UN Treaty Watch

UN Committee Calls on Ireland to Loosen Abortion Laws

February 08, 2016

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called on the Irish Government to decriminalize abortion "in all circumstances" and has opined that Irish law, which only permits abortion in the case of a "real and substantial risk" to the mother's life, impermissibly restricts doctors from the provision of medical services.
UN Working Group: US Is Failing to Guarantee Women's Rights

December 30, 2015

Following a ten-day visit to the US, the UN Working Group on discrimination against women in law and practice has warned that political "polarization" and the obstacle of federalism in the US has threatened the government's ability to protect women's human rights and the access of women to the "exercise of their reproductive rights."
UN Agent Pushes Human-Rights Obligations in Climate Deal

December 28, 2015

Asserting that all countries at the recent UN climate talks in Paris have an obligation to protect the "vast range of human rights" under threat through global warming, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment John Knox called on these countries to honor their human-rights treaty commitments with strong pledges to counter climate change in the pact.
UN Committee Criticizes Polish Abortion Restrictions

December 17, 2015

In a recent review of Poland, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called for the government to loosen restrictions on access to abortion and to improve access to "sexual and reproductive health services" for adolescent boys and girls.
Archbishop: UN Should Consider Benefits of School Choice

November 25, 2015

In a statement on the Holy See to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination ("CERD"), Archbishop Wilton Gregory of the Roman Catholic Archidocese of Atlanta called for CERD to consider the benefits of Catholic schools in encouraging upward mobility in minority communities.
UN Committee Investigates UK over Welfare Benefits

September 01, 2015

The Independent reports that the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has notified a British nonprofit group that it will send an agent to the UK to investigate whether government reforms of the welfare system have violated the human rights of people with disabilities.
UN Committee: Scotland's "Stop-and-Frisk" Violates Rights

July 27, 2015

The UN Human Rights Committee has called for Scotland to repeal legislation permitting its law enforcement officers to stop and search people without reasonable suspicion that they have committed a crime.
UN Committee Criticizes Northern Ireland on Abortion Laws

July 27, 2015

In a recent report, the UN Human Rights Committee called upon Northern Ireland to address the Committee's human rights concerns in a number of areas, including by loosening its abortion restrictions and revising its policies on criminal justice for minors.
Academic Seeks UN Scrutiny of Ireland on Economic Rights

June 10, 2015

Dr. Liam Thornton of University College Dublin argues that the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights should "hold Ireland to account" for its record on these nontraditional rights as the country sought in recent years to respond to a financial crisis by cutting back expenditures on social programs.
UN Committee: Canada Deportation Violated Man's Rights

June 03, 2015

The UN Human Rights Committee has determined that Canada's deportation of a man, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, to Jamaica on the grounds of "serious criminality" violated the man's rights under international law against "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."