This chapter examines the history of the chthonic legal tradition. Chthonic law is inextricably interwoven with all the beliefs of chthonic and indigenous peoples and is inevitably, and profoundly, infused with all those other beliefs. Chthonic law cannot be understood without understanding other things. There is no separation of law and morals, no separation of law and anything else.
Chapter
3. A Chthonic Legal Tradition: to Recycle the World
Chapter
18. Group Rights
Robert McCorquodale
This chapter discusses the definition, exercise, and limitations of certain group rights, including peoples with the right to self-determination, minorities, and indigenous peoples. The right to self-determination protects a group as a group entity with regard to their political participation, as well as their control over their economic, social, and cultural activity as a group. Rights of minorities can be seen as both an individual and a group right. Finally, the growing recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples is considered.
Chapter
19. Indigenous peoples’ and minority rights
This chapter examines the scope and application of indigenous peoples’ rights and minority rights in international human rights law. It discusses the recognition of the need for minority protection in the drafting of the International Bill of Human Rights; analyses the provisions of Art 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and describes tests employed to determine minority status. The chapter also considers developments in the protection of minority rights in Europe. The rights of indigenous peoples are also examined.
Chapter
14. Cultural Rights
Julie Ringelheim
This chapter examines the sources of cultural rights in international human rights law, describes their evolution, and highlights the major debates regarding their interpretation. Specifically, it discusses the content and meaning of the right to take part in cultural life, the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, and the rights of authors and inventors to the protection of their moral and material interests.
Chapter
10. The International Protection Of Substantive Rights (II)
Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade and Damián A. González-Salzberg
This chapter continues the discussion of the international protection of substantive rights commenced in Chapter 9. It focuses on rights held by individuals as members of specific social collectives and well as on a fundamental right that belongs to a collective or people rather than to their members individually. The chapter starts with a discussion of the prohibition of discrimination, which is both a fundamental right and a general guarantee applicable to respecting and protecting all rights. Then, it delves into the discussion of rights held by individuals belonging to two social groups, covering the topics of women’s and children’s rights. The chapter concludes by exploring the right to self-determination of peoples, a paradigmatic example of a right whose right-holder is a collective of individuals, as well as the rights of indigenous peoples.
Chapter
29. International human rights
This chapter outlines the emergence of human rights in the sphere of international law and organization, and discusses the sources of human rights standards, non-discrimination and collective rights, the scope of human rights standards, and the regional protection and enforcement of human rights.
Chapter
10. Adequate Standard of Living
Asbjørn Eide and Wenche Barth Eide
This chapter examines the right to an adequate standard of living and its components, namely, the rights to food, housing, and health. The chapter analyses the meaning and key features of the right to an adequate standard of living and examines the normative content of that right and its components, namely, the rights to food, housing, and health. The chapter then explores the difficulties and special obligations in ensuring the right to an adequate standard of living for particular groups of people, addresses the relationship between the right to an adequate standard of living and other human rights, examines the question of progressive implementation of the right, and, finally, addresses the justiciability of the right to an adequate standard of living and the need for international action in its implementation.
