174
The Principle of Human Rights
the right to an effective remedy (article 47 of the Charter) as well as rights which go with it—the right to be heard and the right for each person to access his or her file. This right to an effective remedy is also contained in article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The institutions’ obligations arise from the provisions of general EU treaties.
4. Institutions Involved Here we will specify several institutions that achieved significant developments in what concerns the concept of human rights. These institutions are the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the European Union, and we will mention here some important documents produced by these institutions.
(a) United Nations In the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) we read: Article 2, paragraph 3: Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes: a) To ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity; b) To ensure that any person claiming such a remedy shall have his right thereto determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for by the legal system of the State, and to develop the possibilities of judicial remedy; c) To ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce such remedies when granted.
Furthermore, we find norms of good governance at the UN level in the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 1979 (Resolution 34/169), where we read in article 7: ‘Law enforcement officials shall not commit any act of corruption. They shall also rigorously oppose and combat all such acts.’ In addition, we also find relevant norms in the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, of 15 December 2000 and in the Convention Against Corruption of 31 October 2003. The former UN Commission on Human Rights (the predecessor of the current UN Human Rights Council) adopted Resolution 2000/64 on ‘The role of good governance in the promotion of human rights’. In that resolution, the Commission identified the key attributes of good governance: transparency, responsibility, accountability, participation, and responsiveness to the needs of the people. In Resolution 2005/68, the role of good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights has been further elaborated.
(b) Council of Europe Several articles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms are relevant. In this context, a key provision is Article 13, the right to an effective remedy:
