The UK Joint Committee on Human Rights and the United Nations Universal Periodic Review: A Critical Appraisal

Abstract

Abstract This article critically appraises the extent that the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has engaged with the UN’s Universal Periodic Review and its recommendations on the UK’s human rights situation. It initially explores the Universal Periodic Review process, the UK’s implementation of its recommendations, and posits that a contributing factor to poor implementation is a lack of mobilization of domestic actors. The UK’s Parliament, and its Joint Committee on Human Rights, it is argued, are central domestic actors in this regard. By reviewing existing research as well as a range of documentary sources, this article identifies several shortcomings in the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ engagement with the Universal Periodic Review and, drawing from the available evidence, articulates possible reasons for these. This article closes by making proposals on how the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ participation in the Universal Periodic Review process may be enhanced. Thus, it will make a modest contribution to the successful realization of human rights in the UK, and to the growing scholarship on parliaments’ roles in the international human rights framework.