The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. Institutionalising Human Rights in Southeast Asia.

This assessment of progress in Southeast Asia on human rights begins in the wake of the 'Asian values' debate and culminates in the formal regional institutionalisation of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). Chapters examine the arduous negotiation of AICHR, the evolving relationship between ASEAN states' and the international human rights system, and the historical and experiential reasons for hesitancy. The text concludes with a discussion of how the evolving right to development impacts upon AICHR and international human rights in general, and how their preference for economic, social and development rights could help ASEAN states shape the debate.

Tan Hsien-Li is the Executive Director of the 'ASEAN: Integration Through Law' project at the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore, which investigates the role of law and the rule of law in Asian legal integration.