Dr. Christophe Golay

Research Fellow

Christophe Golay is the Joint Coordinator of the Project on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the Academy. His main research areas are related to the right to food, access to justice for victims of human rights violations and the work of the UN Special Procedures on economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR). He is undertaking research for the Swiss Government on ESCR and is teaching Professional Trainings in ESCR at the Academy.

Christophe Golay holds a PhD in International Relations (specialisation in International Law) and a double Master in International Law and International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. From 2001 to 2008, he was Legal Adviser to the first UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. He undertook missions with the United Nations in many countries, including Brazil, Guatemala, Bolivia, Cuba, Niger, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, India and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. He is Visiting Lecturer at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and Lecturer at the Center for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action and at the University of Fribourg, as well as external member of the Council of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Ethics and Human Rights at the University of Fribourg.

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Direct Line : +41 22 908 44 31

Selected publications

• The Fight for the Right to Food. Lessons Learned, with Jean Ziegler, Claire Mahon and Sally-Anne Way, London, Palgrave Macmillan, February 2011, 464p
• Droit à l’alimentation et accès à la justice, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2011, 356p
• “The impact of UN Special Procedures on the developments and implementation of economic, social and cultural rights”, with Claire Mahon and Ioana Cismas, International Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2011, pp. 299-318

• “The Right to Food and the Right to Life” in D. Fraser and G. Almeida Rodrigues (eds), Disrespect Today, Conflict Tomorrow. The Politics of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,Nottingham, Critical, Cultural and Communications Press, 2009, pp. 151-158
• “Le droit à l’alimentation”, Annuaire suisse de politique de développement, Vol. 27, No. 1, Genève, IHEID, 2008, pp. 152-156
• “Estar a cubierto del hambre, de la subalimentación y de la desnutrición es un derecho”, in A. Guerra and J. F. Tezanos (eds), Las políticas de la tierra, Madrid, Editorial Sistema, 2006, pp. 281-299
• “The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights before domestic courts”, in M. Borghi and L. Postiglione Blommestein (eds), The Right to Adequate Food and Access to Justice, Bruylant, Schulthess, 2006, pp. 117-149
• “Le droit à l’alimentation: une exigence face à la loi du plus fort”, with Jean Ziegler and Sally-Anne Way,in J. Duchatel and F. Rochat (eds), ONU. Droits pour tous ou loi du plus fort ?,Geneva, CETIM, 2005, pp. 332-348
• “The right to food and clean water”, co-authored with Jean Ziegler and Sally-Anne Way, in R.K.M Smith and C. van den Anker (eds), The Essentials of Human Rights, London, Hodder Arnold Press, 2005, pp. 135-147
•  “Le droit à l’alimentation”, co-authored with Jean Ziegler and Sally-Anne Way, L’Observateur des Nations Unies, No. 17 – Automne-Hiver 2004, pp. 3-19.
• “Le droit à l’alimentation”, with Sally-Anne Way, in Action contre la faim, Géopolitique de la faim. Faim et responsabilités, Paris, PUF, 2004, pp. 227-243
• “Etre à l’abri de la faim et de la malnutrition est un droit”, in Y. Reinharz Hazan and P. Chastonay (eds),Santé et droits de l’homme. Les malades de l’indifférence, Geneva, Editions Médecine & Hygiène, 2004, pp. 157-171
• Jean Ziegler, en collaboration avec Sally-Anne Way et Christophe Golay, Le droit à l’alimentation, Paris, Editions Mille et une nuits, Fayard, 2003, 228p

Other publications available online

• “The Food Crisis and Food Security: Towards a New World Food Order?”, International Development Policy Series, Volume 1, 2010, pp. 215-232 (http://poldev.revues.org/145)
• Legal Opinion on the Right to Property from a Human Rights’ Perspective, with Ioana Cismas, Montreal, Rights & Democracy, ADH-Geneva, 2010, 32p (http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/_PDF/publications/humanright-en.pdf)
• The right of peoples to self-determination and to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources seen from a human rights’ perspective, with Melik Özden, Geneva, CETIM, 2010, 64p (http://www.cetim.ch/en/publications_brochures.php)
• The Right of Peasants, Critical Report No. 5, Geneva, CETIM, 2009, 22p (http://www.cetim.ch/en/documents/report_5.pdf)
• The Right to Food and Access to Justice: Examples at the national, regional and international levels, Rome, FAO, 2009, 65p (http://www.fao.org/righttofood/publi09/justiciability_en.pdf)
• The Right to Water, Critical Report No. 6, Geneva, CETIM, 2009, 17p (http://www.cetim.ch/en/documents/report_6.pdf)
• “Towards a Convention on the Rights of Peasants” in A. Paasch and S. Murphy (eds), The Global Food Challenge. Towards a Human Rights Approach to Trade and Investment Policies, 2009, pp. 102-111 (http://www.fian.org/resources/documents/others/the-global-food-challenge/pdf)
• The Global Food Crisis and the Right to Food, Critical Report No. 3, Geneva, CETIM, 2008, 14p (http://www.cetim.ch/en/documents/report_3.pdf)
• Human Rights and Desertification: Exploring the Complementarityof International Human Rights Law and the United Nations Conventions to Combat Desertification, with Jean Ziegler, Grégoire de Kalbermatten, Liliane Ortega, Claire Mahon, Sally-Anne Way and Michaela Büschi, Bonn, UNDDC, 2008, 34p(http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/docs/HumanRightsandDesertification.pdf)
• The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Critical Report No. 2, Geneva, CETIM, 2008, 14p (http://www.cetim.ch/en/documents/report_2.pdf)
• The Right to Housing, with Melik Özden, Geneva, CETIM, 2007, 60p (http://www.cetim.ch/en/documents/bro7-log-A4-an.pdf)
• The Right to Food, Geneva, CETIM, 2005, 54p (http://www.cetim.ch/en/documents/Br-alim-A4couv-an.pdf)