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The Teleological Approach in the General Comments of the ‎Human Rights Committee

Document Type : Article

Authors

1 Assistant Prof., Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 MA. in Human Rights law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

As the monitoring body of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Human Rights Committee (HRC) has always enjoyed a prominent position among treaty bodies which monitor the implementation of human rights treaties by states parties. One the functions performed by the HRC is the issuing of so-called General Comments on the ICCPR. A General Comment is a document whereby the HRC provides its interpretative commentary on one of the rights recognized by the ICCPR or other topics related thereto. As such, the General Comments are considered as a prime examples of treaty interpretation. The question to be answered in this respect is, given the various methods of interpretation, which Interpretive method or methods is used by the HRC in its General Comments? To answer this question, the present paper adopts an inductive approach so as to use statistical data about the subject. The results indicate that the teleological method is pervasive in the General Comments of the HRC. 

Keywords

References

  1. English

    1. A) Books
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    1. B) Articles
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    1. C) Cases
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    1. D) Documents
    2. Human Rights Committee (HRC), General Comment No. 9: Article 10 (Humane Treatment of Persons Deprived of their Liberty), INT/CCPR/GEC/4719/E, 16th Session (1982).
    3. Human Rights Committee (HRC), General Comment No. 17: Article 24 (Rights of the Child), INT/CCPR/GEC/6623/E, 35th Session (1989).
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    6. Human Rights Committee (HRC), General Comment No. 35: Article 9 (Liberty and Security of Person), CCPR/C/GC/35, 112th Session (2014).
    7. Human Rights Committee (HRC), General Comment No. 36: Article 6: Right to Life, CCPR/C/GC/36, 124th Session (2018).
    8. International Law Commission (ILC), Yearbook of the International Law Commission (Draft Articles on the Law of Treaties with Commentaries), Volume II, A/CN.4/SER.A/1966/Add.1, 18th Session (1966).
Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 53, Issue 1
Spring 2023
April 2023
Pages 67-96
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History
  • Receive Date: 27 September 2022
  • Accept Date: 24 October 2022
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