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SUMMARY:Sovereignty Rules:  Human Rights Regimes and State Sovereignty - P
 rof. Laurie Nathan\, Centre for Mediation in Africa\, University of Pretor
 ia
DTSTART:20141117T170000Z
DTEND:20141117T190000Z
UID:TALK55502@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:39422
DESCRIPTION:This paper explores the relationship between Westphalian sover
 eignty\, defined as the state’s domestic autonomy in relation to externa
 l actors\, and international and regional human rights conventions. It dis
 putes the dominant position in the scholarly literature\, namely that the 
 conventions compromise and constrain sovereignty. I argue that\, on the co
 ntrary\, the core international conventions have no effect on the autonomy
  of the state parties because they exclude enforcement and binding adjudic
 ation mechanisms. These conventions are quintessentially sovereignty-respe
 cting institutions. The regional human rights systems in Africa\, the Amer
 icas and Europe are different from the international conventions in that t
 hey have human rights courts with binding decision-making authority\, ther
 eby creating the potential for consensual compromises of sovereignty. From
  a global perspective\, however\, compliance with the courts’ decisions 
 is exceptional and the dominant trend is to respect and protect sovereignt
 y. In general\, the norm of sovereignty takes precedence over the norm of 
 human rights. This does not imply that sovereignty is ethically superior t
 o human rights – rather\, it is a consequence of the elemental fact that
  human rights regimes are constructed and overseen by states\, whose param
 ount interests lie in preserving sovereignty. \n\nRead the paper: http://w
 ww.cghr.polis.cam.ac.uk/news/Nathanseminars
LOCATION:Room 119\, Alison Richard Building\, Sidgwick Site\, 7 West Rd\, 
 CB3 9DT
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