveor have notserved as protectors of human rights. Although the judiciary is nominally a part of the governing structure, it is also nearly always the case that it stands apart from the political actors who make and carry out policy. Thus, Gibney and Frankowski contend, judges have not designed or carried out the myriad human rights violations that are so common in the world today. The key question asked in this volume is to what extent have courts merely abided by egregious practices, or perhaps have even lent a cover of legitimationor conversely, the degree to which courts have purposely attempted to bring about some change in stemming governmental abuses. No single volume could cover every country experiencing gross levels of human rights abuses. The effort here has been to provide a cross section of judicial systems throughout the world, and to focus on judicial systems that have become involved in addressing human rights issues.

Reviews

The collection gathers insightful, engaging scholarship about interesting issues related to the role of national judges in the protection of human rights...this book offers noteworthy articles that will be of interest and aid to lawyers, judges, and activists working in the field of human rights.-Journal of International Law and Politics
"The collection gathers insightful, engaging scholarship about interesting issues related to the role of national judges in the protection of human rights...this book offers noteworthy articles that will be of interest and aid to lawyers, judges, and activists working in the field of human rights."-Journal of International Law and Politics

Author Bio

MARK GIBNEY is Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Asheville. He has published extensively on legal and human rights issues, including Strangers or Friends: Principles for a New Alien Admission Policy (Greenwood, 1986) and Open Borders, Closed Societies: The Ethical and Political Issues (Greenwood, 1988). STANISLAW FRANKOWSKI is Professor of Law at the St. Louis University School of Law.