"This is not yet another buybooks online in india about the Human Rights Committeed. This is the most authentic book available, written by insiders who were there from the start -- Justice Jakob Th. Möller (Iceland), former Chief of the Communications Branch at the Office of the UN High Commmissioner for Human Rights, and his successor in this function, Alfred de Zayas (US), who was also Secretary of the Committee. Whereas other excellent books like those of Sarah Joseph and Manfred Nowak give us good commentary on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its mechanisms, the Möller and de Zayas book is unique in that it gives the reader the feeling of being there. It is thorough, user-friendly, and indispensable for practitioners and students.
In seven chapters and six appendices, the authors of this monumental handbook give the reader a perceptive history of how the Committee started its work, how the rules of procedure were elaborated and repeatedly amended, how the Secretariat functions, how the criteria of admissibility have been interpreted and reinterpreted, how the holdings on the merits have evolved over three decades, how the working groups operate, and how the mandates of Special Rapporteur on New Communications and Special Rapporteur on Follow-Up (not envisaged in the ICCPR or in the Optional Protocol) were created.
This lucid and well-organized book reflects all the significant jurisprudence through 2008. Actually, the authors go beyond 2008 to include the Committee's ninety-fifth session in March/April 2009 and include the ground-breaking 'Views' in Poma v. Peru (adopted in New York on 27 March 2009), which recognize the right of indigenous communities to protection of their econommic activities under article 27 of the ICCPR (minorities rights) and in particular their right to water. ... It can be said without fear of contradiction that this handbook is an academic job well done and a significant scholarly achievement. It belongs in every university, IGO and NGO library."