Cultural Relativism vs. Universalism: The South Pacific Reality

Abstract

In many countries of the world international human rights texts explicitly or implicitly purport to be universal and to have binding effect. In the South Pacific, however, whilst many countries are signatories to human rights conventions, few have incorporated international conventions into domestic law. On the other hand, many regional countries, including Solomon Islands, have enshrined human rights in their constitutions and provided a mechanism for the enforcement of those rights. Protection is also provided by the common law. In spite of these formal laws, in reality there has been little tangible change. In particular, customary law has been relied on to subvert key human rights protections, particularly anti-discrimination norms. This Chapter looks at the question of whether human rights are universal and binding in the context of the South Pacific and more particularly with reference to Solomon Islands.