Richard Carver | Oxford Brookes University (original) (raw)

Papers by Richard Carver

Research paper thumbnail of Does Torture Prevention Work?

Does Torture Prevention Work?, 2016

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Research paper thumbnail of Forum: Human Rights Practice in the Age of Pandemic

Journal of Human Rights Practice, 2020

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Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating National Preventive Mechanisms A Conceptual Model

Journal of Human Rights Practice, 2020

This article outlines a rigorous and systematic approach to evaluating both the performance and i... more This article outlines a rigorous and systematic approach to evaluating both the performance and impact of national preventive mechanisms (NPMs) formed under the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Many human rights practitioners remain sceptical about both the desirability and feasibility of evaluating human rights work. One obstacle has been that 'indicators' of human rights progress are formulated without evidence that they actually have a causal relationship to the intended outcome. By contrast, the tools used in this assessment model are derived from scientific research into what forms of torture prevention actually work, meaning that greater weight can be assigned to more effective activities (and vice versa). The model is piloted in an assessment of the performance and impact of the Georgian NPM, which in ten years of work is shown to have had a significant impact in reducing the incidence of torture and other ill-treatment, particularly in police detention and prisons.

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Research paper thumbnail of DOES THE GEORGIAN NPM WORK? An assessment of 10 years of torture prevention

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Research paper thumbnail of Refugees and National Human Rights Institutions: A Growing Engagement

In recent years national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have begun to bridge the long-standing... more In recent years national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have begun to bridge the long-standing gap between practice in the refugee and human rights fields. Often using their mandate as national preventive mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, NHRIs visit refugees in detention as well as in other types of camp. This has been particularly marked among Balkan ombudsman institutions in their response to the recent mass influx of refugees.

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Research paper thumbnail of National human rights institutions, displacement and human security

In Math Noortmann and Cedric Ryngaert (eds), Human Security and International Law: The Challenge ... more In Math Noortmann and Cedric Ryngaert (eds), Human Security and International Law: The Challenge of Non- State Actors, Intersentia, 2014.

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Research paper thumbnail of Measuring the impact and development effectiveness of national human rights institutions: a proposed framework for evaluation

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Research paper thumbnail of Central and Eastern Europe: the Ombudsman as agent of international law

In Ryan Goodman and Thomas Pegram (eds), Human Rights, State Compliance and Social Change: Assess... more In Ryan Goodman and Thomas Pegram (eds), Human Rights, State Compliance and Social Change: Assessing National Human Rights Institutions, Cambridge University Press 2012.

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Research paper thumbnail of Is There a Right to Shelter After Disaster

Environmental Hazards, 2012

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Research paper thumbnail of One NHRI or Many? How Many Institutions Does It Take to Protect Human Rights? – Lessons from the European Experience

Journal of Human Rights Practice, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Central Asian NHRIs and the Paris Principles: compliance in law and practice

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Research paper thumbnail of A New Answer to an Old Question: National Human Rights Institutions and the Domestication of International Law

Human Rights Law Review, 2010

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Research paper thumbnail of National Human Rights Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe

Assessing National Human Rights Institutions, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Assessing the Effectiveness of National Human Rights Institutions

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Research paper thumbnail of Zimbabwe: Drawing a Line Through the past

Journal of African Law, 1993

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Research paper thumbnail of Called to Account: How African Governments Investigate Human Rights Violations

African Affairs, 1990

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Books by Richard Carver

Research paper thumbnail of A Mission for Justice: The International Ombudsman Institute 1978-2018

Prologue Bernard Frank had a vision. The Pennsylvania lawyer saw before most of his contemporari... more Prologue

Bernard Frank had a vision. The Pennsylvania lawyer saw before most of his contemporaries that the ombudsman could be crucial to protecting human rights. He described the ombudsman as “one of the few institutions totally and completely devoted to making right if there has been a wrong against a person.” More precisely, Frank saw the importance of international cooperation among ombudsmen, an ideal he promoted with increasing vigour from the mid-1960s onwards. To his colleagues this could seem more than a little obsessive. One early IOI board member described how a brief phone call from Frank could turn into a rambling hour of ombudsman trivia. Yet it was this vision, or obsession, that led directly to the formation of the International Ombudsman Institute.

