Questions of Evidence in the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies' Individual Communications Procedure

Eight United Nations human rights treaty bodies (UNTBs) can currently examine 'communications' (complaints) from individuals against states. This edited collection is the first in-depth analysis of the evidentiary regimes developed within this procedure. Nine case studies underscore the weak evidentiary basis of the UNTB decisions and the importance of addressing this issue, while the final chapter offers a set of practical recommendations. Grounded in academic research and legal practice, the volume incorporates doctrinal, critical, socio-legal, and anthropological perspectives. It provides an authoritative reference on UNTBs, whilst aiming at contributing to the strengthening of their evidentiary norms and practices. The title is also available open access on Cambridge Core.

Deborah Casalin is principal research fellow at the Law and Development Research Group at the University of Antwerp. Her doctoral research examined the role of the UN treaty bodies in ensuring reparation for arbitrary displacement, employing systematic case law analysis and a study of CESCR's decisions on mortgage evictions in Spain.

Marie-Bénédicte Dembour is Professor of Law and Anthropology at Ghent University, where she leads the research project 'DISSECT: Evidence in International Human Rights Adjudication' (ERC-AdG-2018-834044). Her numerous publications include a special issue on 'The Evidentiary System of the European Court of Human Rights in Critical Perspective' (2023).

Cornelia Klocker is a Senior Researcher at the Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law and Criminology of Ghent University, Belgium. Her research centres on questions of non-discrimination and the intersections between human rights law and the law of armed conflict, including related evidentiary issues.