Hilal Elver | University of California, Santa Barbara (original) (raw)

Books by Hilal Elver

This is a chapter on Climate Change and Human Security in the Developing world in the newly publi... more This is a chapter on Climate Change and Human Security in the Developing world in the newly published book "Exploring Emergent Global Thresholds Towards 2030".

In March 2015, international law and human rights scholars, practitioners,and students participat... more In March 2015, international law and human rights scholars, practitioners,and students participatedin a symposium at the UCLA School of Law focusing on the challenges and opportunitiesin realizingthe rightto food in the 21"' Century. I delivered the keynote address at this event, in which I utilized my experience as the UN Special Rapporteuron the Right to Food to reflect on the current status of the right to food worldwide. In this
Essay, I further elucidate issues confronting the right to food. I begin by emphasizing the importance of adopting a human rights based approach to addressinghungerandfood security. Next, I explore the development of the right to food, and the implementation of that right domestically through an analysisofthejusticiabilityoftherighttofood.I identify globalchallenges affecting the eradicationof hunger, and examine alternativesto the current food system. Finally, I conclude this Essay by offering my recommendations
for fostering a coordinated internationalresponse aimed at ensuring the protectionandimplementationofthe righttofood.

In the present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council in accordance with its resolution 22... more In the present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council in accordance with its resolution 22/9, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food explores the obstacles faced by those wishing to seek remedy for violations related to the right to food by analysing the current international legal framework, and identifying examples of good practice as a means of encouraging States to develop judicial remedies in accordance with the optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The report also addresses some issues related to extraterritorial obligations in relation to the right to food.

POMEAS Brief by Hilal Elver

The Middle East has a long history of water related conflict that extends for 5000 years. In the ... more The Middle East has a long history of water related conflict that extends for 5000 years. In the Israel and Palestine context, however, fresh water sharing is not only a question of a resource conflict, but is also a violation of a fundamental human rights, international water law and humanitarian law principles. Israel's almost exclusive control over water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), a feature of its prolonged occupation, constitutes a key obstacle not only the realization of Palestinian rights to water and sanitation but amounts to an infringement on the inalienable Palestinian right of self-determination.

Papers by Hilal Elver

Journal of Environment Quality, 2014

Aracne, 2018

La trasversalità del cosiddetto diritto al cibo offre l’occasione per una trattazione diffusa del... more La trasversalità del cosiddetto diritto al cibo offre l’occasione per una trattazione diffusa del diritto alimentare rispetto alla dicotomia diritto privato diritto pubblico e rispetto al triangolo della giustizia civile, amministrativa e penale; interessando per fonti e competenze, in particolare, il diritto internazionale e dell’Unione Europea, per contenuti il diritto agrario, commerciale, dell’economia e del lavoro, il tributario e il diritto delle religioni.

Yearbook of International Environmental Law, 1993

Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics

Nature food, Jan 16, 2023

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 20, 2004

International yearbook of soil law and policy, 2019

In 2017, food insecurity and malnutrition increased worldwide. This increase in global hunger pos... more In 2017, food insecurity and malnutrition increased worldwide. This increase in global hunger poses a significant threat to the realization of the universal right to food, and is at odds with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal to eradicate hunger and malnutrition by 2030. While the major reason for such an increase is protracted conflicts in various countries, climate change and extreme weather events, intensive industrial agriculture, failure of poverty eradication, and rural-urban development are contributing factors. Most of the time, these situations trigger each other and create severe food crises that could even reach alarming levels of starvation and famine. The importance of responding to root causes of food insecurity and providing long-term policies that focus on protecting vital productive resources while respecting and protecting human rights, especially the right to food and right to access to land and natural resources in the face of climate change, is more urgent than ever to avoid disasters.

