The key human rights provisions in the UN Charter are Arts 1(3), 55, 56, 62, and 103. Note that these carry few, if any, obligations for UN member States. The language they employ is mostly aspirational and framed in non-obligatory terms. Nonetheless, their importance cannot be underestimated as they clearly suggest that the protection of human rights is a means of achieving international peace and security.

Only States are burdened with human rights obligations against rights-holders (ie individuals and legal persons). Individuals/natural persons, including terrorists and multinational corporations, do not possess human rights obligations, although a small number of cases argue otherwise. Rather, if they are responsible for the killing or torture of another person, they are liable under ordinary criminal law.

The ECtHR was established not by the European Union but by the Council of Europe. The Court enforces the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) and its additional protocols.

For ordinary people to enjoy international human rights, the relevant treaties in which these rights are embodied must first be implemented in domestic law and subjected to the jurisdiction of local courts. When implemented, the addressees of rights acquire legal standing (locus standi) to bring claims and local courts assume jurisdiction.

The (UN) Bill of Rights is composed of three instruments: the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (which is not a treaty but a resolution of the UN General Assembly), the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The ICCPR and ICESCR are multilateral treaties.

Charter-based mechanisms receive their mandate directly from the UN Charter or its principal organs. The most important UN Charter-based mechanism is the Human Rights Council, although both the General Assembly and the Security Council undertake significant human rights work. Charter-based mechanisms are generally distinguished from human rights treaty bodies. The latter are quasi-judicial entities that monitor and enforce the provisions of the pertinent human rights treaties that establish them, such as the ICCPR.

International humanitarian law (IHL) (known also as laws of war or jus in bello) is applicable only when an armed conflict is deemed to have commenced and during such time as it persists. It does not apply in times of peace. There, general international human rights law usually regulates the conduct of States.

Core international crimes are genocide, crimes against humanity, aggression, and grave breaches.