Matthew Saul | University of Oslo (original) (raw)
Papers by Matthew Saul
The International Journal of Human Rights , 2024
How are local and regional authorities performing on human rights? How might they be strengthened... more How are local and regional authorities performing on human rights? How might they be strengthened as human rights actors? This special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (IJHR) contributes to the growing body of human rights scholarship on subnational authorities.
Routledge eBooks, Apr 9, 2024
This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when ap... more This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when applying the provisions of international human rights treaties. It brings into focus a methodological framework for operationalising international human rights law in judicial contexts. The chapter begins with a short overview of the main global and regional human rights treaties. This highlights key similarities and differences in the contents and infrastructure of human rights treaties. The next section considers key concepts that help to explain the nature of human rights-based obligations. The main part of the chapter addresses three central topics from the methodological toolbox. First, interpretation of human rights treaties. Second, tests and thresholds for applying human rights provisions. Third, deference to non-judicial institutions in the adjudication of rights. These are all topics that any institution adjudicating rights will encounter. The analysis in this chapter provides a reference point for subsequent chapters in this volume, which identify and examine the significance of the choices that Indonesian judges make in the application of human rights.
Science Translational Medicine, 2020
Circulating transcripts reflect biologically relevant changes in early-onset severe preeclampsia ... more Circulating transcripts reflect biologically relevant changes in early-onset severe preeclampsia and can accurately classify patient status.
Aksel Tømte and Eko Riyadi (eds.) International Human Rights and Local Courts: Human Rights Interpretation in Indonesia (Routledge, 2024 forthcoming)., 2024
This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when ap... more This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when applying the provisions of international human rights treaties. It brings into focus a methodological framework for operationalising international human rights law in judicial contexts.
The chapter begins with a short overview of the main global and regional human rights treaties. This highlights key similarities and differences in the contents and infrastructure of human rights treaties. The next section considers key concepts that help to explain the nature of human rights-based obligations.
The main part of the chapter addresses three central topics from the methodological toolbox. First, interpretation of human rights treaties. Second, tests and thresholds for applying human rights provisions. Third, deference to non-judicial institutions in the adjudication of rights. These are all topics that any institution adjudicating rights will encounter.
The analysis in this chapter provides a reference point for subsequent chapters in this volume, which identify and examine the significance of the choices that Indonesian judges make in the application of human rights.
Social Science Research Network, Jul 1, 2013
Part 1 The Changing Face of International Adjudication 1. Private Disputes and the Public Interes... more Part 1 The Changing Face of International Adjudication 1. Private Disputes and the Public Interest in International Law Vaughan Lowe 2. The International Court of Justice and Environmental Disputes Malgosia Fitzmaurice 3. Complaint and Grievance Mechanisms in International Dispute Settlement Duncan French and Richard Kirkham 4. Stuck in the Middle With You?: Alternative Approaches to Realising Accountability for Human Rights Violations by Business Sorcha Macleod Part 2 Problems and Techniques in Substantive Areas of International Law 5. Practice and Procedure of Dispute Settlement in Individual Communication Cases within the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Congruence or Conflict? Sandy Ghandhi 6. Trends in Dispute Settlement in the Law of the Sea: Towards the Increasing Availability of Compulsory Means Robin Churchill 7. The WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism as a New Technique for Settling Disputes in International Law Sury...
