Human Rights Today - 60 Years of the Universal Declaration

This three part book is a collection of updated papers, presented at the conference "Universal Declaration - 60 Years After," which was convened at the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, in September 2008. Issues in human rights law are critically assessed by a distinguished group of academics, researchers, and practitioners. The first section addresses general issues of human rights theory and practice, such as the relation of human rights politics and the international rule of law, the human rights claim to universality, the constitutionalization of international law through human rights instruments, as well as problems of human rights culture and/or ideology. The second section examines the role of domestic and international courts for the effective protection of human rights, as well as the specific techniques for implementation of human rights law. The final section is dedicated to developments, such as the growing importance of various forms of minority protection for the general body of human rights norms, as well as the role that human dignity as a prime constitutional value plays in certain legal systems. It also addresses widely debated challenges for human rights law: its status in times of war and in the global fight against terrorism.