The Limits of Human Rights

The continuous expansion of human rights can often appear to be positive, yet it provokes criticism. This volume argues against the internationalisation of human rights proving the world is moving from bilateralism to community interests, stating contentious supervision, evaluation, and substitution are far more common than genuine cooperation.

Bardo Fassbender, Professor of Public International Law, European Law, and Public Law, University of St Gallen,Knut Traisbach, Associate Professor of International Law (Adjunct), University of Barcelona

Bardo Fassbender is Professor of International Law at the Bundeswehr University in Munich. He studied at the University of Bonn and holds an LL.M from Yale Law School and a Doctor iuris from the Humboldt University in Berlin. Before joining the Bundeswehr University, he taught in Berlin, St Gallen, and Munich (Ludwig Maximilians University). His principal fields of research are international law, United Nations law, German constitutional law, comparative constitutional law and theory, and the history of international and constitutional law. Among his many publications are the books UN Security Council and the Right of Veto: A Constitutional Perspective (The Hague/London/Boston, 1998), Der offene Bundesstaat: Studien zur auswartigen Gewalt und zur Volkerrechtssubjektivitat bundesstaatlicher Teilstaaten in Europa (Tubingen, 2007), and The United Nations Charter as the Constitution of the International Community (Leiden/Boston, 2009).

Knut Traisbach is Associate Professor of International Law (Adjunct) at the University of Barcelona and tutor for three international postgraduate programmes in International Affairs and Diplomacy organized by UNITAR and UOC. He also teaches human rights at ESADE Law School in Barcelona. He holds degrees from Humboldt University Berlin, the European University Institute and was a visiting researcher at Yale Law School. He has held positions as lecturer, programme director, researcher and course convenor in the areas of international law, human rights and international relations at various higher education and research institutions in Berlin, Florence, Venice and Barcelona. His main research interests include meaningful interdisciplinary and critical approaches to international law, human rights and international relations theory.