.........Chapter 2 THE MAJOR UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS AND THE MECHANISMS FOR THEIR IMPLEMENTATION................ Learning Objectives l l To familiarize participants with the major universal human rights treaties and their modes of implementation and to highlight the contents of some other relevant legal instruments; To provide a basic understanding of how these legal resources can be used by legal practitioners, principally at the domestic level but also to some extent at the international level. Questions l l l l l l l l Have you, in the exercise of your professional activities as judges, prosecutors, or lawyers, ever been faced with an accused person, defendant, respondent or client alleging violations of his or her rights? What was your response? Were you aware that international human rights law might provide guidance in solving the problem? Were you aware that the alleged victim might ultimately bring his or her grievances to the attention of an international monitoring organ? If not, would such an awareness have changed your manner of responding to the alleged violations of his or her human rights? Have you ever brought a case against your country before an international organ on behalf of an alleged victim of a human rights violation? If so, what was the outcome of the case? What was your experience generally of making such a complaint? Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers 27