Bernard Frank was an unlikely leader of the international ombudsman movement. Born in the coal-mining town of Wilkes-Barre in 1913, he travelled 60 miles down the road to study at Muhlenberg, a small liberal arts college in Allentown and thence to the University of Pennsylvania law school. He returned to Allentown to set up a legal practice in 1939, and there he remained until retirement. Except… in common with millions of young men of his generation, and several of the other founders of the IOI, Bernard Frank fought in the Second World War. He gained four bronze stars as a master sergeant in the 94th US infantry division in Europe. His advocacy of human rights was clearly formed by this experience and his strong Jewish ideals of community service. So, while his professional life played out in a small area of eastern Pennsylvania, hundreds of miles from the nearest ombudsman, Frank’s vision was one of the triggers for a global ombudsman network. One of his frustrations was that his beloved ombudsman concept was so weak in his homeland. His experience in legal practice had shown him that the highly litigious but expensive US model for protecting citizens’ rights was far from perfect. The same board member whom Frank irritated with his lengthy phone calls described him as “an idealist” and “a very affable gentleman.”

* * *

Frank’s idea for an “international Ombudsman center” took shape in the late 1960s. To understand the visionary nature of the project, it is important to recall how small the ombudsman world was at that stage. The world’s first parliamentary ombudsman, which provides the template for all that has followed, was created in the Swedish constitution of 1809, although it was preceded by other offices bearing the ombudsman name that would not meet modern standards of independence. The essential characteristic of the Swedish Ombudsman was that it was accountable to the legislature and an independent, non-judicial means for citizens to seek remedy for administrative malpractice. By the 1960s, three other Nordic countries – Finland, Denmark and Norway – had also established ombudsman institutions. In 1962, New Zealand became the first non-Nordic country to set up an ombudsman (Israel’s State Comptroller had been established in 1949 but did not take on an Ombudsman role until 1971). The first New Zealand Ombudsman was another war veteran, Sir Guy Powles, who was also to be a central figure in the formation of the IOI. From New Zealand, the Ombudsman idea spread rapidly in the English-speaking Commonwealth. England and Wales established its Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in 1967, while there were several provincial or state ombudsmen in Canada and Australia by the end of the decade. The United States was behind the trend. The first state ombudsman was established in Hawaii in 1969, but few others have followed. Even today the legislative ombudsman can only be found in a handful of US states and counties. There has been a proliferation of organizational ombudsmen in private companies, the media, and universities, a trend that had already begun in the 1960s. Yet Bernard Frank did not regard these as belonging properly within the ombudsman family and did not see a place for them in his proposed international centre. Hindsight tells us that there was a massive subsequent growth in the ombudsman phenomenon, throughout the following decades, accelerating in the 1990s. Yet, it took foresight to appreciate the potential importance of ombudsmen in the 1960s.

Bernard Frank first presented his proposal to the Bangkok Conference on World Peace through Law in 1969. Subsequently he pushed for greater formal collaboration through the ombudsman committees of both the American and International Bar Associations (ABA and IBA - both of which Frank chaired and both of which he was instrumental in forming). At this stage, however, these were no more than statements of intent. For them to become something more, Frank was to rely on Canadian support.

By the mid-1970s the ombudsman concept was spreading rapidly in Canada. There has never been a general legislative ombudsman at the federal level, but most provinces had ombudsmen by the time of the Canadian Ombudsman Conference at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September 1975. At this meeting, the Canadians endorsed Frank’s proposal. However, another parallel institutional development was to be crucial to realizing it.

The IBA’s Ombudsman Committee had established an International Ombudsman Steering Committee. The first aim of this committee was to organize an international conference of ombudsmen in 1976. The conference was to be held in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta and seat of Canada’s first provincial ombudsman.

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Research paper thumbnail of Does Torture Prevention Work?

