Walter Kälin – författare

The world faces more than 60 million people displaced by armed conflict and disasters as of 2022. Climate change is set to trigger large-scale displacement in the future. Internal Displacement and the Law discusses to what extent the present law can contribute to preventing, responding to, and resolving internal displacement and protecting the rights of these internally displaced persons (IDPs). It also identifies its weaknesses and examines ways to improve action.The book's analysis reflects the realities of internal displacement and the challenges faced by displaced individuals and communities, their hosts, governments, and international actors. Assessing the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the Kampala Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, this enlightening volume investigates the relevance of international human rights and humanitarian law to the problem of displacement with an eye toward durable solutions.In line with its human rights approach, this work promotes a narrative that, based on the concept of sovereignty as responsibility, emphasizes the primary responsibility of states to address the needs of IDPs and views them as citizens with rights and agency rather than as vulnerable beneficiaries of humanitarian action. The author concludes that the body of relevant law amounts to an emerging legal regime on internal displacement whose substantive norms are largely adequate, but which faces specific institutional challenges at domestic and international levels that weaken efforts to address the plight of IDPs.

At a time when human rights are coming under increasing pressure, in-depth knowledge and understanding of their foundations, conceptual underpinnings and current practice remain crucial. The second edition of Walter Kälin and Jörg Künzli's authoritative book provides a concise but comprehensive legal analysis of international human rights protection at the global and regional levels. It shows that human rights are real rights creating legal entitlements for those who are protected by them and imposing legal obligations on those bound by them.Based, in particular, on a wide-ranging analysis of international case-law, the book focuses on the sources and scope of application of human rights and a discussion of their substantive guarantees. Further chapters describe the different mechanisms to monitor the implementation of human rights obligations, ranging from the regional human rights courts in Africa, the Americas and Europe and the UN treaty bodies to the international criminal tribunals, the International Court of Justice and the UN Security Council. The book is based on an understanding of human rights as legal concepts that address basic human needs and vulnerabilities, and highlights the indivisibility of civil and political rights on the one and economic, social and cultural rights on the other hand. It also highlights the convergence of international human rights and international humanitarian law and the interlinkages with international criminal law as well as general international law, in particular the law of state responsibility.

At a time when human rights are coming under increasing pressure, in-depth knowledge and understanding of their foundations, conceptual underpinnings and current practice remain crucial. The second edition of Walter Kälin and Jörg Künzli's authoritative book provides a concise but comprehensive legal analysis of international human rights protection at the global and regional levels. It shows that human rights are real rights creating legal entitlements for those who are protected by them and imposing legal obligations on those bound by them.Based, in particular, on a wide-ranging analysis of international case-law, the book focuses on the sources and scope of application of human rights and a discussion of their substantive guarantees. Further chapters describe the different mechanisms to monitor the implementation of human rights obligations, ranging from the regional human rights courts in Africa, the Americas and Europe and the UN treaty bodies to the international criminal tribunals, the International Court of Justice and the UN Security Council. The book is based on an understanding of human rights as legal concepts that address basic human needs and vulnerabilities, and highlights the indivisibility of civil and political rights on the one and economic, social and cultural rights on the other hand. It also highlights the convergence of international human rights and international humanitarian law and the interlinkages with international criminal law as well as general international law, in particular the law of state responsibility.