• Unique in International Relations? (PDF, 954 KB)

In February 2008, IHRA’s HR2 (harm reduction and human rights) team launched a new report – entitled Unique in International Relations?: A Comparison of the International Narcotics Control Board and the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies. This report provides a critique of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) – the United Nations (UN) body which is charged with upholding the international drug conventions. The INCB operates behind closed doors, with minimal engagement with civil society, and has justified this stance by claiming that it is a body that is “unique in international relations”.

This report explores how, far from being unique, the INCB is actually just an early example of the ‘independent committee of experts’ model that has been adopted and developed across the United Nations (and, in particular, in the UN human rights systems and regional human rights systems) over the past four decades. It is a common model that continues to be used today. In contrast to these similar bodies, however, the INCB has failed to modernise its processes, raising questions about its continued legitimacy and relevance. The report suggests a number of reforms required to bring the INCB into line with other similar bodies in the UN system.

Further reading:

• Beckley Foundation – The International Narcotics Control Board: Watchdog or Guardian of the UN Drug Control Conventions?
• Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Open Society Institute – Closed to Reason: The International Narcotics Control Board and HIV/AIDS (PDF, 0 B)
• IDPC – The International Narcotics Control Board: Current Tensions and Options for Reform
• IDPC – Response to the 2007 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board
• UNDCP Legal Affairs Section – Flexibility of Treaty Provisions as Regards Harm Reduction Approaches