Implementation Monitoring
Human rights must work in practice.
The Institute for Human Rights and Applied Legal Studies (IHRALS) is committed not only to the recognition and promotion of human rights, but also to understanding whether human rights obligations, decisions and interventions produce meaningful change in practice.
Its implementation-monitoring work is built around the conviction that the effectiveness of human rights protection depends on the extent to which legal obligations are translated into institutional action, remedies, policy change and improved lived experiences.
Has the obligation or decision actually been implemented?
And has it made a difference?Three lenses. One accountability chain.
IHRALS approaches implementation from two complementary perspectives: monitoring compliance and observing impact.
Human Rights Implementation Monitoring Centre
Tracks what was decided, what must be done, who is responsible and what remains outstanding.
Explore the Centre 02ObservationHuman Rights Implementation Observatory
Turns individual implementation information into patterns, evidence and knowledge for policy and reform.
Explore the Observatory 03ImpactObservatory of Human Rights Impact
Examines whether implementation measures improve protection and change the lives of rights-holders.
Explore the impact lensFrom human-rights commitments to human rights in practice
The existence of a human rights treaty, statute, judgment or decision is an important step in the protection of human rights. It is not, however, the end of the process.
What happens after the obligation has been assumed or the decision has been made?
IHRALS monitors the implementation of obligations, judgments, decisions, recommendations and other authoritative outcomes across institutions, sectors, levels of government, jurisdictions and countries.
First-order compliance
We examine whether human-rights obligations from international, regional and national frameworks are translated into:
- Legislation and regulations
- Policies and programmes
- Institutional arrangements
- Administrative measures
- Judicial practice and practical action
Second-order compliance
We examine what happens after a court, tribunal, commission or mechanism has issued an authoritative outcome:
- What was decided and what measures are required
- Who is responsible and what action has been taken
- What remains outstanding and whether remedies were provided
- Whether structural issues have been addressed
- Whether the decision produced meaningful change
From formal compliance to lived change.
Implementation monitoring is meaningful when it can connect obligations and decisions to action, action to remedies, and remedies to a measurable improvement in people's lives.
From commitment. To accountability. To impact.