Made up of independent Commissioners elected by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, the Commission is chartered to protect and promote human rights within the context of the inter-American system. It examines communications and petitions as provided for by the American Convention on Human Rights.
Organisation of American Stateswww.oas.org
This term is used to refer to the following suite of human rights instruments :
The International Bureau of Education was the first international organization in the field of education. It was created in Geneva in 1925 as a private institution. As of 1929, the Bureau started admitting governments and it became affiliated to UNESCO in 1969. Nevertheless, the Bureau enjoys wide autonomy in its area of specialization : the organization of the International Conference on Education, the organization of discussions on educational policies and the collection, analysis and diffusion of documentation and information on education. The Bureau is run by a Council composed of representatives of Member States elected by the UNESCO General Assembly.
Organized by the International Bureau of Education since 1934, the International Conference on Education is a forum for discussion between the Ministers of Education of UNESCO’s Member States. It is also open for the participation of other partners in the field of education including teachers, researchers, non-governmental organizations, etc. Themes for discussion are chosen by UNESCO upon proposal of the International Bureau of Education. During its recent sessions, the Conference has examined the following themes : Education for All (1990), the Contribution of Education to Cultural Development (1992), Appraisals and Perspectives of Education for International Understanding (1994), Strengthening the Role of the Teacher in a Changing World (1996). At the end of each Conference, recommendations for Ministries of Education are adopted.
The International Court of Justice was created by the United Nations Charter. It is based in The Hague (Netherlands) and composed of judges elected by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. It is mandated to settle disputes between States. For the Court to consider such disputes, the States concerned must have made a declaration accepting its competence. States may declare that they accept the court rulings on all points of their disagreement, or they may declare that they accept that only a specific part of their disagreement is to be submitted to the Court. The Court’s rulings are final and binding upon States. The Security Council decides on the measures to be taken to ensure the application of such rulings. The Court also plays a consultative role : upon request from United Nations bodies, it renders legal advisory opinions. In all its activities, the Court applies international law.
At present there are two International Criminal Tribunals. The United Nations Security Council created them in 1993 and 1994 respectively. The first tribunal is the International Criminal Tribunal for Ex-Yugoslavia. The second is the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. They are mandated to try persons convicted of violating international humanitarian law during the events that affected these two countries.
International humanitarian law refers to all the rules established by international customary law or treaties to protect human beings during situations of armed conflict. The main texts in this area are the four Geneva Conventions that were adopted in 1949 through the initiative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a non-governmental organism. These four Conventions refer to : amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armed forces in the field ; amelioration of the condition of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea ; the treatment of prisoners of war ; and the protection of civilian persons in time of war. They are complemented by two addition protocols adopted in 1977.
4, route des Morillonsilo@ilo.org http://www.ilo.org
Better know by its acronym ILO, the International Labor Office is the Permanent Secretariat of the International Labor Organization. A Director General appointed by the Governing Body runs it. He or she prepares meetings and the work of the principal bodies of the Organization : the International Labor Conference and the Governing Body. He/She collects and diffuses information in the domain of labor and social relations.
4, route des Morillons ilo@ilo.org Homepage : http://www.ilo.org
This is one of the oldest international organizations, created after World War I. Its field of activity includes labor, social security and social relations in general. Its main bodies are the International Labor Conference and the Governing Body that are headed by an elected Director General. It is serviced, together with the International Labor Office, by a permanent administration based in Geneva. The composition of the Conference and the Governing Body is of a tripartite nature, i.e., States delegations are composed of representatives of governments, workers and employers.
International law is composed of the norms and institutions that regulate relations between members of the international community. The term “international”, when it concerns relations between nations, does not really reflect reality since it is basically inter-State. International customs and treaties make up the main bulk of international law.
An international organization is the association of States to give birth to a new entity. This body enjoys the status of an international legal entity and may create its own different bodies. The treaty that establishes such an organization gives it a precise mission, which generally consists of promoting cooperation between States Members in one or more areas. An international organization is considered universal when its mission is to admit all States of the world. It is called regional when its membership is confined to a number of States limited by specific criteria : geographic, political, linguistic, religious, etc. The most appropriate expression to describe these entities is “inter-governmental organizations” in order to distinguish them from non-governmental organizations that are also international, but are not created by States.
Interpretation is the process of describing in detail the scope and contents of a legal instrument with a view to its implementation. In the field of human rights, the treaty-monitoring bodies fulfill this function when they examine complaints or adopt general comments/general recommendations on specific provisions of a treaty.
At one level, the term jurisdiction means the administration of justice and law, the right and responsibility to impose justice by applying the law. The word jurisdiction, however, has also come to mean the body that has the competence to do this. International human rights jurisdictions are not many. For now, there are only the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights has yet to be established : the protocol provided for it has not entered into force so far.
Jurisprudence refers to the totality of the judgments and verdicts issued by an adjudicating body. There is the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice to mention but a few examples. This word can also be used in a more restricted term : to describe the rulings and judgments on a specific question, for example, the jurisprudence about freedom of conscience.
*See : Restrictions.
