Protecting Human Rights Through the Mechanism of the UN Special Rapporteur

Introduction

The institution of UN special rapporteurs, known formally as the special procedures, has been described as the “crown jewel” of the UN human rights system. Indeed, the appointment of such rapporteurs – both thematic and country-specific – represents an attempt by the United Nations to pierce the veil of the national sovereignty of states to handle serious cases of violations of human rights worldwide. However, this institution has come under pressure from those States with a poor record of human rights. In his lecture, Professor Subedi examined the role of special rapporteurs, the challenges that this UN mechanism faces and the ways and means of addressing them.

About the Speaker

Surya Subedi is Professor of International Law at the University of Leeds. He also is the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia and a Member of the British Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights. He was elected to the Institut de Droit International in September 2011. He is a practising Barrister in England. Prior to qualifying for the English Bar, he was a consultant on international legal matters to Mishcon de Reya Solicitors in London, and a legal adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Nepal. He is at present the Vice-President of the Asian Society of International Law and a Co-Editor of its flagship journal, the Asian Journal of International Law, published by Cambridge University Press. He holds a doctoral degree in law from the University of Oxford, an LLM with Distinction from the University of Hull and an MA and LLB from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.