Nicole De Silva

Analyzes the challenges of including the beneficiaries of regulation in monitoring/enforcement processes, and case studies of Canadian institutions (New Brunswick Human Rights Commission and British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal) that were overloaded with complaints during the pandemic.

10.11.2025 12:40 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

How do regulatory bodies ensure that including the beneficiaries of regulation in regulatory processes improves governance? In many regulatory arrangements, beneficiaries' “fire alarm” monitoring and reporting of targets' violations via complaint mechanisms activate regulatory bodies' enforcement role. This article theorizes how beneficiaries may misuse complaint mechanisms, undermine regulators' performance, and prompt regulators to adopt strategies within and beyond the complaint process to regulate beneficiaries' behavior. It argues regulators' assessment of the issues driving misuse and their enforcement approach (cooperative or deterrent) affect their strategies for influencing beneficiaries. Case studies of two Canadian human rights institutions, which have different enforcement approaches but experienced similarly extreme levels of beneficiary misuse during the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluate these theoretical claims. Overall, the study illustrates potential enforcement challenges arising from using beneficiaries as intermediaries for monitoring and reporting violations and how regulating beneficiary participation may be required to improve decentralized regulatory governance.

Open access in @reggovjournal.bsky.social: "Managing Complaint Mechanisms for Regulatory Enforcement: Evidence From Human Rights Institutions During the COVID-19 Pandemic"

doi.org/10.1111/rego...

10.11.2025 12:40 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Africa’s Turn: The African Court’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change On 2 May 2025, the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR, the Court) received a request for an advisory opinion concerning the obligations of states in the context of climate change. This...

Did you hear? The African Court of Human & Peoples' Rights received a request for an advisory opinion on climate change. In my ‪@ejiltalk.bsky.social‬ post, I unpack the request, its chances of success & why it matters: shorturl.at/4lQxK

22.05.2025 10:21 — 👍 18    🔁 11    💬 0    📌 2

Renewed State Backlash Against the African Court: Tunisia is the Fifth State to Withdraw Individual and NGO Access The African Union’s continental human rights court, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR), received a setback this past March when Tunisia withdrew its declaration, under Article 34(...

Renewed State Backlash Against the African Court: Tunisia is the Fifth State to Withdraw Individual and NGO Access | by Nicole De Silva and Mary Amadi

23.05.2025 07:30 — 👍 3    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 1

Tunisian individuals & NGOs still have a year to submit applications to the African Court before Tunisia's declaration withdrawal takes effect (March 2026).

This open access article analyzes Tanzanian NGOs' mobilization before Tanzania's declaration withdrawal: doi.org/10.1111/lasr...

26.03.2025 17:22 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

I'm very happy that my book 'The Politics of International Norms: A Rhetorical Approach' is out now! Thanks to everyone @cambridgeup.bsky.social, and to all those who have supported me in this journey. You can find more info in the link and this thread (1/6): cambridge.org/gb/universit...

25.02.2025 19:49 — 👍 13    🔁 7    💬 2    📌 3

The Malabo Protocol’s 10th Anniversary Revives Advocacy for an African Criminal Court 2024 marks ten years since the African Union (AU) states adopted the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (Malabo Protocol), which …

The Malabo Protocol’s 10th Anniversary Revives Advocacy for an African Criminal Court | by Nicole De Silva and Mary Amadi

25.12.2024 22:53 — 👍 0    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

The results of GANHRI's review: ganhri.org/wp-content/u...

26.11.2024 16:33 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

International review of the Canadian Human Rights Commission can provide limited gains for anti-racism advocacy Publicizing an international review of the Commission is helping civil society advocate for reforms to combat racism, but the outcome of the review is set to maintain the status quo.

After a special review in Oct, GANHRI has maintained the Canadian Human Rights Commission's top-level accreditation. A civil society coalition's reports of racism in the Commission prompted the review.

My @theconversationca.bsky.social article provides context: theconversation.com/internationa...

26.11.2024 16:33 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

🧵 3/10

"Hidden figures: how legal experts influence the design of international institutions" by Nicole De Silva and Anne Holthoefer

Read it here: t1p.de/zvmsj

29.02.2024 11:29 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0