In the past three decades, international and regional human rights bodies have developed an ever-... more In the past three decades, international and regional human rights bodies have developed an ever-lengthening list of measures that states are required to adopt in order to prevent torture. But do any of these mechanisms actually work? This study is the first systematic analysis of the effectiveness of torture prevention. Primary research was conducted in 16 countries, looking at their experience of torture and prevention mechanisms over a 30-year period. Data was analysed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques. Prevention measures do work, although some are much more effective than others. Most important of all are the safeguards that should be applied in the first hours and days after a person is taken into custody. Notification of family and access to an independent lawyer and doctor have a significant impact in reducing torture. The investigation and prosecution of torturers and the creation of independent monitoring bodies are also important in reducing torture. An important caveat to the conclusion that prevention works is that is actual practice in police stations and detention centres that matters – not treaties ratified or laws on the statute book.

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Research paper thumbnail of Freedom of Expression, Media Law and Defamation

A reference and training manual on defamation law and freedom of expression, with a strong emphas... more A reference and training manual on defamation law and freedom of expression, with a strong emphasis on Europe. Published by the Media Legal Defence Initiative (http://www.mediadefence.org).

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Research paper thumbnail of Training manual on international and comparative media and freedom of expression law

A reference and training manual on media and freedom of expression law, published by the Media Le... more A reference and training manual on media and freedom of expression law, published by the Media Legal Defence Initiative (http://www.mediadefence.org).

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Research paper thumbnail of Does Torture Prevention Work?

Does Torture Prevention Work?, 2016

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Research paper thumbnail of Forum: Human Rights Practice in the Age of Pandemic

Journal of Human Rights Practice, 2020

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating National Preventive Mechanisms A Conceptual Model

Journal of Human Rights Practice, 2020

This article outlines a rigorous and systematic approach to evaluating both the performance and i... more This article outlines a rigorous and systematic approach to evaluating both the performance and impact of national preventive mechanisms (NPMs) formed under the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Many human rights practitioners remain sceptical about both the desirability and feasibility of evaluating human rights work. One obstacle has been that 'indicators' of human rights progress are formulated without evidence that they actually have a causal relationship to the intended outcome. By contrast, the tools used in this assessment model are derived from scientific research into what forms of torture prevention actually work, meaning that greater weight can be assigned to more effective activities (and vice versa). The model is piloted in an assessment of the performance and impact of the Georgian NPM, which in ten years of work is shown to have had a significant impact in reducing the incidence of torture and other ill-treatment, particularly in police detention and prisons.

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Research paper thumbnail of DOES THE GEORGIAN NPM WORK? An assessment of 10 years of torture prevention

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Refugees and National Human Rights Institutions: A Growing Engagement

In recent years national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have begun to bridge the long-standing... more In recent years national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have begun to bridge the long-standing gap between practice in the refugee and human rights fields. Often using their mandate as national preventive mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, NHRIs visit refugees in detention as well as in other types of camp. This has been particularly marked among Balkan ombudsman institutions in their response to the recent mass influx of refugees.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of National human rights institutions, displacement and human security

In Math Noortmann and Cedric Ryngaert (eds), Human Security and International Law: The Challenge ... more In Math Noortmann and Cedric Ryngaert (eds), Human Security and International Law: The Challenge of Non- State Actors, Intersentia, 2014.

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Research paper thumbnail of Measuring the impact and development effectiveness of national human rights institutions: a proposed framework for evaluation

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Central and Eastern Europe: the Ombudsman as agent of international law

In Ryan Goodman and Thomas Pegram (eds), Human Rights, State Compliance and Social Change: Assess... more In Ryan Goodman and Thomas Pegram (eds), Human Rights, State Compliance and Social Change: Assessing National Human Rights Institutions, Cambridge University Press 2012.

