Transformation of Human Rights Fact-Finding

Fact-finding is at the heart of human rights advocacy and is often at the center of international controversies about alleged government abuses. In recent years human rights fact-finding has greatly proliferated and become more sophisticated and complex while also being subjected to stronger scrutiny from governments. Nevertheless despite the prominence of fact-finding it remains strikingly under-studied and under-theorized. Too little has been done to bring forth the assumptions methodologies and techniques of this rapidly developing field or to open human rights fact-finding to critical and constructive scrutiny. <p/><em>The Transformation of Human Rights Fact-Finding</em> offers a multidisciplinary approach to the study of fact-finding with rigorous and critical analysis of the field of practice while providing a range of accounts of what actually happens. It deepens the study and practice of human rights investigations and fosters fact-finding as a discretely studied topic while mapping crucial transformations in the field. The contributions to this book are the result of a major international conference organized by New York University Law School's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. Engaging the expertise and experience of the editors and contributing authors it offers a broad approach encompassing contemporary issues and analysis across the human rights spectrum in law international relations and critical theory. This book addresses the major areas of human rights fact-finding such as victim and witness issues; fact-finding for advocacy enforcement and litigation; the role of interdisciplinary expertise and methodologies; crowd sourcing social media and big data; and international guidelines for fact-finding.<br>