RightsBase

human rights news & views

A hard case

I had a dispiriting conversation with two Australian law graduates this week.  They regard international human rights treaties as 'soft law', that is, not imposing real, binding obligations.  In my book (real and figurative), treaties are 'hard law' (ie., conventions, covenants, protocols and the like), while declarations, recommendations, codes, principles and guidelines remain 'soft' law […]