ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process and considers the UPR's genesis in the context of the creation of the Human Rights Council (the Council). The need to resist politicisation and maintain the UPR's credibility was expressed by the President of the Council in his opening remarks at the UPR's 18th working group session. The UPR's normative approach supports institutional development at both a state and international level whereby state sovereignty is acknowledged as being supreme yet open to scrutiny. Furthermore, a normative pluralist approach accommodates state-centrism, a key feature of contemporary international law, whilst also allowing for contributions from non-state actors. The chapter provides an overview of normative pluralism, with a brief summary of some key contributions to legal pluralism scholarship. It supports the proposition that legal pluralism is a species of normative pluralism and considers the connection between normative pluralism and hybridity in terms of human rights promotion and protection.
