Through a use of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, Won provides a nuanced analysis and discussion of the factors and domestic processes influencing the implementation of United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) recommendations in South Korea and Japan, as well as across the globe.

Won’s research entangles the theoretical debate on whether the UN human rights treaty system is effective in prompting the implementation of HRC recommendations. Her findings, based on interviews with activists, lawyers, scholars, judges, and other practitioners in Korea and Japan, point to the complex interplay of treaty bodies, state parties, and civil society organizations in human rights implementation. In addition, Won creates a novel empirical dataset to assess the key variables associated with improvement in human rights action across 103 countries. The findings suggest that human rights treaties matter not only to countries with high levels of democracy, but authoritarian regimes.

A unique empirical analysis of international human rights action as driven by UN recommendations, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of international law, human rights, and international relations, as well as human rights lawyers and the NGO Human Rights Communities.