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Title:	Improving state's compliance with human rights law by resolving the issue of universalism : a proposal to de-universalize human rights
Authors:	Shahrul Mizan Ismail (P42431)
Supervisor:	Rohimi Shapiee, Prof. Dr.
Keywords:	Human rights law Dissertations, Academic -- Malaysia Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- Dissertations
Issue Date:	25-Dec-2013
Description:	In reality, there is no universalism in the present international human rights law. What currently exists is merely 'universality of human rights' i.e. the universal agreement as to the need of having a concept known as human rights instead of 'universalis' in human rights i.e. a complete unanimous agreement to the exact meaning and scope of application of human rights law. This is because the two cardinal concepts that form the root of international human rights law today, namely 'human rights' and 'universalism' are suffering from severe conceptual disabilities. The actual concept of 'universalis' is too utopian a benchmark to be achieved at the international level while 'human rights' is too ambiguous a concept to move towards achieving the said benchmark. The uncertainty of the concept of human rights and its inability to be truly universal has lead to it being manipulated by the Western nations to further their interests and values. Historical evidences surrounding the drafting process of the UDHR demonstrates the domination of the Western nations and the U.S domineering most of the key decisions made during the aforesaid process. Without the issue of universalism properly ironed out, global efforts to enforce human rights law as a whole is severely affected. Being in the framework of international law, the implementation of human rights law depends to a large extent on the political will and voluntary consent of states to affect the necessary changes in their domestic system in order to comply with the international human rights standards. Under the constructivist theory, a states would only obey international law if it truly believes in the "correctness and appropriateness" of such law. How can states believe in the "correctness and appropriateness" of international human rights law when the allegation of it not being truly universal is desecrating its legitimacy and supremacy as the norms and values that cross-culturally transcend all national boundaries. This thesis analyzes the unresolved issue of universalism in the perspective of it being the main cause to the problem of international human rights violations today. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this non-doctrinal thesis explores compendiously three commonly detached areas of research in human rights under one roof, namely, the philosophical study on the concepts relating to the issue of universalism of human rights such as the 'universalism' and 'human rights', the historical examination of the origin of human rights law, and the pragmatic observation via case studies on states' compliance towards international human rights law treaties obligation.,Ph.D.
Pages:	468
Call Number:	C74.SHA 2013 2 tesis
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Law / Fakulti Undang-undang

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