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SUMMARY
Pavel Šturma
In the first chapter of the book,
Pavel Šturma
focuses on human rights as an example
of peremptory norms of general international law. It can be argued that the emergence
and stabilization of
jus cogens
go in parallel with the development of the international
law of human rights on the universal and regional levels. Most of peremptory norms
recognized up to now deal with the protection of fundamental human rights. Moreover,
this area reveals the highest potential for increasing the number and material content
of peremptory norms. The key role in the development of such norms has the case-
law of international judicial bodies. While the International Court of Justice and the
European Court of Human Rights came to the express confirmation of them relatively
late and they limited it originally just to the prohibition of torture, the ad hoc
international criminal tribunals proceeded faster. However, the case-law of the Inter-
American Court of Human Rights seems to be the most remarkable by its frequency of
reference to and the number of the identified rules of
jus cogens
. It remains the question
if and to what extent the identified peremptory rules of human rights can be exported
from the regional level to the universal international law.
Central for the second chapter, written by
Veronika Bílková
, is the assumption that a
new institution of countermeasures adopted in reaction to human rights violations (or,
more exactly, of countermeasures in general or collective interest) has been emerging
under international law.This assumption can be documented by instances of international
practice, proclamations by states, opinions of scholars and positions by several special
rapporteurs of the UN Commission on International Law on responsibility of states for
international wrongful acts. At the same time, it can be argued that the new institution
of countermeasures in general or collective interest has not fully materalised yet, as some
of its aspects remain undefined. Moreover, doubts subsists whether countermeasures
would at all be an appropriate tool to ensure a better respect for human rights law and
international law in general.
In the third chapter,
Jan Ondřej
sheds some light on the position of multinational
(transnational) corporations but also on legal entities in general from the point of view
of international law, especially the international protection of human rights. The issue
of legal persons as subject of international law especially concerning the international
protection of investment is being discussed. Protection of investment is closely linked
with human rights. Some human right also relate to legal entities which is regulated,
for example, on the European level where legal entities can even directly invoke their
rights. The obligation to protect and respect human rights is firstly the obligation of
the states that can be made liable even in relation to legal persons. Obligations to
respect human rights by legal persons are explicitly contained in legally not binding
soft law documents.