The Practice of Shared Responsibility in International Law
This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, ... more This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples (discussed respectively in section 2, 3 and 4) represent a situation of trusteeship, a situation of partial territorial administration, and a situation of plenary territorial administration. By examining three different forms of administration, this chapter helps to demonstrate the variety in the responsibility issues that can arise when international actors (third states and/or international organisations) undertake the administration of a territory.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021
How should we understand the function of the right to self-determination in situations of prolong... more How should we understand the function of the right to self-determination in situations of prolonged occupation? To shed light on this question, the first part of this chapter examines doctrine on the meaning of the right in international law and its relation to the law of occupation. It explains how the right to self-determination may serve as part of the law of occupation’s interpretative framework, but also as a standalone component of the international legal framework for prolonged occupations. The second part of this chapter examines the prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory from the perspective of the right to self-determination. Specific attention is given to the Oslo Accords, circumstances in Gaza, population movement, and natural resource usage. The analysis brings more fully into focus the distinct nature of the two functions of the right to self-determination and illustrates the importance of keeping them separate. The third part of the chapter examines the legal consequences that follow from denying the right to self-determination. The focus is on the right’s importance for the international community of states and the obligations this generates. The chapter argues that when circumstances add complexity and uncertainty to the operation of a specialised legal regime, it is important to recognise that fundamental principles of international law continue to operate as a baseline securing protection of international community interests. The right to self-determination as a precept of non-domination provides legal protection in situations of prolonged occupation regardless of the haze that can form around the meaning and application of the law of occupation
The International Human Rights Judiciary and National Parliaments
How does the international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) connect with national parliaments? What ... more How does the international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) connect with national parliaments? What challenges and opportunities do these connections create for the realization of human rights? What should the IHRJ do in order to maximize the contributions of national parliaments to human rights? To shed light on these issues, this paper takes the following approach. Firstly, an account of how the IHRJ should be viewed in relation to the constitutional practices of states. This leads to consideration of what the role of parliaments should be to realise human rights. Subsequently, points of connection between the IHRJ and national parliaments are identified and explored, with a particular focus on how they might advance or detract from the human rights role of parliaments. The penultimate section examines why relations between the IHRJ and national parliaments break down and how the parties involved should respond. The final section proposes a set of principles for organising how IHRJ institutions relate to national parliaments: supportive subsidiarity, coordination of connections, and contextual sensitivity. Future research agendas are indicated.
Journal of Conflict and Security Law
The International Human Rights Judiciary and National Parliaments
Interpreting and applying human rights law (both domestic and international) are important featur... more Interpreting and applying human rights law (both domestic and international) are important features of the human rights role of national parliaments. 1 Too often parliaments are not fulfilling their rights-based role when law making and when holding the executive to account. 2 This includes failing to make full use of their democratic qualities. 3 It also includes failing to make full use of the connections with the international human rights system. 4 Parliamentary bodies at the international level work to enhance the role of parliaments in the realisation of human rights. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) are particularly active. They organise capacity-building workshops on human rights and pass resolutions specifying the importance and nature of the human rights role of parliaments. 5 The dual mandates of the members of these bodiesparliamentarians at the national and international levels-entail that they are This book chapter was prepared under the auspices of MultiRights, an ERC Advanced Grant on the Legitimacy of Multi-Level Human Rights Judiciary; and PluriCourts, a Research Council of Norway Centre of Excellence on the Legitimacy of International Courts. Thanks to Tori Loven Kirkebø and Zhanna Petrukovich for very useful research assistance. Thanks to Tilmann Altwicker, Alice Donald, Andreas Follesdal, Evelyne Schmid, and Geir Ulfstein, for very helpful comments on earlier drafts.
SSRN Electronic Journal
This chapter examines the significance of the international law of self-determination for the leg... more This chapter examines the significance of the international law of self-determination for the legitimacy of a transitional authority. Transitional authorities often have a weak claim to represent the will of the people. A commitment to the international law of self-determination may help a transitional authority to persuade its domestic and international audiences that its purpose is advancement, rather than denial, of governance by and for the people. Yet the content of this law is subject to contestation. The analysis in this chapter covers several features of the self-determination practice of transitional authorities: establishing a transitional authority; developing space for political communication; and creating a popular mandate. The chapter argues that international law offers a transitional authority a means to articulate its normative vision of self-determination, but also to operate lawfully without fully delivering this vision. This reduces the value of a commitment to the law as part of an explanation for why domestic and international audiences should recognise that a transitional authority has the right to rule. It increases the importance of ad hoc instruments for the regulation of transitional periods: peace agreements, aid agreements, and UN Security Council resolutions.
The International Journal of Human Rights
Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts Peer Reviewed Journal, 2011
This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, ... more This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples (discussed respectively in section 2, 3 and 4) represent a situation of trusteeship, a situation of partial territorial administration, and a situation of plenary territorial administration. By examining three different forms of administration, this chapter helps to demonstrate the variety in the responsibility issues that can arise when international actors (third states and/or international organisations) undertake the administration of a territory.
