Accountability at the Human Rights Council

Sangeeta Shah and Rosa Freedman

Chapter 16 in Research Handbook on Accountability for Human Rights Violations, 2025, pp 279-296 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter considers how the UN Human Rights Council holds states accountable for violations of human rights. As a body composed of states and their representatives − as opposed to independent experts – its methods of accountability are different from those traditionally deployed by ‘legal’ processes, which are often characterised by adversarial procedures, legal reasoning, and findings of responsibility for breaches of legal obligations. Dialogue, transparency, and publicity are the key levers used by the Council to ensure that states acknowledge their responsibilities, and account for and remedy human rights violations. The Council's work assumes cooperation. This means that political considerations frequently dictate whether and to what extent the Council will engage with a particular situation and the actions to be taken. The chapter confirms that it is not only binding norms but also pledges and commitments assumed by states that form the basis of human rights accountability at the Council. It is pointed out that membership of − and suspension from − the Council can act as an accountability mechanism. High-level debate during Council sessions, the Universal Periodic Review, the Special Procedures system, commissions of inquiry, and the complaint procedure are surveyed, and it is demonstrated that, while not ‘legal’ processes, they all contribute to holding states to account for their human rights records.

Keywords: Human Rights Council; Universal periodic review; Special procedures; Commissions of inquiry; Political accountability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035306923
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