The Law and Process of the U.N. Human Rights Committee

This title focuses attention, not on the Committee's interpretation of the substantive provisions of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but on how the Committee functions as a decision-making body.;Few scholars have considered in such detail the actual operation of this important body, which has attempted to secure compliance with fundamental civil and political rights for a quarter of a century. The appearance of this study is a testament to the pivotal role the Committee plays in the protection of human rights and to the maturation of the United Nations human rights treaty regime. The problems identified by the author should be of concern to human rights scholars and activists, as well as to the Committee itself and to states parties.;The Committee exercises several different types of authority, including review of periodic state reports and consideration of individual communications under the first Optional Protocol. Ms. Young examines the Committee's performance in light of the principle of legality (whether the Committee is empowered to make the decisions that it does) and the principle of legitimacy (whether the Committee's processes are fair). In considering the principle of legitimacy, Ms. Young analyzes the Committee's impartiality and independence, its management of scarce resources, and the transparency of its procedures.;Ms. Young in particular probes the Committee's evidentiary rules and its role in reviewing actions by the judiciaries of the states parties in individual communications. She also discusses the Committee's admissibility rules, its interpretation of the legal effects of its Views, and its attitudes toward precedent. The authority of the Committee rests upon the Covenant but also upon states parties' perceptions of its legitimacy.;This detailed study brings to light troubling flaws in the Committee's operations that may undermine its ability to induce compliance.