Human Rights Committees: Their Nature and Legal Relevance in Spain

Abstract

Recent reports from the human rights committees have referred to Spain in relation to issues such as gender-based violence, access to housing, expulsion of immigrants and historical memory. These issues are highly topical and come into conflict with respect for basic human rights and people’s dignity. It is therefore necessary to examine closely the nature and relevance of these bodies, which must be understood not only within the area of international but also of national law, which is where they have effect. There are surprisingly a small number of studies regarding human rights treaty-based bodies and the effectiveness of its resolutions in domestic law. Nevertheless, Human Rights Committees recent jurisprudence is of special interest in the study of the development of International Human Rights Law.The monitoring system of human rights treaty-based bodies, frequently constituted as “committees”, will be analysed below. Originating as quasi-jurisdictional monitoring tools, these committees nonetheless play a highly relevant role in the protection of fundamental rights in most States that make up the international community.