An important test for the United Nations begins Monday when a major report on human-rights abuses in North Korea lands in Geneva. The report, which was released last month and will be formally handed over to the Human Rights Council, is a compelling and damning account of how the Kim family dynasty has ravaged the country for more than half a century. Unlike most U.N. documents, this one demands action.

The U.N. hasn't produced anything like it before. And one reason is Michael Kirby, the retired Australian judge who chaired...