International human rights law Part 48

International Law – Human Rights – European Court of Human Rights Rules That British Military’s Discharge of Homosexuals Is Illegal – Lustig-Prean and Beckett v. United Kingdom, App. Nos. 31417/96 and 32377/96 (Eur. Ct. H.R. Sept. 27, 1999), and Smith and Grady v. United Kingdom, App. Nos. 33985/96 and 33986/96 (Eur. Ct. H.R. Sept. 27, 1999)
Harvard Law Review
Volume 113, Number 6, April 2000 p.1563

Drinkable Water and Breathable Air: A Livable Environment as a Human Right
Timothy J. Schorn
Sustainable Development Law Journal
Volume 4, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2000 p.121

Many scholars and observers have spoken in the past about economic rights, along with the usual civil, political, social, and cultural rights. The former have included rights to decent pay and employment, but all have ignored an issue corollary to development, the impact on the environment. One should not come at the expense of the other. Dr. Schorn’s essay looks at the international covenants, agreements, declarations and other sources of international aspirations and law in order to make a case for a developing human right to a minimally acceptable environmental and ecological standard; not necessarily a statement of what the law is, but what the law could be.

Collected Essays: African Yearbook of International Law 1998 (Vol. 6), 444; Recueil des Cours: Collected Essays of the Hague Academy of International Law 1991 (Vol. 231), 445; 1997 (Vols. 268 & 270), 445; 1998 (Vols. 271-274), 445; Israel Yearbook on Human Rights 1998 (Vol. 28), 445.
American Journal of International Law
Volume 94, Number 2, April 2000

Human Rights Accountability: Congress, Federalism and International Law
Beth Stephens
ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law
Volume 6, Number 2, Spring 2000 p.277

International Human Rights, International humanitarian law , and Environmental Security: Can the International Criminal Court Bridge the Gaps?
Mark A. Drumbl
ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law
Volume 6, Number 2, Spring 2000 p.305

PROPERTY RIGHTS IN HUMAN BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS: STUDIES IN SPECIES REPRODUCTION AND BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
Amy S. Pignatella Cain
Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law
Volume 17, Number 2, Spring 2000 p.449

Currently, laws in the United States and abroad have been slow in recognizing property rights in human biological materials like sperm, embryos, and cells. The inability of law to keep up with technological advances leads to fear throughout the world concerning the ownership of human biological materials. This Note argues that if human biological materials were considered “property” in the traditional sense, then human beings may not be as fearful of future technological advances pertaining to the human body because they would have ownership rights in their own biological materials. This Note explores the relevant laws and cases concerning property rights in human biological materials. It discusses how courts in the United States and abroad view ownership interests in human reproductive materials and human organs and cells. Furthermore, it discusses how recognition of property rights in human biological materials may ease the fear that human beings feel in confronting new technologies such as human cloning. This Note asserts that recognition of property rights in the human body is necessary to encourage organ donation, to assure greater personal autonomy, to diminish the international market in human body parts, and to diminish fears of the commodification of the human body. Finally, it discusses the procedural implications of recognizing property rights in human biological materials. In particular, this Note argues that recognizing property rights in human biological materials may provide courts with a uniform way to analyze cases concerning disputes over human biological materials. Adopting a property-based approach for dealing with disputes over human biological materials may result in greater predictability and flexibility, enabling people to encourage the advancement of technology without the current fears surrounding the ownership of human biological materials.

Human Rights, Environment and Development in South Asia: The Importance of International human rights law
Clarence J. Dias
ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law
Volume 6, Number 2, Spring 2000 p.415

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

International Criminal Court, International human rights law, International humanitarian law.