SLP 07 (2014)

SUMMARY

Pavel Šturma In the first chapter of the book, Pavel Šturma focuses on human rights as an example of peremptory norms of general international law. It can be argued that the emergence and stabilization of jus cogens go in parallel with the development of the international law of human rights on the universal and regional levels. Most of peremptory norms recognized up to now deal with the protection of fundamental human rights. Moreover, this area reveals the highest potential for increasing the number and material content of peremptory norms. The key role in the development of such norms has the case- law of international judicial bodies. While the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights came to the express confirmation of them relatively late and they limited it originally just to the prohibition of torture, the ad hoc international criminal tribunals proceeded faster. However, the case-law of the Inter- American Court of Human Rights seems to be the most remarkable by its frequency of reference to and the number of the identified rules of jus cogens . It remains the question if and to what extent the identified peremptory rules of human rights can be exported from the regional level to the universal international law. Central for the second chapter, written by Veronika Bílková , is the assumption that a new institution of countermeasures adopted in reaction to human rights violations (or, more exactly, of countermeasures in general or collective interest) has been emerging under international law.This assumption can be documented by instances of international practice, proclamations by states, opinions of scholars and positions by several special rapporteurs of the UN Commission on International Law on responsibility of states for international wrongful acts. At the same time, it can be argued that the new institution of countermeasures in general or collective interest has not fully materalised yet, as some of its aspects remain undefined. Moreover, doubts subsists whether countermeasures would at all be an appropriate tool to ensure a better respect for human rights law and international law in general. In the third chapter, Jan Ondřej sheds some light on the position of multinational (transnational) corporations but also on legal entities in general from the point of view of international law, especially the international protection of human rights. The issue of legal persons as subject of international law especially concerning the international protection of investment is being discussed. Protection of investment is closely linked with human rights. Some human right also relate to legal entities which is regulated, for example, on the European level where legal entities can even directly invoke their rights. The obligation to protect and respect human rights is firstly the obligation of the states that can be made liable even in relation to legal persons. Obligations to respect human rights by legal persons are explicitly contained in legally not binding soft law documents.

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