The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law

The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law provides a comprehensive and original overview of one of the fundamental topics within international law. It contains substantial new essays by more than forty leading experts in the field, giving students, scholars, and practitioners a complete overview of the issues that inform research, as well as a 'map' of the debates that animate the field. Each chapter features a critical and up-to-date analysis of the current state of debate and discussion, assessing recent work and advancing the understanding of all aspects of this developing area of international law.

The Handbook consists of 39 chapters, divided into seven parts. Parts I and II explore the foundational theories and the historical antecedents of human rights law from a diverse set of disciplines, including the philosophical, religious, biological, and psychological origins of moral development and altruism, and sociological findings about cooperation and conflict. Part III focuses on the law-making process and categories of rights. Parts IV and V examine the normative and institutional evolution of human rights, and discuss this impact on various doctrines of general international law. The final two parts are more speculative, examining whether there is an advantage to considering major social problems from a human rights perspective and, if so, how that might be done: Part VI analyses current problems that are being addressed by governments, both domestically and through international organizations, and issues that have been placed on the human rights agenda of the United Nations, such as state responsibility for human rights violations and economic sanctions to enforce human rights; Part VII then evaluates the impact of international human rights law over the past six decades from a variety of perspectives.

The Handbook is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and practitioners of international human rights law. It provides the reader with new perspectives on international human rights law that are both multidisciplinary and geographically and culturally diverse.

Dinah Shelton, Emeritus Manatt/Ahn Professor in International Law, George Washington University Law School

Professor Dinah Shelton was the inaugural holder of the Manatt/Ahn Professorship in International Law at the George Washington University Law School, where she has taught since 2004. She previously taught international law and was director of the doctoral program in international human rights law at the University of Notre Dame Law School (1996-2004). She has also lectured at universities throughout the world. Professor Shelton is the author of three prize-winning books, Protecting Human Rights in the Americas (co-authored with Thomas Buergenthal), Remedies in International Human Rights Law, and the three-volume Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity. She has also authored many other articles and books on international law, human rights law, and international environmental law. Professor Shelton is a member of the board of editors of the American Journal of International Law.