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This is an indispensable book for understanding the concept of the human right to resist and its status in international and constitutional law. It will be a valuable resource for academics or students researching the 'right to resist' and activists or practitioners making, assessing or defending claims or adjudicators evaluating defences.
List of contents
1. Introduction: in from the margins; Part I. The Concept: 2. Advancing a legal definition of the right; 3. Clarifying the nature and legal function of the right; 4. Identifying the elements and legal content of the right; Part II. The Law: 5. Domestic provision in constitutional law; 6. Recognition in general or customary international law; 7. Provision in treaty law and other international codification; 8. Conclusions and an agenda for reconsideration; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
Shannonbrooke Murphy is Endowed Chair in Human Rights and Associate Professor in the Human Rights Department of St Thomas University in Canada. She was appointed as a Human Rights Commissioner with the provincial New Brunswick Human Rights Commission in 2023, and as Director of the Atlantic Human Rights Centre in 2024.
Summary
The human right to resist is a contemporary legal concept with an ancient pedigree. Although it has received recognition in constitutions, customary international law and human rights treaties, and acknowledgment by leading publicists of international law, it remains obscure compared to other human rights. In this innovative and comprehensive book, Shannonbrooke Murphy addresses the perennial question of who has a 'right' to resist – and what, when, why, and how, from a legal perspective. Using a systematic and comparative approach to analyzing both the theoretical concept and the provisions in positive law, this study aims to establish that a 'right to resist' can be recognized and codified as an enforceable 'human right', proposing a common conceptual language and an analytical framework for evaluating the legal basis of claims. Murphy makes a strong and detailed case for a firmer place for the 'right to resist' in the human rights lexicon.
