The United Nations and Human Rights : A Critical Appraisal Frédéric Mégret, Philip Alston.

Table of Contents
Appraising the UN Human Rights Regime, Philip Alston & Frédéric Mégret;
Part I: The Human Rights Mandate of the Principal Organs;
1:The Security Council, Frédéric Mégret;
2:The General Assembly, Andrew Clapham;
3:The Economic and Social Council, Frédéric Mégret;
4:The International Court of Justice, Bruno Simma;
Part II: Subsidiary Human Rights Organs;
5:The Council and Commission on Human Rights, Rosa Freedman;
6:The Consultative Committee, Laurence Boisson de Chazournes & Andrzej Gadkowski;
7:The Commission on the Status of Women, Zehra Arat;
8:Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Madeleine Heyward;
Part III: Organs Monitoring Treaty Compliance;
9:The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Patrick Thornberry;
10:The Human Rights Committee, Ludovic Hennebel;
11:The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Andrew Byrnes;
12:The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Philip Alston.;
13:The Committee against Torture, Andrew Byrnes.;
14:The Committee on the Rights of the Child, Christine Evans;
15:The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Janet Lord & Michael Stei.;
16:The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, Olivier de Frouville;
17:The Committee on the Human Rights of Migrant Workers, Vincent Chetail;
18:Coordination between Treaty Bodies, Suzanne Egan;
Part IV The Governance of Human Rights;
19:The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Andrew Clapham.;
20:Human Rights Co-ordination within the UN System, Georges Minet

"The very concept of human rights implies governmental accountability. To ensure that governments are held accountable for their treatment of citizens and others, the United Nations has established a wide range of mechanisms to monitor compliance, and to seek to prevent as well as respond to violations. The panoply of implementation measures that the UN has taken since 1945 has resulted in a diverse and complex set of institutional arrangements, the effectiveness of which varies widely. Inevitable instances of politicization and the hostile or ambivalent attitude of most governments has often endangered the fragile progress made on the more technical fronts. In addition, there are major problems of underfunding and insufficient expertise. The complexity of these arrangements and the difficulty in evaluating their impact makes a comprehensive guide of the type provided here all the more indispensable. This book critically examines the functions, procedures, and performance of each of the major UN organs dealing with human rights, including the Security Council and the International Court of Justice as well as the more specialized bodies monitoring the implementation of human rights treaties. Significant attention is devoted to the considerable efforts at reforming the UN's human rights machinery, as illustrated most notably by the creation and operation of the Human Rights Council. The book also looks at the relationship between the various bodies and the potential for major reforms and restructuring"-- Provided by publisher.