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Oct 19, 2021

Routledge eBooks, Jul 5, 2017

Oxford University Press eBooks, Mar 8, 2012

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jun 19, 2012

This chapter deals with a key component of global crisis: the nature of, access to, and the multi... more This chapter deals with a key component of global crisis: the nature of, access to, and the multifaceted laws and policy perspectives governing the use of global freshwater. Its focus is also on the global leadership strategies and struggles concerning access to a vital resource for human survival. This struggle involves global market forces and civil society movements. It concerns issues of environmental justice and human security. On the one hand, neoliberal free market principles and new constitutional forms of international economic and trade law, have led to the treatment of vital resources such as water as saleable 'commodities'. On the other hand, numerous civil society organizations and human rights lawyers argue that access to drinking water should be a fundamental human right. This paper argues for an approach to water governance that treats water as a fundamental human right rather than simply as a commodity that is best governed by private corporations and market forces. Introduction: fresh water scarcity This chapter explores some of the legal, political and economic structures and processes that are shaping leadership strategies for addressing the emerging global freshwater crisis. It discusses international water laws; control over the market for freshwater supply and the various political forces shaping global water policies. It addresses these questions not simply from the viewpoint of the efficient allocation of water as a commodity, but more fundamentally, as a question of access to water from a human rights perspective. This clash of perspectives will shape the future governance of global freshwater supply in coming years. The World Health Organization and UNICEF estimate that approximately 1 billion people lack access to adequate drinking water while 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. The majority of these people live in the developing world. Despite some improvements in recent years and the high priority given to improved access to water and sanitation services by various governments, the UN and a range of civil society organizations, it is estimated that if current trends continue, by 2015, 672 million people will still lack access to adequate drinking water and 2.7 billion people to basic sanitation (WHO 2010). Moreover, as many as 5 million people, the majority of whom are children, die annually from preventable water-related diseases. The lack of access to water and sanitation services has particularly negative implications for women and girls who tend to be responsible for travelling long distances in order to bring water to their homes. (WHO 2010: 29). While the world population quadrupled in the last century, the amount of freshwater consumed has increased many, many times more. This, coupled with the current acceleration of urban growth, is putting massive pressure on our planet's freshwater resources. It is estimated that by 2030, half the world will be living under severe water stress. This water scarcity affects countries highly unevenly. For instance, according to a report released by the Asia Society Leadership Group on Water Security in 2009, one of the most affected areas globally will be Asia, where the urban population is likely to increase by 60 % by 2025. As the water needs of 2" " growing cities worldwide increase, the need to find sustainable urban water solutions has never been more urgent. Moreover, availability of freshwater resources is part of the problem of the sustainability of the biosphere that has already been significantly affected by early signs of global warming (IPCC 2007). Shifting precipitation patterns and increased melting of mountain glaciers disrupt previous water patterns, upsetting the timing and quantity of flows. Moreover, rising sea levels will exacerbate saltwater intrusion into the lower reaches of many rivers. Stronger storm surges may also inundate low-lying coastal deltas. States may suffer both chronic pressures, such as decreased freshwater availability, and acute crises, such as flooding or drought. Both types of threats can impair food production, endanger public health, stress established settlement patterns, and jeopardize livelihoods and social wellbeing. The risks of global warming on water resources will be particularly damaging to countries in the developing world. Farming, fisheries, forestry, and other environmentally sensitive sectors represent significant portions of most economies of most developing countries, making them particularly vulnerable to climate impacts. As such, without effective leadership, the crisis of water availability looms increasingly large. The shifting focus of international water law and practice Water has traditionally been considered a part of the ecosystem itself and a public good. Its direct relation with human health is one of the major preoccupations of domestic and international law. Because water is such a versatile resource, several specific areas of law, from environmental to human rights and finally international economic law (or trade law), are regulating or at least claiming to regulate the use and distribution of water.

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Feb 6, 2014

International environmental law, as a new sub-field of international law, has brought new princip... more International environmental law, as a new sub-field of international law, has brought new principles to deal with global environmental problems. Some are incompatible with traditional absolute state sovereignty, equal participation, limited state responsibility, and the international economic order based on New Constitutionalism. Many contradictory principles in the international legal order and in judicial responses in relation to environmental protection and resource scarcity will be discussed in this paper. While this material competition is happening at the international level, states, especially transitional and newly democratic states, are implementing such principles within their own conflicted domestic political order. In the process of internalizing these principles, states experience competing regulatory options. The paper focuses on the adverse affects of contradictory constitutional rules relating to the environment, natural resources, and the free market.

This is a chapter on Climate Change and Human Security in the Developing world in the newly publi... more This is a chapter on Climate Change and Human Security in the Developing world in the newly published book "Exploring Emergent Global Thresholds Towards 2030".

In March 2015, international law and human rights scholars, practitioners,and students participat... more In March 2015, international law and human rights scholars, practitioners,and students participatedin a symposium at the UCLA School of Law focusing on the challenges and opportunitiesin realizingthe rightto food in the 21"' Century. I delivered the keynote address at this event, in which I utilized my experience as the UN Special Rapporteuron the Right to Food to reflect on the current status of the right to food worldwide. In this
Essay, I further elucidate issues confronting the right to food. I begin by emphasizing the importance of adopting a human rights based approach to addressinghungerandfood security. Next, I explore the development of the right to food, and the implementation of that right domestically through an analysisofthejusticiabilityoftherighttofood.I identify globalchallenges affecting the eradicationof hunger, and examine alternativesto the current food system. Finally, I conclude this Essay by offering my recommendations
for fostering a coordinated internationalresponse aimed at ensuring the protectionandimplementationofthe righttofood.

