Measuring compliance with human rights (Final)

Question 1

Absolute vs. relative compliance

Answer 1

If the point of reference is the ideal level of compliance (complies with all obligations) then most countries are going to be short of that ideal. So it will not be useful unless you are able to tell the difference between the rate of compliance and the ideal. The relative level of compliance is more valuable and less criticizable.

Question 2

Measuring compliance & Explaining compliance

Answer 2

Need a measurement to be able to report and monitor whether HR practices of states have changed, and changed in the right direction.

Question 2

Assessing the efficacy of HR policies/laws/institutions

Answer 2

We need to find some measurement of compliance that we can use to test whether the adoption of this treaty changes behaviour in the desired direction.

Question 3

Compliance: A conceptual framework (Intl human rights standards as purposeful norms)

Answer 3

We want the state to shift its HR practices from where it is to further down the line. Create international HR standard with expected behaviour as the goal. 1. If this is what happens and the state shifts its behaviour, what we have is compliance.
2. Or, after ratifying the treaty, the state may have changed its behaviour in the expected direction, but was short of compliance: this effect is a positive effect, but not exactly the intended effect.
3. Another possibility is that the state did not change its behaviour at all after ratifying (no effect).
4. The last possibility is that after ratifying the treaty, the state changed its behaviour in the wrong direction (negative effect).

Question 4

International human rights standards as purposeful norms: Effectiveness

Answer 4

Having a behaviour effect, making a difference in behaviour.

Question 5

International human rights standards as purposeful norms: Compliance

Answer 5

Behaviour passed the bar that we set.

Question 6

International human rights standards as purposeful norms: Efficacy

Answer 6

Did this treaty produce the goal, or more generally, was it functional towards that goal? Did it produce the effect we wanted it to produce in terms of improving HR behaviour?

Question 7

Relationship between effectiveness and compliance

Answer 7

Problem with using compliance indicators when what you are after is effectiveness. You are going to make the wrong inferences that this treaty made no difference because it did not produce compliance. It did actually make a difference, just not the one required to meet compliance.