This volume collects 17 papers from a 2012 conference organized by the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights examining the office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights. The papers evaluate the performance of the individuals who have held the post over the two decades since its establishment and consider key challenges for the future. Specific
topics include: rights inflation and role conflict in the office of the High Commissioner, the High Commissioner and the treaty bodies, the High Commissioners’ promotion of the universality of
human rights, the High Commissioners and the special procedures, the work of the High Commissioner in the field, and the High Commissioner and national human rights institutions. Case studies
explore work of the High Commissioner in Syria, North Korea, China, Afghanistan, Sudan, Russia, Burma (Myanmar), and Colombia. Also included is an address given by the current High
Commissioner, Navi Pillay, to the conference and a conversation between Pillay and the director of the Jacob Blaustein Institute. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. Annotation ©2013 Book
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