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The UN and Legal Programme

 

The UN & Legal Programme has expertise in international and national law concerning all aspects of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and safeguards to protect persons in detention. The Programme works with the relevant United Nations mechanisms dealing with torture issues such as the Committee against Torture, the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, in order to strengthen the international framework related to the absolute prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

The Programme offers legal advice and advocacy directed to various actors such as governments, non-governmental organisations, international and regional organisations, national human rights institutions, and the general public. The Programme also provides regular support to APT in-region activities, participates in consultations on legal issues, and from time to time, oversees APT third-party interventions in legal and other judicial proceedings. Finally, the UN and Legal Programme coordinates APT’s campaign for the ratification and implementation of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against torture (OPCAT) with government and civil society, and promotes its implementation, inter alia, by supporting the establishment and effective functioning of national preventive mechanisms.

 

Core Activities

The United Nations and Legal programme works to:

  • Enhance the capacity of UN mechanisms dealing with torture issues;
  • Provide legal advice and analysis;
  • Promote the ratification and implementation of the OPCAT.


Recent Publications
  • Recent Activities
    • The role of lawyers in preventing and combating torture
    • USA: International Conference on the Prevention of Torture
    • Preventing Torture in South Africa
    • Protecting Persons with Disabilities from Torture
    • The Optional Protocol in Federal and Decentralized States
    • UN Treaty Bodies - Enhancing NGO Participation
    • CINAT Statement to the UN Human Rights Council
    • Preventing torture and ill-treatment in the French-speaking world
    • OPCAT: Promoting a better understanding of the role of national human rights structures
    • The Optional Protocol in the African Region: the challenges of implementation
    • South Africa: Implementing the Optional Protocol
    • The Americas human rights system makes strides on torture prevention
    • Macedonia and the implementation of the OPCAT
    • The Role of Medical Doctors in the Fight against Torture
    • The Prohibition Of Torture Within The Context Of Emergency Situations
    • Togo and the Human Rights Treaty Bodies

Universal Periodic Review

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a new mechanism under which the UN Human Rights Council will examine the human rights situation in every State.

APT's NGO and NHRI Guide to Universal Periodic Review, available in English and Spanish.

Guidelines for 'relevant stakeholders' wishing to provide information to the UPR - English. 

External Links:
OHCHR - Universal Periodic Review

Featured Publication

A guide to jurisprudence

English

External Publication

Bringing the International Prohibition of Torture Home

National Implementation Guide for the UN Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
A Redress Publication available in Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Thai
External Links
 LEGAL BRIEFING SERIES

 

Legal Briefing Series
The first in a new series of APT Legal Briefings is now available:

 

Updates from the UN

12 May: Committe Against Torture meets with Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture

27 April: Committee Against Torture opens 42nd Session

23 April: Committee Against Torture to hold 42nd Session in Geneva from 27 April to 15 May 2009

Convention Against Torture

Text of the Convention

Status of Ratification, Declarations and Reservations*

* OHCHR Link

Quick Links

Monthly OPCAT Briefing

OPCAT Country Status  (Info)

OPCAT Ratification Status

National Preventive Mechanisms

Payments to APT

Universal Declaration

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Putting the Universal Declaration into Practice: The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture - A new paper by the APT
English  French  Spanish