Explaining institutional strength: the case of national human rights institutions in Europe and its Neighbourhood

Abstract

National human rights institutions have spread rapidly across Europe and its Neighbourhood consolidating their powers to protect human rights. Yet, we know little about the causes for change in the strength of national human rights institutions over time. We propose an analysis of institutional strength along two dimensions of safeguards-durability and enforcementbased on original data for 50 states. We illustrate the quantitative analysis with two case studies-Hungary and Poland. We find that European Union membership conditionality is the strongest predictor of increased strength in national human rights institutions. Additionally, we find evidence of democratic 'lock-in', as newly democratised states seek to increase the durability of their institutions. The influence of the United Nations and the European Union, through state networks, increases the strength of national human rights institutions, particularly their durability. The Council of Europe has a positive impact on the institutional safeguards for enforcement.

Conceptualizing and Measuring Institutional Variation in National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)

“…To date, national human rights institutions have received little systematic theoretical and empirical scrutiny. Extant research is dominated by legal scholarship (e.g., Carver 2010, 2012; Hadden 2000; Kumar 2003, 2006; Mertus 2009, 2012; Okafor 2012; Okafor and Agbakwa 2002; Ramcharan 2005; Reif 2000, 2004; Sidoti 2012; Smith 2006), but includes a growing body of work in political science and sociology (e.g., Cardenas 2003; Goodman and Pegram 2012a; Kim 2013; Koo and Ramirez 2009; Lacatus 2019; Welch 2017, 2019). Much of this literature documents the historical development of the NHRI movement and seeks to explain the global spread of that movement (e.g., Cardenas 2014; Koo and Ramirez 2009; Pegram 2010; Sidoti 2012).…”

Revisiting international human rights treaties: comparing Asian and Western efforts to improve human rights

“…Scholars agreed that the conditionality of European Union membership has been an effective way to increase the establishment of NHRIs in Europe, especially in Central and Eastern Europe (Carver 2011 ; Pegram 2010 ). The EU also play an important role in strengthening the capacity of NHRIs in Europe, by including the assessment of member states’ NHRI performance in country reports, as well as inserting NHRIs in instruments that require participating states to abide to certain standards of human rights performance such as The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (Lacatus 2019 ).…”

“…As the functions, operation, and composition of NHRIs are regulated by the Paris Principle (De Beco 2007 ), NHRIs status in accordance to the Paris Principle is officially examined by Global Alliance of NHRI (GANHRI), accrediting them into either ‘A: Fully compliant’; ‘B: Partially compliant’ or ‘C: Non-compliant’ (Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions 2019 ). Using the same countries for polity and GDP, there are 22 NHRIs in the 28 Western countries with accreditation status ‘A.’ On the other hand, only 3 out of 5 NHRIs in Southeast Asia with accreditation status ‘A.’ These different results of GANHRI accreditation also affect the strength and durability of NHRIs, as NHRIs with GANHRI accreditation are more like to become more stronger overtime (Lacatus 2019 ).…”

“…In addition to the regional human rights mechanisms mentioned previously, Council of Europe has also been encouraging the creation of NHRIs across the continent and their cooperation with EU institutions (Council of Europe 1997 ). CoE has also played an indispensable role in incorporating NHRIs through trainings, information session and facilitation of annual meetings in domestic and regional efforts to implement human rights treaty in the region (Lacatus 2019 ). Thus, it is important to acknowledge this collaborative role of regional body in the West that is currently missing in Southeast Asia.…”

Regional diffusion, EU conditionality and Council of Europe treaty ratification 1949–2016

“…4 The Copenhagen criteria stipulate that countries wishing to join the EU need to have 'stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities'. 5 Moreover, the strong normative foundation of the EU makes it an important player contributing to the extension of norms to its neighbours andmost notablyits future members (Cardwell 2017;Lacatus 2018;Manners 2002;Shyrokykh 2019). In this sense, the EU exerts a form of coercion, as it requires future member states to formally adopt international standards of rights.…”