In the present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council in accordance with its resolution 22... more In the present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council in accordance with its resolution 22/9, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food explores the obstacles faced by those wishing to seek remedy for violations related to the right to food by analysing the current international legal framework, and identifying examples of good practice as a means of encouraging States to develop judicial remedies in accordance with the optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The report also addresses some issues related to extraterritorial obligations in relation to the right to food.

The Middle East has a long history of water related conflict that extends for 5000 years. In the ... more The Middle East has a long history of water related conflict that extends for 5000 years. In the Israel and Palestine context, however, fresh water sharing is not only a question of a resource conflict, but is also a violation of a fundamental human rights, international water law and humanitarian law principles. Israel's almost exclusive control over water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), a feature of its prolonged occupation, constitutes a key obstacle not only the realization of Palestinian rights to water and sanitation but amounts to an infringement on the inalienable Palestinian right of self-determination.

Journal of Environment Quality, 2014

Aracne, 2018

La trasversalità del cosiddetto diritto al cibo offre l’occasione per una trattazione diffusa del... more La trasversalità del cosiddetto diritto al cibo offre l’occasione per una trattazione diffusa del diritto alimentare rispetto alla dicotomia diritto privato diritto pubblico e rispetto al triangolo della giustizia civile, amministrativa e penale; interessando per fonti e competenze, in particolare, il diritto internazionale e dell’Unione Europea, per contenuti il diritto agrario, commerciale, dell’economia e del lavoro, il tributario e il diritto delle religioni.

Yearbook of International Environmental Law, 1993

Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics

Nature food, Jan 16, 2023

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 20, 2004

International yearbook of soil law and policy, 2019

In 2017, food insecurity and malnutrition increased worldwide. This increase in global hunger pos... more In 2017, food insecurity and malnutrition increased worldwide. This increase in global hunger poses a significant threat to the realization of the universal right to food, and is at odds with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal to eradicate hunger and malnutrition by 2030. While the major reason for such an increase is protracted conflicts in various countries, climate change and extreme weather events, intensive industrial agriculture, failure of poverty eradication, and rural-urban development are contributing factors. Most of the time, these situations trigger each other and create severe food crises that could even reach alarming levels of starvation and famine. The importance of responding to root causes of food insecurity and providing long-term policies that focus on protecting vital productive resources while respecting and protecting human rights, especially the right to food and right to access to land and natural resources in the face of climate change, is more urgent than ever to avoid disasters.