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Research paper thumbnail of Is There a Right to Shelter After Disaster

Environmental Hazards, 2012

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Research paper thumbnail of One NHRI or Many? How Many Institutions Does It Take to Protect Human Rights? – Lessons from the European Experience

Journal of Human Rights Practice, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Central Asian NHRIs and the Paris Principles: compliance in law and practice

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of A New Answer to an Old Question: National Human Rights Institutions and the Domestication of International Law

Human Rights Law Review, 2010

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Research paper thumbnail of National Human Rights Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe

Assessing National Human Rights Institutions, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Assessing the Effectiveness of National Human Rights Institutions

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Research paper thumbnail of Zimbabwe: Drawing a Line Through the past

Journal of African Law, 1993

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Research paper thumbnail of Called to Account: How African Governments Investigate Human Rights Violations

African Affairs, 1990

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Research paper thumbnail of A Mission for Justice: The International Ombudsman Institute 1978-2018

Prologue Bernard Frank had a vision. The Pennsylvania lawyer saw before most of his contemporari... more Prologue

Bernard Frank had a vision. The Pennsylvania lawyer saw before most of his contemporaries that the ombudsman could be crucial to protecting human rights. He described the ombudsman as “one of the few institutions totally and completely devoted to making right if there has been a wrong against a person.” More precisely, Frank saw the importance of international cooperation among ombudsmen, an ideal he promoted with increasing vigour from the mid-1960s onwards. To his colleagues this could seem more than a little obsessive. One early IOI board member described how a brief phone call from Frank could turn into a rambling hour of ombudsman trivia. Yet it was this vision, or obsession, that led directly to the formation of the International Ombudsman Institute.

Bernard Frank was an unlikely leader of the international ombudsman movement. Born in the coal-mining town of Wilkes-Barre in 1913, he travelled 60 miles down the road to study at Muhlenberg, a small liberal arts college in Allentown and thence to the University of Pennsylvania law school. He returned to Allentown to set up a legal practice in 1939, and there he remained until retirement. Except… in common with millions of young men of his generation, and several of the other founders of the IOI, Bernard Frank fought in the Second World War. He gained four bronze stars as a master sergeant in the 94th US infantry division in Europe. His advocacy of human rights was clearly formed by this experience and his strong Jewish ideals of community service. So, while his professional life played out in a small area of eastern Pennsylvania, hundreds of miles from the nearest ombudsman, Frank’s vision was one of the triggers for a global ombudsman network. One of his frustrations was that his beloved ombudsman concept was so weak in his homeland. His experience in legal practice had shown him that the highly litigious but expensive US model for protecting citizens’ rights was far from perfect. The same board member whom Frank irritated with his lengthy phone calls described him as “an idealist” and “a very affable gentleman.”

* * *

Frank’s idea for an “international Ombudsman center” took shape in the late 1960s. To understand the visionary nature of the project, it is important to recall how small the ombudsman world was at that stage. The world’s first parliamentary ombudsman, which provides the template for all that has followed, was created in the Swedish constitution of 1809, although it was preceded by other offices bearing the ombudsman name that would not meet modern standards of independence. The essential characteristic of the Swedish Ombudsman was that it was accountable to the legislature and an independent, non-judicial means for citizens to seek remedy for administrative malpractice. By the 1960s, three other Nordic countries – Finland, Denmark and Norway – had also established ombudsman institutions. In 1962, New Zealand became the first non-Nordic country to set up an ombudsman (Israel’s State Comptroller had been established in 1949 but did not take on an Ombudsman role until 1971). The first New Zealand Ombudsman was another war veteran, Sir Guy Powles, who was also to be a central figure in the formation of the IOI. From New Zealand, the Ombudsman idea spread rapidly in the English-speaking Commonwealth. England and Wales established its Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in 1967, while there were several provincial or state ombudsmen in Canada and Australia by the end of the decade. The United States was behind the trend. The first state ombudsman was established in Hawaii in 1969, but few others have followed. Even today the legislative ombudsman can only be found in a handful of US states and counties. There has been a proliferation of organizational ombudsmen in private companies, the media, and universities, a trend that had already begun in the 1960s. Yet Bernard Frank did not regard these as belonging properly within the ombudsman family and did not see a place for them in his proposed international centre. Hindsight tells us that there was a massive subsequent growth in the ombudsman phenomenon, throughout the following decades, accelerating in the 1990s. Yet, it took foresight to appreciate the potential importance of ombudsmen in the 1960s.

