Philip G. Alston
· John Norton Pomeroy Professor of LawNew York University · Law
Active 1978–2024
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About
Philip G. Alston is the John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at NYU School of Law. His areas of research include economic and social rights, human rights, international law, and international organizations. As both a scholar and practitioner, he focuses on the human rights dimensions of issues such as neoliberal economic policies, climate change, artificial intelligence, and poverty elimination. He teaches courses on international law and human rights law, emphasizing critical perspectives and case studies from around the world. Alston has held numerous significant roles in international human rights work. He was editor-in-chief of the European Journal of International Law from 1996 through 2007. From 2014 to 2020, he served as UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and from 2004 to 2010, he was UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions. His other notable roles include being a member of the Security Council Commission of Inquiry into the Central African Republic, the Independent International Commission on Kyrgyzstan, and the UN Group of Experts on Darfur. He also served as special adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Millennium Development Goals, and held leadership positions within the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, UNICEF, and other international bodies. His work critically evaluates the UN's machinery for promoting human rights and addresses key issues such as…
Research topics
- Political Science
- Law
- Sociology
- Public administration
- Law and economics
- History
- Psychology
- Social psychology
Selected publications
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights
2019-10-17 · 100 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingThe Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Oxford University Press eBooks · 2020 · 42 citations
1st authorCorrespondingAbstract This chapter evaluates the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Committee has devoted, and seems likely to continue to devote, much of its energies to streamlining and refining procedures and to laying the foundations upon which a serious effort can be made to promote respect for economic, social and cultural rights. In many respects, the Committee has confronted problems which are common to all of the treaty bodies. In other respects, however, the challenges that conf…
Journal of Human Rights Practice · 2021 · 20 citations
Abstract Climate change litigation is a rapidly growing field in many countries and human rights obligations are increasingly an integral part of the equation. The Irish Supreme Court’s 2020 judgment invalidating Ireland’s National Mitigation Plan for transitioning to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050 has been widely praised by commentators. But the case warrants far more critical scrutiny. The Court’s findings on standing to sue, the relevance of hu…
Extreme poverty and human rights
2019-10-11 · 17 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingOxford University Press eBooks · 2020-04-02 · 11 citations
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingAbstract This introductory chapter provides an overview of the UN rights regime, which has changed dramatically in almost every respect. In normative terms, major new instruments have been adopted addressing the situation of persons with disabilities, disappearances, indigenous peoples, and many other groups, and the rights of LGBTI persons are now squarely on the agenda from which they were then almost entirely absent. In terms of staff, the relatively small Center for Human Rights has been rep…
Frequent coauthors
- 49 shared
Joseph Mytelka
University of Washington
- 49 shared
Jack Donnelly
University of Denver
- 49 shared
I Zacher
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- 49 shared
Kal Hoffmann
University Hospital Ulm
- 49 shared
Mary Fainsod Katzenstein
University of Victoria
- 49 shared
G Hardi
Purple Mountain Observatory
- 49 shared
Robert Dominguez
Bryan College
- 49 shared
Laura Tsoukalis
University of Birmingham
Education
- 1978
Ph.D., Law
University of Cambridge
- 1973
B.A., Law
University of Sydney
Awards & honors
- Order of Australia, Officer in the General Division, Austral…
- Honorary Life Member, American Society of International Law,…
- Adlai Stevenson Award, United Nations Association of the USA…
- Elected Member, Australian Academy of Law, 2016
- Aldo Farina Award for Child Rights, UNICEF - the United Nati…
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