Chapter 08
The United Nations Human Rights System
Part D: International and Regional Human Rights Organizations
This chapter explores the complex and often confusing set of institutional arrangements that make up the United Nations human rights system. It places particular emphasis on the role played by the UN Human Rights Council, set up in 2006 as the direct successor to the UN Commission on Human Rights which first met in 1946.
Other UN organs of major importance include the Security Council and the General Assembly. Individual office-holders, such as the UN Secretary-General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, also play central roles.
The chapter starts with a brief overview of the different UN organs, before considering how the Human Rights Council performs its principal functions: responding to violations, setting human rights standards, dealing with complaints against states, and monitoring states’ compliance with their obligations. It then looks at the roles played by the High Commissioner and the Security Council.