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Oct 19, 2021

Routledge eBooks, Jul 5, 2017

Oxford University Press eBooks, Mar 8, 2012

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jun 19, 2012

This chapter deals with a key component of global crisis: the nature of, access to, and the multi... more This chapter deals with a key component of global crisis: the nature of, access to, and the multifaceted laws and policy perspectives governing the use of global freshwater. Its focus is also on the global leadership strategies and struggles concerning access to a vital resource for human survival. This struggle involves global market forces and civil society movements. It concerns issues of environmental justice and human security. On the one hand, neoliberal free market principles and new constitutional forms of international economic and trade law, have led to the treatment of vital resources such as water as saleable 'commodities'. On the other hand, numerous civil society organizations and human rights lawyers argue that access to drinking water should be a fundamental human right. This paper argues for an approach to water governance that treats water as a fundamental human right rather than simply as a commodity that is best governed by private corporations and market forces. Introduction: fresh water scarcity This chapter explores some of the legal, political and economic structures and processes that are shaping leadership strategies for addressing the emerging global freshwater crisis. It discusses international water laws; control over the market for freshwater supply and the various political forces shaping global water policies. It addresses these questions not simply from the viewpoint of the efficient allocation of water as a commodity, but more fundamentally, as a question of access to water from a human rights perspective. This clash of perspectives will shape the future governance of global freshwater supply in coming years. The World Health Organization and UNICEF estimate that approximately 1 billion people lack access to adequate drinking water while 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. The majority of these people live in the developing world. Despite some improvements in recent years and the high priority given to improved access to water and sanitation services by various governments, the UN and a range of civil society organizations, it is estimated that if current trends continue, by 2015, 672 million people will still lack access to adequate drinking water and 2.7 billion people to basic sanitation (WHO 2010). Moreover, as many as 5 million people, the majority of whom are children, die annually from preventable water-related diseases. The lack of access to water and sanitation services has particularly negative implications for women and girls who tend to be responsible for travelling long distances in order to bring water to their homes. (WHO 2010: 29). While the world population quadrupled in the last century, the amount of freshwater consumed has increased many, many times more. This, coupled with the current acceleration of urban growth, is putting massive pressure on our planet's freshwater resources. It is estimated that by 2030, half the world will be living under severe water stress. This water scarcity affects countries highly unevenly. For instance, according to a report released by the Asia Society Leadership Group on Water Security in 2009, one of the most affected areas globally will be Asia, where the urban population is likely to increase by 60 % by 2025. As the water needs of 2" " growing cities worldwide increase, the need to find sustainable urban water solutions has never been more urgent. Moreover, availability of freshwater resources is part of the problem of the sustainability of the biosphere that has already been significantly affected by early signs of global warming (IPCC 2007). Shifting precipitation patterns and increased melting of mountain glaciers disrupt previous water patterns, upsetting the timing and quantity of flows. Moreover, rising sea levels will exacerbate saltwater intrusion into the lower reaches of many rivers. Stronger storm surges may also inundate low-lying coastal deltas. States may suffer both chronic pressures, such as decreased freshwater availability, and acute crises, such as flooding or drought. Both types of threats can impair food production, endanger public health, stress established settlement patterns, and jeopardize livelihoods and social wellbeing. The risks of global warming on water resources will be particularly damaging to countries in the developing world. Farming, fisheries, forestry, and other environmentally sensitive sectors represent significant portions of most economies of most developing countries, making them particularly vulnerable to climate impacts. As such, without effective leadership, the crisis of water availability looms increasingly large. The shifting focus of international water law and practice Water has traditionally been considered a part of the ecosystem itself and a public good. Its direct relation with human health is one of the major preoccupations of domestic and international law. Because water is such a versatile resource, several specific areas of law, from environmental to human rights and finally international economic law (or trade law), are regulating or at least claiming to regulate the use and distribution of water.

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Feb 6, 2014

International environmental law, as a new sub-field of international law, has brought new princip... more International environmental law, as a new sub-field of international law, has brought new principles to deal with global environmental problems. Some are incompatible with traditional absolute state sovereignty, equal participation, limited state responsibility, and the international economic order based on New Constitutionalism. Many contradictory principles in the international legal order and in judicial responses in relation to environmental protection and resource scarcity will be discussed in this paper. While this material competition is happening at the international level, states, especially transitional and newly democratic states, are implementing such principles within their own conflicted domestic political order. In the process of internalizing these principles, states experience competing regulatory options. The paper focuses on the adverse affects of contradictory constitutional rules relating to the environment, natural resources, and the free market.

Oxford University Press eBooks, Mar 10, 2021

This chapter focuses on food security. Although ‘food security’ is not a legal concept and does n... more This chapter focuses on food security. Although ‘food security’ is not a legal concept and does not impose rights or responsibilities, it is a necessary precondition to the full enjoyment of the right to food. The right to food is enshrined in article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as an integral part of the right to an adequate standard of living. As this right is indivisible, interrelated, and interdependent with all other fundamental rights and freedoms, it is ultimately essential for a secure, safe, and harmonious world. The chapter demonstrates that severe food insecurity continues to inflict massive casualties and create and prolong conflicts and emergencies despite well-established rules of international law, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law. It then looks at the international law principles protecting food security with the aim to diffuse emergency situations that create instability, inequality, and unrest, including those resulting from conflicts and natural disasters. The chapter provides suggestions for enforcing and enhancing existing laws and for the adoption of a new international convention which will set out clear duties and obligations for States and non-State actors with a view to eliminating food insecurity and preventing violations of the right to food for a safer, more secure world.

https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fss2015/1003/thumbnail.jp

Oxford University Press eBooks, Mar 8, 2012

Oxford University Press eBooks, Mar 8, 2012

Oxford University Press eBooks, Mar 8, 2012

Oxford University Press eBooks, Mar 8, 2012

The rights to vote and to stand for election are lately the center of attention of the European C... more The rights to vote and to stand for election are lately the center of attention of the European Court of Human Rights. The recent jurisprudence demonstrates the growing importance of participation rights in the Convention system and justifies further research of this trend. The Council of Europe member states have, in response to this trend, criticized the Court for becoming too activist and departing from the parties' intentions at the time Article 3 of Protocol 1 was adopted. Thus, the Court's legitimacy has often been called into question. This thesis focuses on two very controversial judgments that are still not implemented, Hirst v. United Kingdom (No. 2) and Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reasons for non-implementation lie not only with the political sensitivity of the issues in question, but also with the implications the judgments have in the countries concerned. This