International Dialogue on Human Rights

The International Convention on Human Rights Research Project is a project within the Institute for Global Challenges and the Law at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law.

The idea seeks to educate students at the university and secondary levels about existing international human rights documents. This project, through its website and conferences, is providing a process for individuals, organizations and governments to draft new human rights documents as part of a continuing evolution of enforceable international human rights. Our vision is to facilitate an international dialogue about how the rights set forth in the Universal Declaration can be "fully realized" by the 100th anniversary of the Declaration in 2048.

With respect to the draft documents listed under the humanrights.berkeley.edu website, we wish to emphasize that these are only a starting point for dialogue — they are unfinished documents. The Berkeley law school is not proposing any specific text for an International Convention at this time. Rather, we are facilitating a discussion and organizing submissions for what the content of such a document, as well as other documents, might be.

We welcome draft human rights documents of any kind, including drafts of regional or international conventions. Enforceable international human rights documents cannot be legitimately written without international participation. Although, we will never reach a complete agreement on the wording of human rights instruments, this does not mean that we should not collaborate to identify similiaries and disparities between national and international documents . Without claiming to know what is best, we offer research materials and a dialogue process to discuss strengthening existing regional human rights Conventions, creating new regional Conventions, and the possibility of an International Convention with an International Court of Human Rights, an international civil court to complement the International Criminal Court.
We have developed this website to gather international input for our research and to keep a record of comments made.

We look forward to and appreciate your participation. If you want to see the draft please click here .

Project mission:

The Project has two primary objectives: First, the Project seeks to educate students at the university and secondary levels about existing international human rights documents. Second, the Project, through its website and conferences, is providing a process for individuals, organizations and governments to draft new human rights documents as part of a continuing evolution of enforceable international human rights.

Potential impact:

Bringing our international community together to draft an International Convention on Human Rights enforceable in the courts of ALL countries.

Respect and application of human rights to all citizens of the world in all corners of the planet.

Our sponsors:

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

For-profit and non-profit businesses as well as non-governmental and governmental organizations have been at the heart of the evolution of international human rights documents. A document facilitates our focus together. Below is a list of Participating Organizations in alphabetical order. As with individual Participants and Drafters, their participation is not a commitment to any particular language, but merely reflects a willingness to support, and be a part of, an ongoing dialogue process. We appreciate the expertise they bring, and the camaraderie they share. Organizations are listed in alphabetical order. The location of their home office is provided along with a brief description of the organization and a link to their website so that you can find out more about them.

FOUNDATIONS

Foundations lead the way so that as an international community we are not just responding to the effects of a flawed social order, but are also thinking and writing about how to change that order to lesson war, poverty, and other social ills. The situation is similar to many bodies falling over a cliff. We can build lots of ambulances to pick them up at the bottom, or we can put up a fence. We need both. Given the immediacy of the need, we should spend 99% of our time addressing the bodies that need help now. While doing this, the foundations listed below are also willing to participate in an ongoing dialogue about how an International Convention on Human Rights might work as a fence. As with individual Participants, Drafters,and other Organizations, participation by Foundations is not a commitment to any particular language, but merely reflects a willingness to support, and be a part of, an ongoing dialogue process. We appreciate those who are leading the way by providing the means for all of us to focus, think and write together. Foundations are listed alphabetically by name. The location of their home office is also provided, along with a brief explanation of their work and a link to their website.

Whitman Institute, San Francisco, CA

The Institute for Global Challenges and the Law

The Institute for Global Challenges and the Law bridges Boalt’s scholarship in the areas of international and comparative law, while drawing insight from many pertinent areas of domestic law. Recognizing the central role of lawyers and the law in resolving world problems, GCL engages in path breaking research and mobilizes new ideas into useful strategies. To achieve this goal, GCL taps into the broad talents and multiple perspectives of scholars from throughout the UC Berkeley campus and beyond.

Project page URL:

• http://www.humanrights.berkeley.edu
• http://www.humanrights.berkeley.edu/draft_conv
• http://www.humanrights.berkeley.edu/tracker