Conclusion: moving beyond compliance without neglecting compliance in international human rights law

Universal human rights treaty regimes and regional human rights treaties differ fundamentally both with regard to the institutional design of their monitoring bodies and mechanisms and the complex linkages, which have been created between the international institutions and the domestic systems in the process of implementation of the decisions issued by the international bodies. While mainstreaming and strengthening of compliance control has taken place both at the universal and the regional level in recent decades, only at the regional level has this paved the way for a comprehensive and meaningful interaction on the meaning and scope of international human rights obligations. But regional human rights bodies and their practices and procedures have shaped the discussion on human rights at the local level far beyond the narrow confines of the legal and judicial system, testifying to the unparalleled multidimensional and transformative character of international human rights norms.