Human Rights Law Review, 2011
In this article I seek to identify and explore some of the legal consequences that flow from the ... more In this article I seek to identify and explore some of the legal consequences that flow from the various normative levels that have been ascribed to the right of self-determination in international legal doctrine. Four normative levels are considered: human right, association with sovereignty, erga omnes and jus cogens. A particular focus of the article is on how the doctrinal debate surrounding each normative level might impact on the willingness of states to help improve the determinacy of the scope and content of the right. I argue that there is a haziness surrounding the normative status of the right to selfdetermination and that this can help to explain the reluctance of states to publicise their views on the scope and content of the norm in international law. The article concludes with suggestions as to how a clearer understanding of the normative status of the right to self-determination might be achieved.
Human Rights Law Review, 2013
Nordic Journal of Human Rights
We currently witness protests from many national parliaments against decisions and practices by r... more We currently witness protests from many national parliaments against decisions and practices by regional human right courts and the UN human rights treaty bodies. This emerging international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) is said to threaten national democratic processes and 'hollow out' the scope of domestic, democratic decision-making. Against this backlash, it is striking that domestic parliaments have a key role in holding state authorities to their international human rights based obligations. They interpret and apply human rights in the laws they make, and when holding the executive to account. Parliaments often fail in these tasks, with implications for the individuals whose rights are infringed – and burdening the IHRJ with cases. If progress is to be made, capacity and awareness must increase amongst parliamentarians at the domestic level. Thus argue international parliamentary bodies, such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Inter-P...
The International Journal of Human Rights , 2024
How are local and regional authorities performing on human rights? How might they be strengthened... more How are local and regional authorities performing on human rights? How might they be strengthened as human rights actors? This special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights (IJHR) contributes to the growing body of human rights scholarship on subnational authorities.
Routledge eBooks, Apr 9, 2024
This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when ap... more This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when applying the provisions of international human rights treaties. It brings into focus a methodological framework for operationalising international human rights law in judicial contexts. The chapter begins with a short overview of the main global and regional human rights treaties. This highlights key similarities and differences in the contents and infrastructure of human rights treaties. The next section considers key concepts that help to explain the nature of human rights-based obligations. The main part of the chapter addresses three central topics from the methodological toolbox. First, interpretation of human rights treaties. Second, tests and thresholds for applying human rights provisions. Third, deference to non-judicial institutions in the adjudication of rights. These are all topics that any institution adjudicating rights will encounter. The analysis in this chapter provides a reference point for subsequent chapters in this volume, which identify and examine the significance of the choices that Indonesian judges make in the application of human rights.
Science Translational Medicine, 2020
Circulating transcripts reflect biologically relevant changes in early-onset severe preeclampsia ... more Circulating transcripts reflect biologically relevant changes in early-onset severe preeclampsia and can accurately classify patient status.
Aksel Tømte and Eko Riyadi (eds.) International Human Rights and Local Courts: Human Rights Interpretation in Indonesia (Routledge, 2024 forthcoming)., 2024
This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when ap... more This chapter identifies and examines some of the fundamental issues that judges encounter when applying the provisions of international human rights treaties. It brings into focus a methodological framework for operationalising international human rights law in judicial contexts.
The chapter begins with a short overview of the main global and regional human rights treaties. This highlights key similarities and differences in the contents and infrastructure of human rights treaties. The next section considers key concepts that help to explain the nature of human rights-based obligations.
The main part of the chapter addresses three central topics from the methodological toolbox. First, interpretation of human rights treaties. Second, tests and thresholds for applying human rights provisions. Third, deference to non-judicial institutions in the adjudication of rights. These are all topics that any institution adjudicating rights will encounter.
The analysis in this chapter provides a reference point for subsequent chapters in this volume, which identify and examine the significance of the choices that Indonesian judges make in the application of human rights.
