This part focuses on the interpretative methodologies and principles employed by international human rights organs in applying and developing human rights norms. It explores the role of various interpreters, including international, regional, and national courts, in shaping the meaning and scope of human rights. The sections examine the methods of interpretation used by human rights bodies, such as textual, contextual, purposive, and evolutionary approaches, and the challenges in ensuring consistency and coherence across different jurisdictions. It also discusses the purposes of interpretation, including the protection of human rights, the development of international human rights law, and the promotion of judicial dialogue and coherence. This part delves into the international legal regime governing human rights and freedoms, covering states’ general obligations, the conditions for engaging state responsibility, and the regime for the enjoyment and exercise of rights and freedoms. By analyzing the interpretative practices and legal obligations, this part aims to provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics of human rights interpretation and the factors influencing the application of human rights norms in diverse legal and cultural contexts.

Confronting hostile governments is nothing new for international human rights courts, treaty bodies, and other monitoring mechanisms. Yet there is a growing sense that the recent turn to populism poses a new type of threat that international human rights law (IHRL) institutions are ill equipped to meet. This chapter begins by identifying the facilitating conditions that have, until recently, supported the international human rights system. It then assesses the distinctive challenges that populism poses to IHRL institutions. Turning from diagnosis to prescription, the chapter reviews a range of legal and political tools that might be deployed to address those challenges and explores their potential efficacy and risks. The chapter’s final section argues that IHRL institutions should adopt four survival strategies for an age of populism—playing a long game, circumspection in interpretation, publicity and outreach, and creating windows of opportunity for supporters to mobilize.