The 2005 UN Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons – or as they are more widely known – The Pinheiro Principles – are a universally applicable international legal standard designed to protect the rights of refugees and displaced persons everywhere to return to their original homes or, when this is not possible, to receive just and satisfactory compensation adequate to replace their housing, land and property (HLP) losses. The full text of the Pinheiro Principles in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish are available.

The principles are grounded deeply in existing human rights legal standards and provide guidance on the effective implementation of HLP restitution programmes and mechanisms. They provide an authoritative statement on the question of restitution and precisely how restitution rights should be redressed within the context of forced displacement.

Work on the Pinheiro Principles, which were endorsed by the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights on 11 August 2005, was initiated in 1998. Sub-Commission resolution 1998/26 on Housing and Property Restitution in the Context of the Return of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons adopted in August 1998, was followed from 2002-2005 by a formal study conducted by the then Sub-Commission Special Rapporteur on Housing and Property Restitution, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro and concluded with what become the Pinheiro Principles.

The Pinheiro Principles Initiative of Displacement Solutions will aim to highlight the Principles and their increasing application through a series of innovative activities.

Activities of the Initiative

A Legal Commentary on the Pinheiro Principles

Since their adoption in 2005, the Principles have been the subject of growing attention by the international humanitarian community, been invoked in courtrooms the world over, used as the basis for restitution claims by various refugee and IDP groups and discussed at the UN Security Council. To further capture the effect and impact of the Pinheiro Principles in the field and within the domain of international law, in 2009 Displacement Solutions launched a comprehensive research project to provide further detailed legal analysis and practical guidance on the legal intent of each of the principles contained within this first authoritative statement on the HLP restitution rights of refugees and IDPs.

Together, Dr. Khaled Hassine and Scott Leckie will prepare a comprehensive Legal Commentary on the Pinheiro Principles with a view to providing practitioners and scholars, as well as States, the UN and other stakeholders, with an in-depth analysis of the law and practice of the HLP rights compiled in the Pinheiro Principles, combined with a consolidated state-of-the-art interpretation based on various other institutional and procedural precedents. The Commentary will be organized on a principle-by-principle basis, with paragraph numbers, in order to facilitate easy reference to specific HLP questions.

In addition to proving guidance for policy-makers and practitioners, this unprecedented analysis of HLP restitution processes and mechanisms for refugees and displaced persons seeks to be an incentive for students and scholars with a view stimulate the scientific discourse. Above all, this analysis intends to make the Pinheiro Principles more accessible and meaningful for those displaced who wish to actively assert and claim their legitimate HLP restitution rights.

Climate Change and the Pinheiro Principles

Displacement Solutions is carrying out research on the possible application of the Pinheiro Principles in cases of climate-induced displacement, which will be published in 2010.

An Annotated Bibliography on the Pinheiro Principles and their Contemporary Application

Displacement Solutions is compiling an annotated bibliography of works citing or otherwise linked to the direct application of the Pinheiro Principles. This work will be published in 2010.

For further information on any of the activities of the Initiative, please contact khaled@displacementsolutions.org or info@displacementsolutions.org