Is there progress being made on human rights and judicial reform?

Human Rights and Judicial Reforms
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Institution’s Name
Abstract
The United Nations has several structures in place to guarantee the attainment of the 17 goals of sustainable development, but, there is no mechanism of enforcement. The United Nations depends on regional and national legislation to realize its aspirations. Since the Universal Declaration on Human Rights came into existence, there have been massive strides towards the universal realization of human rights. Notwithstanding the inability of the United Nations to police its agenda through the world, there is the international criminal court to foresee the prosecution of persons alleged to have occasioned mass human rights violations. The only limitation to the International Criminal Court is that the members of the court are there willingly and they can leave at any time. In the recent past, African countries have been pushing to get themselves off the International Criminal Court. National legislation undergoes a continuous review always to incorporate the best practices that can help in the preservation of human rights.
Keywords: Human rights, United Nations

Human rights are either innate or granted by the laws of the land (Hughes, 2011). Traditionally, rights granted by statutes have limitations, and they get often subverted by the government. In light of the sustained infraction of the law that guarantees human rights by the government, there is always need to review laws to fit the needs of the subjects.

The United Nations exists to ensure that the world is safe for each person and that authorities do not abuse human rights. The United Nations through its various agencies create standard frameworks that can get tweaked to fit each nation’s peculiar nature (Al Hussein, 2016). However, at the boundary of it all, the modified systems have to ensure that human rights get appreciated, and any other law antagonistic to the spirit of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights should get adopted appropriately (Donnelly, 2013).
Once in a while violation of rights occurs and it is upon the judicial system to ensure that justice gets served. At the international level, there is the International Criminal Court where government officers who engage in a massive violation of human rights are held responsible. Since the establishment of the International Criminal Court, countries strive to make their domestic courts capable of handling various human rights violations thus promoting judicial reforms (Sang-Hyun, 2016).
The different regional legal frameworks work in tandem with the United Nation’s need to ensure there is gender quality, inequalities get reduced, and promotion of peace, justice, and strong institutions to realize the sustainable goals of development (Tomuschat, 2016).
The existence of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights has led to improved reverence for human rights as regional blocks develop mechanisms to guard rights in the diverse zones of the globe. There are African, Inter-American, and European conventions and protocols on human rights, also there are legal frameworks in place to guide their implementation (UN Office of the High Comm’r for Human Rights, 2003).
References
Al Hussein, Z. R. (2016). The Evolving Role of the United Nations in Securing Human Rights. UN Chronicle, 54(4), 6.
Donnelly, J. (2013). Universal human rights in theory and practice. Cornell University Press.
Hughes, G. (2011). The Concept of Dignity in The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights. Journal of Religious Ethics, 39(1), 1-24. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9795.2010.00463.x
Sang-Hyun, S. (2016). International Criminal Court-Centred International Criminal Justice and Its Challenges. Melbourne Journal of International Law, 17(1), 1-14.
Tomuschat, C. (2016). Protection of Human Rights under Universal International Law. UN Chronicle, 53(4), 1.
UN Office of the High Comm’r for Human Rights. (2003). Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors, and Lawyers.