I had the pleasure of witnessing the genesis of this book, which is based on the author's Ph.D. thesis, written at Ghent University in the context of a broader research project on ‘human rights integration’. Valeska David joined the team relatively late, as a result of which she had only three years to complete her doctoral work, instead of the four years that are common in Belgian law faculties. Many people in these circumstances would opt for a simple research design to maximize feasibility. While that may be a sensible thing to do, it does not match everybody's personality though. This researcher did not want external circumstances to interfere with her scholarly aspirations. And these were ambitious. She did not choose to focus on one supranational human rights jurisdiction, but rather opted for studying the two most important regional courts. Neither did she want to zoom in on one type of human rights violation, or to conduct her analysis from a single theoretical angle. This resulted in a very challenging research project, that Valeska was able to complete successfully thanks to her talent and dedication, as well as her versatile and creative intelligence.

HUMAN RIGHTS INTEGRATION FROM A RIGHTS HOLDERS’ PERSPECTIVE

The project ‘The Global Challenge of Human Rights Integration: Towards a Users’ Perspective‘ (2012–2017), was sponsored as an Inter-University Attraction Pole (IAP) by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO). Research teams at five Belgian universities (Ghent University, Antwerp University, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, and Universite Saint Louis Bruxelles), as well as at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, collaborated in’ the study of human rights law as an integrated whole from a users ‘perspective’. The starting point of the research was the finding that both rights holders and duty bearers under human rights norms are confronted simultaneously with a multitude of human rights provisions differing as to their scope, focus, legal force and level of governance. This non-hierarchical accumulation of human rights provisions has resulted in a complex and uncoordinated legal architecture that may in some circumstances create obstacles for effective human rights protection. Valeska David's book can be seen as a keystone of this project, as it contributes to several of its central dimensions, and brings these to a higher level.