The Value of the Persistent Objector Doctrine in International Human Rights Law
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2019/v22i0a5272Keywords:
The persistent objector, doctrine, customary, international law, universalism, human rights, SOGI, LGBTQIAbstract
This article critically analyses the use of the persistent objector doctrine in unilaterally challenging the validity of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) rights and the related state obligations. The persistent objector doctrine gives effect to state sovereignty and provides a mechanism through which states can object to a customary norm preventing the objecting state from incurring any legal obligations once the norm has emerged. The aim of this article is to reflect on whether the persistent objector doctrine could legitimately be used to negate state obligations that would naturally follow from the crystallisation of customary norms in the area of SOGI rights. In this sense the article is both concerned with analysing (not concluding on) current state practice in terms of understanding if and how the persistent objector doctrine is applied, and with gazing forward in terms of analysing whether, if customary law emerges to protect SOGI rights, the persistent objector doctrine could in fact be applied to limit or comprehensively shield states from SOGI-related obligations. This analysis takes place within the framework of the UNHRC Resolution 32/2, which creates an Independent Expert on Protection against Violence and Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, and of the responses of the seven African states that provided statements before the UNHRC in the process leading up to this resolution.
Downloads
References
Bibliography
Literature
Akehurst 1974-1975 British Ybk Intl L
Akehurst M "Custom as a Source of International Law" 1974-1975 British Ybk Intl L 1-53
American Law Institute Restatement of the Law Third
American Law Institute Restatement of the Law Third: The Foreign Relations Law of the United States (American Law Institute Philadelphia, PA 1987)
Arendt Origins of Totalitarianism
Arendt H The Origins of Totalitarianism (Harcourt Brace and Co New York 1951)
Centre for Human Rights Ending Violence and Other Human Rights Violations
Centre for Human Rights Ending Violence and Other Human Rights Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: A Joint Dialogue of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and United Nations (PULP Pretoria 2016)
Clavier 2016 Fordham Int'l LJ
Clavier SM "Objection Overruled: The Binding Nature of the International Norm Prohibiting Discrimination against Homosexual and Transgendered Individuals" 2016 Fordham Int'l L J 613-668
Colson 1986 Wash L Rev
Colson D "How Persistent must the Persistent Objector be?" 1986 Wash L Rev 957-970
Dumberry 2010 ICLQ
Dumberry P "Incoherent and Ineffective: The Concept of Persistent Objector Revisited" 2010 ICLQ 779-802
Hannum 1996 Ga J Int'l & Comp L
Hannum H "The Status of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in National and International Law" 1996 Ga J Int'l & Comp L 287-397
Jordaan 2017 Politikon
Jordaan E "South Africa and Sexual Orientation Rights at the United Nations: Batting for Both Sides" 2017 Politikon 205-230
Lau 2005 Chi J Int'l L
Lau H "Rethinking the Persistent Objector Doctrine in International Human Rights Law" 2005 Chi J Int'l L 495-510
Loschin 1996 UC Davis J Int'l L Pol'y
Loschin L "The Persistent Objector and Customary Human Rights Law: A Proposed Analytical Framework" 1996 UC Davis J Int'l L Pol'y 147-150
McGoldrick 2016 Hum Rts L Rev
McGoldrick D "The Development and Status of Sexual Orientation Discrimination under International Human Rights Law" 2016 Hum Rts L Rev 613-668
Rudman 2015 AHRLJ
Rudman A "The Protection against Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation under the African Human Rights System" 2015 AHRLJ 1-27
Sands 2014 Yale Hum Rts & Dev LJ
Sands P "Treaty, Custom and the Cross-fertilization of International Law" 2014 Yale Hum Rts & Dev L J 85-106
Schachter International Law in Theory and Practice
Schachter O International Law in Theory and Practice: General Course in Public International Law (Martinus Nijhoff Leiden 1982)
Stein 1985 Harv Int'l LJ
Stein T "The Approach of the Different Drummer: The Principle of the Persistent Objector in International Law" 1985 Harv Int'l LJ 457-482
Von Bernstorff 2008 EJIL
Von Bernstorff J "The Changing Fortunes of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Genesis and Symbolic Dimensions of the Turn to Rights in International Law" 2008 EJIL 903-924
Voss 2018 Hum Rts Rev
Voss J "Contesting Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity at the UN Human Rights Council" 2018 Hum Rts Rev 1-22
Weil 1983 AJIL
Weil P "Toward Relative Normativity in International Law" 1983 AJIL 413-442
Case law
ADT v The United Kingdom (App No 35765/97) (2000) 31 EHRR 803
Alekseyev v Russia (App Nos 4916/07, 25924/08 and 14599/09) (2010)
