Chapter

Dilemmas facing commissions of inquiry

Andrew Clapham

The struggle for human rights : essays in honour of Philip Alston

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2021

p. 251-262

English

Philip Alston was amongst the first to herald the significance and effectiveness of international Commissions of Inquiry as a response to human rights violations. He nevertheless also presented to the UN Human Rights Council a critical analysis of the shortcomings of national Commissions of Inquiry. He served on various Commissions, including the Commission set up by the Security Council on the Central African Republic, and the chapter seeks to build on some of the ideas which he advanced in this context. The author covers six selected dilemmas as they arise, more or less chronologically, over the life of a Commission. They are related to: the legal framework, questioning witnesses and suspected perpetrators, and future access to sensitive material.

• The struggle for human rights : essays in honour of Philip Alston / ed. by Nehal Bhuta, Florian Hoffmann, Sarah Knuckey, Frédéric Mégret, and Margaret Satterthwaite