Martin Scheinin

Martin Scheinin (2009)

Martin Scheinin (* 4. November 1954 in Helsinki ) is a professor of heads of state and international law at the Åbo Akademi and was 2005 to 2011, the first UN special rapporteur on human rights in the fight against terrorism .

Life

In 1982 Scheinin graduated from Turku University with a law degree and received his Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the same university in 1984 . From 1986 to 1992 he was a researcher at the Finnish Academy. During this time he became an advisor to the Finnish Ministry of Justice on constitutional and international law issues, which he remained until 1994. In 1993 he was appointed Associate Professor of International Law at the University of Helsinki , which he held until 1998. At the same time, he was Vice President of the Finnish Advisory Council on Human Rights Issues from 1993 to 1997. In 1996 he became a member of the research group at the Danish Center for Human Rights. From 1997 to 1998 he was a visiting professor at the University of Toronto Law School . In 1998 he was appointed full professor at Åbo Akademi and at the same time became director of the Norwegian Institute for Human Rights . From 1993 to 2001 Scheinin was visiting professor at the universities of Gdansk , Maastricht , Tartu , Lyon 3 , Toronto and Lund , as well as at the New York University School of Law and other institutions. In 2001, Martin Scheinin became director of the Academic School for Human Rights Research funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education . In 2005 he became a UN human rights observer in the fight against terrorism . In this position he wrote a report on the US prison camp in Guantánamo in 2007 , which he described in an interview as a “legal black hole” . In his report he called for the abolition of the military commissions that are supposed to judge the prisoners. In his opinion, these clearly violated international law . He also criticized the classification of the prisoners as “ enemy combatants ”. Access to the prisoners was restricted, in contrast to his visits to prisoners in Turkey, South Africa and Israel.

Publications

• The Right to Say 'No'; A Study under the Right to Freedom of Conscience . Archives for Legal and Social Philosophy, vol. LXXV (1989), pp. 345-356.
• Ihmisoikeudet Suomen oikeudessa. Valtiosääntöoikeudellinen tutkimus kansainvälisten seineisoikeussopimusten valtionsisäisestä voimassaolosta sekä himisoikeus- ja perusoikeusnormien sovellettavuudesta Suomen oikeusjärjestyksessä (human rights in Finnish law). Helsinki 1991, doctoral thesis
• Economic and Social Rights as Legal Rights . In: Asbjørn Eide, Catarina Krause, Allan Rosas (Eds.): Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Textbook . Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht 2001, pp. 29-54.
• Allan Rosas, Martin Scheinin: Implementation Mechanisms and Remedies . In: Asbjørn Eide, Catarina Krause, Allan Rosas (Eds.): Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Textbook . Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht 2001, pp. 425-453.
• Principles of Justice, Human Rights and Constitutional Principles within the European Union: a Comment . In: Esa Paasivirta, Kirsti Rissanen (Ed.): Principles of Justice and the Law of the European Union . Helsingin yliopiston kansainvälisen talousoikeuden instituutti KATTI, Helsinki 1995, pp. 101-113.
• Sosiaaliset perusoikeudet ja lainsäätäjä I – II [legally protected social rights and the legislature]. Oikeus, Vol. 24 (1995), pp. 343-350 and Oikeus, Vol. 25 (1996), pp. 18-26.
• Martin Scheinin (Ed.): International Human Rights Norms in the Nordic and Baltic Countries . Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague / London / Boston 1996.
• Mitä on syrjintä? [What is discrimination?] In: Taina Dahlgren ym. (toim.): Vähemmistöt yes niiden syrjintä Suomessa . Yliopistopaino, Helsinki 1996, pp. 7-19.
• EMU yes Suomen valtiosääntö: yhteiseen rahaan siirtyminen yes Suomen Pankin asema . [Economic and Monetary Union: Introduction of a Single Currency and the Position of the Central Bank of Finland], Helsinki 1997
• Ihmisarvon loukkaamattomuus valtiosääntöperiaatteena [The inviolability of human dignity as a constitutional principle] In: Juhlakirja Kaarlo Tuori 50 vuotta, Helsinki 1998, pp. 57–69.
• Sexual Rights as Human Rights - Protected under Existing Human Rights Treaties? In: Nordic Journal of International Law : special issue: sexual and reproductive rights in international law, Vol. 67 (1998), No. 1, pp. 17-35.
• International Human Rights in National Law . In: Raija Hanski, Markku Suksi (Ed.): An Introduction to the International Protection of Human Rights: A Textbook . Åbo Akademi University Institute for Human Rights, Turku 1999, pp. 417-428
• International Mechanisms and Procedures for Implementation . In: Raija Hanski, Markku Suksi (Ed.): An Introduction to the International Protection of Human Rights: A Textbook . Åbo Akademi University Institute for Human Rights, Turku 1999, pp. 429-452
• Women's Economic and Social Rights as Human Rights: Conceptual Problems and Issues of Practical Implementation . In: Lauri Hannikainen, Eeva Nykänen (Ed.): New Trends in Discrimination Law - International Perspectives . Turku Law School, Turku 1999, pp. 1-28
• Domestic Implementation of International Human Rights Treaties: Nordic and Baltic Experiences . In: Philip Alston, James Crawford (Eds.): The Future of UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000, pp. 229-243
• Brott och kontinuitet i rättighetsideologin och -tänkandet i Norden [changes and continuity in the legal conception and thinking of the Nordic states]. In: Krister Ståhlberg (Ed.): Kontinuitet och förnyelse. Europeisk integration och nordisk förvaltningsanpassning . Nordisk Ministerråd, Copenhagen 2000, pp. 15–31.
• Pekka Aikio, Martin Scheinin (Ed.): Operationalizing the Right of Indigenous Peoples to Self-Determination . Åbo Akademi University Institute for Human Rights, Turku 2000
  • therein: The Right to Self-Determination under the Covenant of Civil and Political Rights , pp. 179–199
• Constitutionalism and the Welfare State - Nordic Perspectives . København 2001 (as editor)
• therein as author: Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Finland - A Rights-Based Variant of the Welfare State?

Web links

• Martin Scheinin on the website of Åbo Akademi (English)
• Interview with Scheinin on the fight against terrorism (English)
• Review of the book Rethinking Non-Discrimination and Minority Rights (PDF; 135 kB; German)

Footnotes

1. ↑ Sandro Cruz: International Law - Interview with UN Special Rapporteur Martin Scheinin voltairenet.org, July 10, 2007 in
   full: “As to the closure of Guantanamo, I do recommend getting rid of this legal black hole as soon as possible and I specifically emphasize that as the United States has created this situation, this primary leaves possibilities for them to find a solution. "
2. ↑ "Guantanamo is cruel" - UN call for closure . n-tv.de, October 30, 2007