Contesting human rights through institutional reform: a case study of the reform of the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission

Katherine Tonkiss*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article presents a case study of the recent reform of the United Kingdom Equalities and Human Rights Commission, to address a critical gap in the literature on national human rights institutions (NHRIs) concerning the power of governments to exert control over these institutions through reform processes. Through this analysis, the article demonstrates, first, that NHRIs are affected by contextual factors not only related to the popularity of the human rights agenda but also to wider policy agendas which impact on their status and functions; and second, that attempts by government to exert more administrative control can be significantly problematic for the operational independence of NHRIs.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)491-508
Number of pages18
JournalInternational Journal of Human Rights
Volume20
Issue number4
Early online date19 Nov 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Bibliographical note

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Human Rights on 19/11/2015, date of publicationavailable online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13642987.2015.1113169

Funding: ESRC [ES/J010553/1).

Keywords

  • NHRI
  • Equality and Human Rights Commission
  • institutional reform
  • United Nations
  • independence

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