Anglo Norwegian Fisheries Case (United Kingdom v Norway) [1951] ICJ Rep 116
Asylum Case (Colombia v Peru) [1950] ICJ Rep 266
C and LM v UK (App 14753/89) unpublished
Case Concerning Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v United States of America) [1986] ICJ Rep 14
Cossey v UK (App No 10843/84) (1990) 13 EHRR 622
Dudgeon v The United Kingdom (App No 7525/76) (1982) 4 EHRR 149
Dudgeon v United Kingdom ECHR (23 September 1981) Ser A 45
EB v France (App No 43546/02) (2008) 47 EHRR 509
Fretté v France (App No 3651/97) (2002) 38 EHRR 438
Gas and Dubois v France (App No 25952/07) (2010) ECHR 444
Goodwin v UK (App No 28957/95) (2002) 35 EHRR 18
Hämäläinen v Finland (App No 37359/09) (2014) ECHR 877
Handyside v The United Kingdom (App No 5493/72) (7 December 1976)
I v UK (App No 25680/94) (2003) 36 EHRR 53
Karen Atala and Daughters v Chile IACHR (23 July 2008) Ser L/Doc 22 Rev 1
Karlheinz Schmidt v Germany (Judgment of 18 July 1994) Series A No 291-B
Karner v Austria (App No 40016/98) (2003) 38 EHRR 24
Kozak v Poland (App No 13102/02) (2010) 51 EHRR 16
L and V v Austria (App Nos 39392/98 and 39829/98) (2003) 36 EHRR 55
Lustig-Prean and Beckett v The United Kingdom (App Nos 31417/96 and 32377/96) (2000) 29 ECHR 548
Lustig-Preen and Beckett v UK (2000) 29 ECHR 548
Marckx v Belgium (App No 6833/74) (1979) 2 EHRR 330
Michael Domingues v United States Case 12.285 Rep 62/02 IACom, Doc 5 rev 1 913 (2002)
Modinos v Cyprus (App No 15070/89) (1993) 16 EHRR 485
Modinos v Cyprus ECHR (22 April 1993) Ser A 259
Mugenzi v France (App No 52701/09) (2014) ECHR 752
Neulinger and Shuruk v Switzerland (App No 41615/07) (2010) ECHR 1053
Norris v Ireland (App No 10581/83) (1988) 13 EHRR 186
Norris v Ireland ECHR (26 October 1988) Ser A 142
North Sea Continental Shelf [1969] ICJ Rep 3
PB and JS v Austria (App No 18984/02) (2012) 55 EHRR 31
Popov v France (App 39470/07) (2012) ECHR 2070
Rees v UK (App No 9532/81) (1986) 9 EHRR 56
S v UK (App 11716/85) 47 DR 274
Salgueiro da Silva Mouta v Portugal ECHR (21 March 2010) Ser A 741
Salguiero Da Silva Mouta v Portugal (App No 33290/96) (2001) 31 EHRR 47
Schalk and Kopf v Austria (App No 30141/04) (2011) 53 EHRR 20
Sheffield and Horsham v the United Kingdom (App No 23390/94) (1999) 27 EHRR 163
Smith and Grady v The United Kingdom (App Nos 33985/96 and 33986/96) (1999) 29 EHRR 493
Toonen v Australia UN Doc CCPR/C/50/D/488/1992 (1994)
Tyrer v UK (App No 5856/72) (25 April 1978) 2 EHRR 1
Vallianatos v Greece (App Nos 29381/09 and 32684/09) (2014) 59 EHRR 12
WB v Federal Republic of Germany (App No 104/55) (1955)
X v Austria (App No 19010/07) (2013) ECHR 425
X and Y v UK (App No 9368/81) 32 DR 220
X, Y and Z v The United Kingdom (App No 21830/93) (1997) 24 EHRR 1071
Yousef v The Netherlands (App No 33711/96) (2002) ECHR 716
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum v Zimbabwe 245/02, (2006) AHRLR 128 (ACHPR 2006) (21st Activity Report of the ACHPR)
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights & Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe v Zimbabwe, Communication 284/2003
Legislation
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
International instruments
AComHR General Comments on Art 14(1)(d) and (e) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa 52nd Ordinary Session (9 to 22 October 2012)
Advisory Opinion on Proposed Amendments to the Naturalization Provision of the Constitution of Costa Rica OC-(1984) 4/84 IACrtHR
African Commission Concluding Observations and Recommendations on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Periodic Reports of the Republic of Mauritius (May 2009)
African Commission Concluding Observations and Recommendations on the Combined Second Periodic Report under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Initial Report under the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa of the Republic of South Africa 20th Extraordinary Session (9-18 June 2016)
African Commission Concluding Observations and Recommendations on the Initial Periodic Report of the Republic of Liberia on the Implementation of the ACHPR 17th Extraordinary Session (19-28 February 2015)
African Commission Concluding Observations and Recommendations on the 5th Periodic Report of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the Implementation of the ACHPR 57th Ordinary Session (4-18 November 2015)
African Commission Concluding Observations of the African Commission on the 4th Periodic Report of the Republic of Uganda (April-May 2011)
African Commission Concluding Observations on the 3rd Periodic Report of the Republic of Cameroon 15th Extraordinary Session (7-14 March 2014)
Charter of the United Nations (1945)
Committee against Torture General Comment 2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 (2008)
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General Recommendation 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28 (2010)
Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment 13: The Right of the Child to be Free from all Forms of Violence UN Doc CRC/C/GC/13 (2011)
