The chapter explores the relationships between three fields of law: intellectual property rights, the right to food and farmers’ rights. While acknowledging that the World Trade Organization’s 1994 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) sets high standards...

While the US led war on terror is going on with political rhetoric and military might, social and political scientists across the world have been expounding various hypotheses mainly in two areas, viz. (1) causes of terrorism and (2) the legal as well as political implications of aggressive...

This chapter examines the historic and current policies and practices that have contributed to food insecurity in the global South. It analyzes the impact of international economic law on the patterns of trade and production that perpetuate food insecurity, and recommends concrete measures that...

The guiding principle of International Human Rights Law (IHRL) is “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family,” otherwise known as universality. In order to ensure the universality of access to justice despite social...

In recent years, a number of international and cross-sectoral initiatives have attempted to respond to the human rights impacts of corporations. Foremost among these is the United Nations’ 2008 “Protect, Respect, and Remedy” Framework and its Guiding Principles on Business and Human...

Since the nexus between the regimes of human rights and international trade has been established, most of the views expressed on this subject are at extreme variance. On one side you have scholars who argue that the nexus between international trade and human rights is a positive one, and on the...

Recent literature suggests that new democracies are more likely than advanced liberal democracies to make binding commitments to international human rights institutions. Are new democracies also better at following through on these commitments? Put differently: does their greater willingness to...

The global food crisis of 2007–08 seems to be forgotten. Media attention at the time focused on food riots in Haiti and Mozambique, while world leaders and more than a dozen international organizations gathered for several food summits, calling for immediate relief measures. But not a single...

Human rights and the environment are inherently linked. This connection is even stronger in cases of indigenous peoples rights, the close ties they have with the land is the fundamental basis of their cultural, spiritual, and material life. Although inherent, this link between human rights and...

The ability to protect and safeguard cultural heritage is of vital importance to some communities. Without the ability to maintain control over these expressions, external subjects could freely appropriate them, which could negatively affect the community’s identity, spirituality, and general...