The international control of illegal drugs and the U.N. treaty regime: Preventing or causing human rights violations?

Daniel P.P. Heilmann Ph.D., LL.M., Max-Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

Abstract

The article attempts to answer the question whether the international drug control system (i.e. the three conventions on which the U.N. regime is based) is still serviceable in light of recent trends on the illegal drugs markets and whether the regime is up to the standards of modern human rights law. In a first step, the set-up of the international control system is outlined in order to give an overview of the situation (Part II). The second step is to summarize recent trends in global drug markets and to assess the impact of the control system on illicit manufacturing, trafficking and consumption (Part III). The substance of the article then focuses on the criticism directed at the United Nations and the drug control bodies for maintaining the system unchanged in face of human rights violations by Member States in the so-called ‘war on drugs’ (Part IV). The final portion of the article makes the argument that, if construed correctly, the legal framework in place is serviceable to reach the desired objectives (Part V).