Bernard Frank first presented his proposal to the Bangkok Conference on World Peace through Law in 1969. Subsequently he pushed for greater formal collaboration through the ombudsman committees of both the American and International Bar Associations (ABA and IBA - both of which Frank chaired and both of which he was instrumental in forming). At this stage, however, these were no more than statements of intent. For them to become something more, Frank was to rely on Canadian support.

By the mid-1970s the ombudsman concept was spreading rapidly in Canada. There has never been a general legislative ombudsman at the federal level, but most provinces had ombudsmen by the time of the Canadian Ombudsman Conference at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September 1975. At this meeting, the Canadians endorsed Frank’s proposal. However, another parallel institutional development was to be crucial to realizing it.

The IBA’s Ombudsman Committee had established an International Ombudsman Steering Committee. The first aim of this committee was to organize an international conference of ombudsmen in 1976. The conference was to be held in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta and seat of Canada’s first provincial ombudsman.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Does Torture Prevention Work?

In the past three decades, international and regional human rights bodies have developed an ever-... more In the past three decades, international and regional human rights bodies have developed an ever-lengthening list of measures that states are required to adopt in order to prevent torture. But do any of these mechanisms actually work? This study is the first systematic analysis of the effectiveness of torture prevention. Primary research was conducted in 16 countries, looking at their experience of torture and prevention mechanisms over a 30-year period. Data was analysed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques. Prevention measures do work, although some are much more effective than others. Most important of all are the safeguards that should be applied in the first hours and days after a person is taken into custody. Notification of family and access to an independent lawyer and doctor have a significant impact in reducing torture. The investigation and prosecution of torturers and the creation of independent monitoring bodies are also important in reducing torture. An important caveat to the conclusion that prevention works is that is actual practice in police stations and detention centres that matters – not treaties ratified or laws on the statute book.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Freedom of Expression, Media Law and Defamation

A reference and training manual on defamation law and freedom of expression, with a strong emphas... more A reference and training manual on defamation law and freedom of expression, with a strong emphasis on Europe. Published by the Media Legal Defence Initiative (http://www.mediadefence.org).

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Research paper thumbnail of Training manual on international and comparative media and freedom of expression law

A reference and training manual on media and freedom of expression law, published by the Media Le... more A reference and training manual on media and freedom of expression law, published by the Media Legal Defence Initiative (http://www.mediadefence.org).

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Research paper thumbnail of Performance and Legitimacy: national human rights institutions

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Research paper thumbnail of The Struggle for Health: Medicine and the Politics of Underdevelopment

Africa, 1986

Indeed, the strength of this book lies in the authors' serious attempt to establish the link... more Indeed, the strength of this book lies in the authors' serious attempt to establish the links between the less developed and industrialized worlds. Through this comparison readers get a historical understanding of the context of change in health experience: that mortality and morbidity ...

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Research paper thumbnail of A Commentary on the Paris Principles on National Human Rights Institutions

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Research paper thumbnail of Detention safeguards: the key to preventing torture

The second of three blog posts at International Law Observer

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Research paper thumbnail of Does Torture Prevention Work?

The first of three blog posts at International Law Observer on the findings of our book on tortur... more The first of three blog posts at International Law Observer on the findings of our book on torture prevention.

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Research paper thumbnail of Does torture prevention work - video

Blog post linking to a video where Dr Lisa Handley and I are interviewed about the findings of ou... more Blog post linking to a video where Dr Lisa Handley and I are interviewed about the findings of our recently completed research and the book Does Torture Prevention Work?

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Research paper thumbnail of The Chakrabarti Report: Through a human rights lens

Blog post on left-wing antisemitism

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Research paper thumbnail of People smuggling - the case for evidence-based policy

Blog post on the Mediterranean and Aegean refugee crises

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Research paper thumbnail of Measuring human rights in order to improve them

Blog post about human rights indicators

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