The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: A Commentary(Oxford Commentaries on International Law)

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is the centrepiece of international efforts to address racial discrimination, defined in broad terms to include discrimination based on skin colour, descent, ethnic, and national origin. Victims of discrimination within the scope of the Convention include minorities, indigenous peoples, non-citizens, and caste or descent groups. Virtually all national societies are diverse in terms of ethnicity or 'race' and none is free from discrimination, making it one of the great issues of our time.Against the background of international human rights standards and mechanisms to counter racial and ethnic discrimination, this book provides the first comprehensive legal analysis of the provisions of the Convention on an article-by article basis. The book addresses the place of the Convention within the broader framework of United Nation's action against discrimination. The different chapters analyse and discuss broad topics of race, ethnicity, and international law, the genesis and drafting of the Convention, the aims and objectives of the Convention in light of its preamble, and principles of non-discrimination and equality. In particular, the book includes a critical appraisal of the contribution of the Convention to the eradication of racial discrimination. It also reflects on whether there is scope for modification of the substance or procedures of the Convention in light of challenges arising from enhanced transnational population movements, the intersection between discrimination on the ground of race and discrimination against religious communities, and the intersection of racial and gender-based discrimination.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction: Race and ethnicity in international law 2: Genesis and drafting of the convention; the swastika epidemic, the Cold War, anti-colonialism 3: The Preamble to the Convention: context and themes 4: Discrimination 1: Equality, special measures, and the scope of the Convention 5: Discrimination 2: Grounds and victims of discrimination. 6: Discrimination 3: Intersectionalities, gender, religion 7: Discrimination, public authorities, and private actors 8: Apartheid and segregation 9: Racist and analogous forms of hate speech 10: Racial discrimination and the spectrum of human rights 11: Remedies for racial discrimination 12: Anti-racist education and education for tolerance 13: Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and its procedures: An introduction 14: Reports, individual and inter-state communications, follow-up mechanisms 15: The General Recommendations 16: Early warning and urgent action procedures 17: Petitions and the Colonial Declaration 18: Final clauses 1: Ratifications, reservations, the possibility of denunciation 19: Final clauses 2: Disputes and the role of the International Court of Justice; amendment of the Convention 20: Conclusions and appraisal: The contribution of the Convention, challenges, and prospects

About the Author :
Patrick Thornberry CMG is Emeritus Professor of International Law at Keele University, and a Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford. Professor Thornberry has been a member of CERD - the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - since 2001 and was rapporteur of that Committee from 2002 until Spring 2008. He is a former Chairman of Minority Rights Group International and has acted as consultant and adviser to a range of international organizations. Patrick Thornberry is the author of numerous works in the field of minority rights, rights of indigenous peoples, and racial discrimination.

Review :
Patrick Thornberry's commentary book on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is significant, as it is the first book that systematically analyzes the Convention article by article, drawing on his expertise and insights on minorities and human rights. Patrick Thornberry, Emeritus Professor at Keele University, has delivered his second masterpiece ... This Commentary is part of the prestigious Oxford Commentaries on International Law. This book differs from the other commentaries published in this series on a very important point: While most of them are team works where the editor fulfils first of all (but, of course, not exclusively) a coordinating function, Thornberry has written the whole text on his own - a really impressive achievement! Impressive is the result also as to its content. It moves beyond the old travaux-based model of understanding the treaty's meaning,9 supplementing it with a practice-based model rooted in the COs, EW/UA, GRs and ICs, themselves reflective of the individuals and groups who have sought out the treaty's protection. Allied with renewed global concerns around race and racial discrimination in the twenty-first century, it ought to mark far greater engagement with CERD procedures from the human rights community and wider actors in the next 50 years and beyond.