The United Nations Human Rights System: Mechanisms for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Contemporary Challenges

The present study analyses the evolution of the United Nations system for the promotion and protection of human rights, tracing its historical development and assessing its effectiveness in the contemporary context. The analysis begins with the emergence of international organisations and modern international law, providing the historical context necessary to fully understand the process that led to the establishment of the United Nations. Its objectives and main instruments are then examined in detail. Subsequently, the thesis introduces the topic of human rights, tracing the earliest international attempts to ensure their protection and examining the role assumed by the United Nations following the adoption of the United Nations Charter. The main normative and institutional developments of the human rights protection system are then analysed, from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the International Covenants to specialised conventions and the establishment of the bodies responsible for their implementation, highlighting both their main characteristics and challenges. Towards the end of the second chapter, particular attention is devoted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, which currently represents the central body of the entire system. In the final section, the thesis focuses on the main challenges facing the system. Despite the existence of a comprehensive institutional framework and numerous international legal instruments, serious violations of fundamental rights continue to occur today. An overview of the current state of human rights compliance is then provided and some of the main factors contributing to the situation are examined. Among these, the work considers: the lack of enforcement mechanisms within the United Nations system, the weakness of follow-up procedures, the limited participation of certain States, the politicisation within the system, the role of the right of veto, and the lack of coordination with other actors in the field. For each point, the study analyses its impact, providing concrete examples and retracing, where they have occurred, the various attempts that have been made to address them, together with all the difficulties they have encountered. The final chapter concludes with a section summarising the main issues that have emerged, presenting some of the most recent reform proposals put forward by experts in the field, with the aim of assessing new possible strategies to strengthen the effectiveness of the international system for the protection of human rights.