Law, legitimacy and the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights

This article examines the legitimacy of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). It considers: (1) the nature of legitimacy and the role of legitimacy as an element of compliance with international law; (2) the idea that regional arrangements for promoting and protecting human rights possess a particular form of legitimacy; (3) the legitimacy of ‘soft law’ such as the forthcoming ASEAN Declaration on Human Rights; (4) problems with legitimacy where international institutions are established in regions with a majority of non-democratic states. The article concludes that the answer to the question of whether the AICHR is a ‘legitimate institution’ is a complicated and highly qualified one.