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UN Human Rights Council reviews UK rights record – JURIST

The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Thursday reviewed the UK’s human rights record for the fourth time. The UPR announced the review on November 7.Some delegations, such as the Maldives and Malaysia, commended the UK on its recent efforts to protect women and girls by criminalizing gendered offenses. Other delegations, such as Malawi and Ireland, highlighted the UK’s hesitancy to resolve lingering fallout from the Northern Ireland Troubles and called for increased scrutiny of the UK’s policies in Northern Ireland. The full list of UPR recommendations is expected to be presented on November 16. Given the UK’s recent issues with migrants and refugee rights, it is expected many of the recommendations will ask the UK to implement new policies concerning migrants.The UK has undergone examination by the UPR 3 times before, most recently in 2017. The UPR requires three documents to be submitted which form the basis for review: a national report provided by the UK,  a compilation of independent reports from international human rights agencies and a compilation of information provided by national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups from with the UK.The UPR process involves periodic reviews of the human rights records of all 193 UN member States. Since the first review in 2008, every UN member State has been reviewed at least once. During the review process, States outline specific steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews and highlight their recent human rights developments.