Human Rights and the Universal Periodic Review

Hilary Charlesworth is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Professor of International Law in RegNet at the Australian National University, Canberra, where she is also Director of the Centre for International Governance and Justice. Emma Larking is an Australian Research Council Laureate postdoctoral fellow in the Centre for International Governance and Justice at the Australian National University.

• Introduction: the regulatory power of the Universal Periodic Review Hilary Charlesworth and Emma Larking; Part I. Ritual, Ritualism and the Universal Periodic Review: 1. Ritual and ritualism at the Universal Periodic Review: a preliminary appraisal Walter Kälin; 2. The Universal Periodic Review as a public audit ritual: an anthropological perspective on emerging practices in the global governance of human rights Jane Cowan; 3. Keepers of the truth: producing 'transparent' documents for the Universal Periodic Review Julie Billaud; Part II. Assessing and Engaging with the Universal Periodic Review: 4. The Universal Periodic Review's first cycle: successes and failures Roland Chauville; 5. Rituals and implementation in the Universal Periodic Review and the human rights treaty bodies Heather Collister; 6. Effective NGO engagement with the Universal Periodic Review Ben Schockman and Philip Lynch; 7. Global media coverage of the Universal Periodic Review process Sarah Joseph; Part III. State and Regional Engagement with the Universal Periodic Review: 8. Representation and suspicion in Canada's appearance under the Universal Periodic Review Benjamin Authers; 9. The Universal Periodic Review: building a bridge between the Pacific and Geneva? Natalie Baird; 10. The effects of the Universal Periodic Review on human rights practices in the United States Constance de la Vega and Cassandra Yamasaki; 11. Africa's engagement with the Universal Periodic Review: commitment or capitulation? Takele Soboka Bulto; 12. Indonesia and the Universal Periodic Review: negotiating rights Yuyan Wahyuningrum.

'… the first comprehensive published study of the UPR. … Consequently … the position of this book is constructive. Using different lenses to consider the phenomenon of why states embrace the language and rituals of human rights but routinely ignore the obligations they have accepted helps towards understanding and improving where international human rights law lacks implementation. The book aimed to highlight the presence of ritual in the UPR and to fill the gap on how the UPR functions as a regulatory mechanism. The aim is met: the book demonstrates that the UPR is potentially capable of mere ritualism and being able to transcend it. While this nuanced picture denies an appeal to the simplicity of a panoptic approach, it fits readily with the complex nature of the mechanism with its multitude of actors, issues and attitudes.' Lucy Richardson, Human Rights Law Review