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979)
Declaration on Human Rights and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (2008)
ESCR Committee General Comment 20: Non-discrimination in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights UN Doc E/C.12/GC/20 (2009)
Final Communiqué of the 56th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (2015)
First Report on Jus Cogens by Dire Tladi, Special Rapporteur International Law Commission Sixty-eighth Session, Geneva (2 May-10 June, 4 July-12 August 2016) A/CN.4/693
Human Rights Committee General Comment No 24: Issues Relating to Reservations made upon Ratification or Accession to the Covenant or the Optional Protocols thereto, or in Relation to Declarations under Article 41 of the Covenant on Reservations CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/ Add.6 (1994)
Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity HRC Res 17/19, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/17/19 (2011)
Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity HRC Res 27/32, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/27/32 (2014)
International Commission of Jurists Yogyakarta Principles – Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (2007)
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
International Law Commission Second Report on Identification of Customary International Law by Michael
Wood, Special Rapporteur Sixty-sixth Session Geneva (5 May-6 June, 7 July-8 August 2014)
Obligaciones Estatales en Relación Con el Cambio de Nombre, la Identidad de Género, Y los Derechos Derivados de un Vínculo Entre Parejas del Mismo Sexo. IACtHR Advisory Opinion OC-24/17
Organization of American States American Convention on Human Rights "Pact of San Jose" Costa Rica (1969)
Protection against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity HRC Res 32/02, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/32/2 (2016)
Protection against Violence and other Human Rights Violations against Persons on the Basis of their Real or Imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Adopted at the 55th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in Luanda, Angola (28 April-12 May 2014)
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003)
Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education UN Doc A/65/162 (2010)
Report on Discriminatory Laws and Practices and Acts of Violence against Individuals Based on their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights UN Doc A/HRC/19/41 (2011)
Reports of the Third Committee, 60th Plenary Meeting Thursday, 20 December 2012 UN Doc A/67/PV.60 (2012)
Resolution on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions GA Res 67/168, UN Doc A/RES/67/168 (2012)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969)
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (1993)
Yogyakarta Principles Plus 10 Additional Principles and State Obligations on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics to Complement the Yogyakarta Principles (2017)
Internet sources
Arc International 2016 The Process Leading Up to the Resolution 2016 http://arc-international.net/global-advocacy/human-rights-council/32nd-session-of-the-human-rights-council/appointing-an-independent-expert-on-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-an-analysis-of-process-results-and-implications/ii-the-process-leading-up-to-the-resolution-2016/ accessed 20 September 2018
D'Amato 2010 https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/faculty
workingpapers/116/
D'Amato A 2010 The Concept of Special Custom in International Law https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/facultyworkingpapers/116/ accessed 6 March 2019
ECHR 2013 http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Gender_identity
_ENG.pdf
ECHR 2013 Gender Identity Issues http://www.echr.coe.int/
Documents/FS_Gender_identity_ENG.pdf accessed 1 June 2018
ECHR 2013 http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Homosexuality_
ENG.pdf
ECHR 2013 Homosexuality: Criminal Aspects http://www.echr.coe.int/
Documents/FS_Homo sexuality_ENG.pdf accessed 1 June 2018
ECHR 2018 http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Sexual_orientation_
ENG.pdf
ECHR 2018 Factsheets on Sexual Orientation Issues http://www.echr.
coe.int/Documents/FS_Sexual_orientation_ENG.pdf accessed 1 June 2018
ILGA 2016 https://ilga.org/compilation-adoption-2016-sogi-resolution
ILGA 2016 Compilation of the Adoption of the 2016 SOGI Resolution 30 June 2016 https://ilga.org/compilation-adoption-2016-sogi-resolution accessed 22 May 2018
ILGA 2016 https://ilga.org/downloads/summary_SOGIESCatUPR
_report.pdf
ILGA 2016 Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics https://ilga.org/downloads/summary_SOGIESCatUPR_report.pdf accessed 7 March 2019
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Annika Rudman
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
.png){kind=spacer}