Social Science Research Network, Jul 1, 2013
Part 1 The Changing Face of International Adjudication 1. Private Disputes and the Public Interes... more Part 1 The Changing Face of International Adjudication 1. Private Disputes and the Public Interest in International Law Vaughan Lowe 2. The International Court of Justice and Environmental Disputes Malgosia Fitzmaurice 3. Complaint and Grievance Mechanisms in International Dispute Settlement Duncan French and Richard Kirkham 4. Stuck in the Middle With You?: Alternative Approaches to Realising Accountability for Human Rights Violations by Business Sorcha Macleod Part 2 Problems and Techniques in Substantive Areas of International Law 5. Practice and Procedure of Dispute Settlement in Individual Communication Cases within the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Congruence or Conflict? Sandy Ghandhi 6. Trends in Dispute Settlement in the Law of the Sea: Towards the Increasing Availability of Compulsory Means Robin Churchill 7. The WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism as a New Technique for Settling Disputes in International Law Sury...
The Practice of Shared Responsibility in International Law
This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, ... more This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples (discussed respectively in section 2, 3 and 4) represent a situation of trusteeship, a situation of partial territorial administration, and a situation of plenary territorial administration. By examining three different forms of administration, this chapter helps to demonstrate the variety in the responsibility issues that can arise when international actors (third states and/or international organisations) undertake the administration of a territory.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021
How should we understand the function of the right to self-determination in situations of prolong... more How should we understand the function of the right to self-determination in situations of prolonged occupation? To shed light on this question, the first part of this chapter examines doctrine on the meaning of the right in international law and its relation to the law of occupation. It explains how the right to self-determination may serve as part of the law of occupation’s interpretative framework, but also as a standalone component of the international legal framework for prolonged occupations. The second part of this chapter examines the prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory from the perspective of the right to self-determination. Specific attention is given to the Oslo Accords, circumstances in Gaza, population movement, and natural resource usage. The analysis brings more fully into focus the distinct nature of the two functions of the right to self-determination and illustrates the importance of keeping them separate. The third part of the chapter examines the legal consequences that follow from denying the right to self-determination. The focus is on the right’s importance for the international community of states and the obligations this generates. The chapter argues that when circumstances add complexity and uncertainty to the operation of a specialised legal regime, it is important to recognise that fundamental principles of international law continue to operate as a baseline securing protection of international community interests. The right to self-determination as a precept of non-domination provides legal protection in situations of prolonged occupation regardless of the haze that can form around the meaning and application of the law of occupation
The International Human Rights Judiciary and National Parliaments
How does the international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) connect with national parliaments? What ... more How does the international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) connect with national parliaments? What challenges and opportunities do these connections create for the realization of human rights? What should the IHRJ do in order to maximize the contributions of national parliaments to human rights? To shed light on these issues, this paper takes the following approach. Firstly, an account of how the IHRJ should be viewed in relation to the constitutional practices of states. This leads to consideration of what the role of parliaments should be to realise human rights. Subsequently, points of connection between the IHRJ and national parliaments are identified and explored, with a particular focus on how they might advance or detract from the human rights role of parliaments. The penultimate section examines why relations between the IHRJ and national parliaments break down and how the parties involved should respond. The final section proposes a set of principles for organising how IHRJ institutions relate to national parliaments: supportive subsidiarity, coordination of connections, and contextual sensitivity. Future research agendas are indicated.
Journal of Conflict and Security Law
The International Human Rights Judiciary and National Parliaments
Interpreting and applying human rights law (both domestic and international) are important featur... more Interpreting and applying human rights law (both domestic and international) are important features of the human rights role of national parliaments. 1 Too often parliaments are not fulfilling their rights-based role when law making and when holding the executive to account. 2 This includes failing to make full use of their democratic qualities. 3 It also includes failing to make full use of the connections with the international human rights system. 4 Parliamentary bodies at the international level work to enhance the role of parliaments in the realisation of human rights. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) are particularly active. They organise capacity-building workshops on human rights and pass resolutions specifying the importance and nature of the human rights role of parliaments. 5 The dual mandates of the members of these bodiesparliamentarians at the national and international levels-entail that they are This book chapter was prepared under the auspices of MultiRights, an ERC Advanced Grant on the Legitimacy of Multi-Level Human Rights Judiciary; and PluriCourts, a Research Council of Norway Centre of Excellence on the Legitimacy of International Courts. Thanks to Tori Loven Kirkebø and Zhanna Petrukovich for very useful research assistance. Thanks to Tilmann Altwicker, Alice Donald, Andreas Follesdal, Evelyne Schmid, and Geir Ulfstein, for very helpful comments on earlier drafts.
