International Human Rights Law: Non-Treaty Standards

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The Importance of Non-Treaty Standards: Customary International Law

Treaties are not the only source of international law. Many international Declarations, principles and standards have the force of international law. Some of these principles and standards are called “customary international law” and some are called “general principles” of international law.

Customary international law and general principles are binding upon all States independently from treaty law. For more information, see:

Declarations and other non-treaty instruments

What follows is a list of Declarations and other international human rights instruments which may not have the binding force of international law, per se. Human rights Declarations of the General Assembly have considerable authority, because they are developed by experts in international law, negotiated at length by States and are often adopted by consensus of all members of the United Nations. Most Declarations and instruments include codifications of existing international law. Some Declarations and instruments are considered, in whole or in part, to be customary international law or general principles.

General Assembly Declarations and Resolutions

  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), UN General Assembly, 10 December 1948.
    The UDHR was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. Some international law scholars are of the view that the UDHR has the status of customary international law. Others acknowledge that parts of the UDHR have the status of customary international law, such as the UDHR’s articles on the right to life (Article 3) which prohibits genocide and mass killings, and the prohibitions against slavery (Article 4), torture (Article 5), prolonged arbitrary imprisonment (Articles 9, 10, 11), and systematic racial discrimination (Article 2). In its Preamble, the UDHR sets out that “… it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law.” Articles 10 and 11 relate to fair trials, and Articles 2,3,5,6,7,8,9 are relevant to the rights to counsel and lawyers’ advocacy rights… See more on the UDHR [off this site].
  • Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), UN General Assembly, 13 September 2007.
    After nearly three decades of negotiation, the UN General Assembly adopted the UNDRIP by a vote of 144 in favour, 11 abstentions, and four against. Those that voted against were the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, with Canada stating that the Declaration was “fundamentally incompatible with Canada’s constitutional framework.” All four opposing States plus some abstaining States have now endorsed this declaration. Since that time the UNDRIP has been endorsed by all four States that opposed it. While the UNDRIP is not a treaty, there are no new rights in the Declaration; rather it brings together principles from a number of treaties, declarations and other international instruments as well as from the jurisprudence of UN treaty bodies.
  • Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, UN General Assembly, 19 December 2011.
    The UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training was adopted by consensus of the General Assembly in December 2011. It affirms that: “Everyone has the right to know, seek and receive information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms and should have access to human rights education and training” (Preamble). The Declaration also affirms that states have the primary responsibility to promote and ensure human rights education and training and make it accessible to everyone (Article 5). Human Rights Education should be based on the UDHR and on international human rights treaties and instruments (Article 4). States and governmental authoriteis should create a “safe and enabling environment for engagement of civil society” and other stakeholders in human rights education (Article 7). In particular, States should ensure adequate training in human rights, international humanitarian law and international criminal law for officials and military personnel, and promote adequate training in human rights for teachers and other educators acting on behalf of the State. The Declaration also holds that States should promote the establishment of independent national human rights institutions that have a mandate for human rights education.
    • Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, adopted by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders held at Milan from 26 August to 6 September 1985 and endorsed by General Assembly resolutions 40/32 of 29 November 1985 and 40/146 of 13 December 1985
    • The Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons under Any Form of Detention Or Imprisonment, UN General Assembly, 9 December 1988.
      This Body of Principles was adopted by the UN General Assembly by consensus. It contain an authoritative set of internationally recognized standards applicable to all member states on the treatment of detainees and prisoners. Principle 17 entitles detained persons to assistance of legal counsel legal counsel of their own choice, and if they do not have legal counsel, they are entitled to have legal counsel assigned by a judge or other authority, including without payment if the person has insufficient means to pay.
  • The Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons under Any Form of Detention Or Imprisonment, UN General Assembly, 9 December 1988.
    This Body of Principles was adopted by the UN General Assembly by consensus. It contain an authoritative set of internationally recognized standards applicable to all member states on the treatment of detainees and prisoners. Principle 17 entitles detained persons to assistance of legal counsel legal counsel of their own choice, and if they do not have legal counsel, they are entitled to have legal counsel assigned by a judge or other authority, including without payment if the person has insufficient means to pay.
  • Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles), UN General Assembly, 20 December 1993.
    The UN sees National Human Rights Instititions as central in promoting and protecting international human rights at the national level. Standards for independent National Human Rights Institutions (The Paris Principles) were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993 by consensus. The Paris Principles stipulate that a NHRI “shall be vested with competence to promote and protect human rights” (Article 1), including: advising governments on any matter concerning promotion and protection of human rights (Article 3(a)); promoting and ensuring harmonization of laws and practices with international human rights instruments to which the State is a party (Article 3(b)); encouraging ratification of international human rights instruments, and ensuring implementation of international human rights instruments to which the State is a party (Article 3(c)); contributing to reports which States are required to submit to United Nations treaty bodies pursuant to the State’s treaty obligations (Article 3(d)); assisting in teaching and researching human rights and to “take part in their execution in schools, universities and professional circles” (Article 3(f)); and publicizing human rights, including increasing public awareness, “especially through information and education and by making use of all press organs” (Article 3(g)).
  • Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Adopted by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council by its resolutions 663 C (XXIV) of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977.
    The UN General Assembly, in Resolution 2858 (XXVI) of 20 December 1971, called upon UN member States to implement the Rules. In 2010, the General Assembly requested the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to establish an open-ended intergovernmental expert group on the revision of the Rules. …read more

Other International Principles and Standards

  • Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted by the 8th United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana 27 August to 7 September 1990.
    These principles are intended to provide specific substance to the due process guarantees recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Preamble and Articles 2, 3 and 6 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers require states, as a central part of their responsibility to protect human rights, to ensure equal access to lawyers and specifically to provide sufficient funding for legal services to the poor.
  • Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, Adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, Cuba, 27 August to 7 September 1990.

Civil Society Initiatives

  • The Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Siracusa Principles), 28 September 1984, E/CN.4/1985/4,
    The Siracusa Principles on the Limitations and derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted in May 1984 by a group of international human rights experts convened by the International Commission of Jurists, the International Association of Penal Law, the American Association for the International Commission of Jurists, the Urban Morgan Institute for Human rights, and the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences in Siracusa, Italy to consider the limitation and restriction provisions of the ICCPR.

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