Legitimization for instituting proceedings for the protection of human rights before international organs

Abstract

The issue of the proceedings concerning the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms is the question who can institute proceedings for the protection of certain human right. Furthermore, it is a question of capability to institute these proceedings in international institutions, which are organs founded under universal and regional conventions to protect and upgrade human rights standards. Conditions for the proceeding, constitution and the work of the international organs, and the proceeding itself has been observed in one universal convention (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and its organ Human Rights Committee), and tree regional multilateral conventions (African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights - African Commission, American Convention on Human Rights - Inter American Commission and Inter American Court on Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights - European Commission and European Court on Human Rights, and Permanent European Court for Human Rights envisaged by the Protocol XI). There are tree main mechanisms for the protection of rights guaranteed by these conventions - periodic State reports, communications from a State party to these conventions concerning violation of rights by other State party, and communications or complains from individuals, groups and non governmental organizations, concerning alleged violation of any of the rights set forth in these conventions. States have the obligation to submit reports to the international organs periodically, in most cases once a year: the main element of their content are information on judicial measures for the implementation of obligations formulated by these international instruments. These reports may, beside information, point out problems and elements which can hamper their implementation. State reports are addressed to the organ responsible by the Convention to consider this kind of reports: that can be an organ specially formed by Convention for the protection of human rights (for example, Human Rights Committee formed according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), but also an organ of an international organization which created certain convention for the protection of human rights (Inter American Economic and Social Council, according to the American Convention).These four international instruments for the protection of human rights, after analyzing their content, may be classified in two pairs of procedure: the first pair (International Covenant and African Charter) where different procedures may be seen in the case of communication from States and different in the case of individual complaints, and the second pair where procedures are similar in both cases (American Convention and European Convention).According to international instruments for the protection of human rights analyzed in this article, the possibility of the protection for the guaranteed rights becomes efficient. Procedure for the protection may be initiated by States which are party to these instruments, individuals or groups, and conditions for the admissibility of communications are strictly required by the provisions of these conventions. These complaints can be related only to the State which is a party to these instruments (or instrument), and it can be an optional jurisdiction of the organ, when it is necessary to declare their jurisdiction in such cases. Individual complaints may be submitted only by individuals who are nationals of the State party or who are living in the territory of the State party. A new category in individual complaints, introduced by European convention, are non governmental organizations, which are becoming increasingly important in the protection of human rights. Procedure for the protection of the rights guaranteed by these conventions may be lodged only before organs of an international organization in charge of the protection of human rights, or organ established for the action in case of violation of human rights. Nevertheless, a complaint or communication, irrespective of who is lodging it, must fulfill precise conditions to be deemed admissible. A very important moment in these procedures is the possibility for individuals to lodge a complaint, and to point out to the violation of their fundamental rights. In the case of individual complaints procedure, an individual, who is under personal and territorial jurisdiction of a sovereign State, comes out on international scene. Individuals, therefore, gets a unthinkable - to claim that his/her State violated his/her fundamental rights and freedoms. Of course, this is far from the claim that individual has an international personality and that he is a subject of International Public Law, but it can be an initiation of this position.

Pitanje legitimacije za pokretanje postupka za zaštitu ljudskih prava jeste pitanje ko se sve može pojaviti kao stranka u postupku za zaštitu određenog prava iz korpusa ljudskih prava. Takođe, reč je o sposobnosti da se ovakvi postupci pokreću pred međunarodnim organima koji su posebni organi obrazovani za zaštitu ljudskih prava na osnovu univerzalnih i regionalnih sporazuma o ljudskim pravima, ili pred organima međunarodnih vladinih organizacija koji kao svoja ovlašćenja, između ostalog, imaju i zaštitu pojedinih ljudskih prava. Ispitivani su uslovi legitimacije i sam postupak koje postavljaju pred svoje nadležne organe jedan univerzalni (Međunarodni Pakt o građanskim i političkim pravima pred Komitet za ljudska prava) i tri regionalna multilateralna sporazuma (Afrička povelja o pravima naroda - Afrička komisija za ljudska prava, Američka konvencija o ljudskim pravima - Međuamerička komisija i Međuamerički sud za ljudska prava, Evropska konvencija za zaštitu ljudskih prava i osnovnih sloboda - preko Evropske komisije i Evropskog suda za zaštitu ljudskih prava) kod kojih je utvrđivano ko ima pravo da pokreće postupak pred organima stvorenim ovim sprazumima, pod kojim uslovima, kao i kako sam postupak teče. Tri osnovna mehanizma zaštite prava koja su garantovana ovim sporazumima jesu izveštaji država (mogu se biti bitan izvor informacija o opštoj situaciji ljudskih prava u jednoj državi), pravo predstavke jedne države ugovornice protiv druge države ugovornice, i pravo pojedinaca, grupa ili nevladinih organizacija da traži zaštitu svojih prava od kršenja od strane države ugovornice.