SSRN Electronic Journal
This chapter examines the significance of the international law of self-determination for the leg... more This chapter examines the significance of the international law of self-determination for the legitimacy of a transitional authority. Transitional authorities often have a weak claim to represent the will of the people. A commitment to the international law of self-determination may help a transitional authority to persuade its domestic and international audiences that its purpose is advancement, rather than denial, of governance by and for the people. Yet the content of this law is subject to contestation. The analysis in this chapter covers several features of the self-determination practice of transitional authorities: establishing a transitional authority; developing space for political communication; and creating a popular mandate. The chapter argues that international law offers a transitional authority a means to articulate its normative vision of self-determination, but also to operate lawfully without fully delivering this vision. This reduces the value of a commitment to the law as part of an explanation for why domestic and international audiences should recognise that a transitional authority has the right to rule. It increases the importance of ad hoc instruments for the regulation of transitional periods: peace agreements, aid agreements, and UN Security Council resolutions.
The International Journal of Human Rights
Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts Peer Reviewed Journal, 2011
This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, ... more This book chapter focuses on three instances of international administration – in Nauru, Bosnia, and Kosovo – that have given rise to claims that can be construed as relevant for the debate on shared responsibility. These examples (discussed respectively in section 2, 3 and 4) represent a situation of trusteeship, a situation of partial territorial administration, and a situation of plenary territorial administration. By examining three different forms of administration, this chapter helps to demonstrate the variety in the responsibility issues that can arise when international actors (third states and/or international organisations) undertake the administration of a territory.
Human Rights Law Review, 2011
In this article I seek to identify and explore some of the legal consequences that flow from the ... more In this article I seek to identify and explore some of the legal consequences that flow from the various normative levels that have been ascribed to the right of self-determination in international legal doctrine. Four normative levels are considered: human right, association with sovereignty, erga omnes and jus cogens. A particular focus of the article is on how the doctrinal debate surrounding each normative level might impact on the willingness of states to help improve the determinacy of the scope and content of the right. I argue that there is a haziness surrounding the normative status of the right to selfdetermination and that this can help to explain the reluctance of states to publicise their views on the scope and content of the norm in international law. The article concludes with suggestions as to how a clearer understanding of the normative status of the right to self-determination might be achieved.
Human Rights Law Review, 2013
Nordic Journal of Human Rights
We currently witness protests from many national parliaments against decisions and practices by r... more We currently witness protests from many national parliaments against decisions and practices by regional human right courts and the UN human rights treaty bodies. This emerging international human rights judiciary (IHRJ) is said to threaten national democratic processes and 'hollow out' the scope of domestic, democratic decision-making. Against this backlash, it is striking that domestic parliaments have a key role in holding state authorities to their international human rights based obligations. They interpret and apply human rights in the laws they make, and when holding the executive to account. Parliaments often fail in these tasks, with implications for the individuals whose rights are infringed – and burdening the IHRJ with cases. If progress is to be made, capacity and awareness must increase amongst parliamentarians at the domestic level. Thus argue international parliamentary bodies, such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Inter-P...
Human Rights Law Review
The book under review, Hierarchy in International Law:The Place of Human Rights, is one outcome o... more The book under review, Hierarchy in International Law:The Place of Human Rights, is one
outcome of a research project at the Amsterdam Center for International Law. The
broader project has the title: ‘The emerging international constitutional order: the implications
of hierarchy in international law for the coherence and legitimacy of international
decision-making’. The debate on whether and in what manner the international
legal order should be conceptualised in constitutional terms is long running and includes
various theoretical perspectives. Hierarchy in International Law does not attempt
to add another strand of theory to this debate. Rather it seeks to contribute to the
debate by examining how international human rights law has been treated by judicial
bodies when it conflicts with other international law. The premise of the book is that if
international human rights law is treated by courts in a favourable manner when it
conflicts with other international law, this will provide evidence of legal superiority
and thereby support the idea that international human rights law has constitutional
status in international law.