Month: February 2013

While this is the first edition of Philip Alston and Ryan Goodman’s International Human Rights, it is the successor to the highly regarded and well-respected International Human Rights in Context.  Its aim continues to be ambitious: to provide sophisticated and thought-provoking reflections on the current state of the art in relation to the international regime governing human rights.  Fortunately (and perhaps unsurprisingly given the authors’ considerable experience in this vast area of law), International Human Rights achieves this aim with considerable ease by providing a text with real depth and insightful scholarly content.

Because both authors are co-directors of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University, it is unsurprising that International Human Rights spans a vast range of topics.  It is split into six parts: introductory notions and background to international human rights regime; normative foundation of international human rights; rights, duties and dilemmas of universalism; international human rights organisations; states as protectors and enforcers of human rights; and current topics.  Each part then includes a number of chapters.  For example, the part on normative foundation of international human rights includes chapters on: civil and political rights; economic and social rights; and national security, terrorism and the law of armed conflict.

Textbooks written by non-UK based lawyers can sometimes be for UK law students inaccessible, or at the very least less accessible, than those written by UK based lawyers.  Fortunately, International Human Rights does not suffer from this problem: it is clearly and accessibly written and provides an excellent balance between commentary and analysis (including posing questions).  To help the distinction between commentary and materials, the text could usefully include shaded backgrounds for materials to make them easily stand out from the commentary.  International Human Rights also includes an online resource centre (http://global.oup.com/uk/orc/law/human/alston_goodman/) which, given the text’s recent publication, unsurprisingly includes few materials.

Anyone looking for a simulating and engaging account of the current state of the art in relation to the international regime governing human rights should look no further than International Human Rights (which builds upon highly regarded and well-respected International Human Rights in Context).  Readers should, however, be left in no doubt that this text is not one for the faint hearted: it is a thorough and expansive account of the law which covers a considerable number of topics in an appealing way.  At just over £40, International Human Rights is also extremely well priced.  There can certainly be no suggestion that readers are not given excellent value for money.

Reviewed on 10 February 2013