ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR's) 'effective remedy' norm was partially inspired by the mass theft of Second World War and how a panoply of remedies came into being in the immediate post-war era, often independent of Article 8 of the UDHR. It also examines other so-called soft-law remedies dealing with property restitution that developed in the last quarter-century to better explain what an effective remedy means in the context of human rights law, and in particular, Holocaust-era immovable property restitution. Article 8 of the UDHR provides that "Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law". Since Second World War, the vehicles for immovable property restitution have taken the form of remedies not only before Article 8's plainly prescribed "competent national tribunals"bulk settlements andad hoc schemes with ex gratia payments.
