Developments in human rights commissions, tribunals and cultural institutions
Human rights commissions require an enabling environment, a concept that focuses on those external factors that permit institutions to thrive and to do their work freely and without undue pressure or interference. We need to reframe the role of human rights commissions as not only administrative bodies charged with preventing discrimination, but also as norms-brokers that can and must engage with a variety of different norms and systems in order to do their work properly.
Bill 62, which is now law, has three central functions: it affirms the religious neutrality of the state, prohibits people from covering their faces when giving or receiving public services, and creates a legal framework for accommodating religious minorities. Its… Read More ›
It is well known that multiculturalism is verboten among Quebec’s political and chattering classes, regardless of partisan affiliation. However, to have multicult-phobia actually move a political party to reject a qualified candidate (who also happens to be a black woman) should tell us something about how pernicious the current ideology is.
Global Principles for the Capacity Assessment of the NHRIs National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are central to strong national systems for protection and promotion of human rights. These institutions, operating in a variety of contexts, can be instrumental in supporting… Read More ›
In January 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal released one of the most significant decisions in its history: First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v. Attorney General of Canada (for the Minister of Indian and… Read More ›
Former Irish prime minister Mary Robinson, who served as the UN’s human rights chief, once said human rights offer us a vocabulary of both complaint and inspiration. She could just as well have been describing the tumultuous trajectory of the… Read More ›
