Seminar: The Universal Periodic Review Process and the Treaty Bodies: Constructive Cooperation or Deepening Divisions?

On November 25, 2011, the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights will host a seminar on "The Universal Periodic Review Process and the Treaty Bodies: Constructive Cooperation or Deepening Divisions?" The final program is not yet available. Here's the idea:

The Universal Periodic Review Process and the Treaty Bodies:

Constructive Cooperation or Deepening Divisions?

Date: November 25, 2011

Location: Stay Okay, Maasboulevard 101, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Sponsors: Universiteitsfonds Limburg / SWOL - Maastricht Centre for Human Rights - Faculty of Law, Maastricht University

The Maastricht Centre for Human Rights is organizing a seminar which will take place on November 25, 2011 in Maastricht. Human rights practitioners, scholars and students are all welcome to participate in this one-day seminar concerning human rights monitoring in the Universal Periodic Review and by Treaty Bodies.

The United Nations human rights system has undergone substantial changes in the past six years. With the emergence of the UN Human Rights Council and the implementation of the Universal Periodic Review process, new intergovernmental initiatives and a peer-based supervisory mechanism have been introduced into the UN human rights system. Until the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council and the creation of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism (UPR), monitoring within the UN human rights system consisted primarily of monitoring by Treaty Bodies on the basis of periodic state reports. The first four-year cycle of the UPR will be concluded at the end of 2011. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has also announced a process to reform the Treaty Bodies. Therefore this is a good moment to assess the experiences and results of the UPR’s first cycle and the proposed reforms to the Treaty bodies.

This seminar seeks to assess the contributions of the UPR in relation to the monitoring of state human rights obligations by Treaty Bodies. In addition, this seminar aims to evaluate the contribution of the UPR in the broader context of the functioning of international peer-based supervisory mechanisms, including the OECD, IMF, Council of Europe, ILO, EU, WTO and the African Peer Review mechanism. Experiences within the other international peer review mechanisms, in place at the international level for decades, could be instructive in an analysis of the UPR process and in proposing ways to strengthen or improve its interaction and collaboration with the Treaty Bodies.

Confirmed speakers and participants:

Michael O’ Flaherty, Professor of Applied Human Rights and Co-Director of the Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham, and member of the UN Human Rights Committee.

Cees Flinterman, Honorary Professor of Human Rights at Maastricht University and the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), and member of the UN Human Rights Committee.

Andrew Clapham, Professor of Public International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies.

Marianne Lilliebjerg, Interim Programme Director International Advocacy, Amnesty International.

Thomas Conzelmann, Associate Professor for International Relations and EU External Relations at Maastricht University.

John Morijn, Senior legal adviser, Department of Constitutional Affairs and Legislation at the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, and Assistant Professor of human rights law at Groningen University

The final program and registration information for this seminar will be available on the website of the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights.