Nils Melzer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199533169
- eISBN:
- 9780191714511
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533169.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Public International Law
This chapter addresses the question of whether the conventional right to life has become part of general international law and, if so, whether it may be derogated from under the rules of general ...
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This chapter addresses the question of whether the conventional right to life has become part of general international law and, if so, whether it may be derogated from under the rules of general international law. It also examines the territorial scope of the non-conventional right to life. It argues that, today, the jus cogens character of the right to life has become virtually unassailable. Outside the conduct of hostilities, even a single targeted killing carried out by State agents in deviation from the normative paradigm of law enforcement constitutes an unjustifiable violation of international jus cogens.Less
This chapter addresses the question of whether the conventional right to life has become part of general international law and, if so, whether it may be derogated from under the rules of general international law. It also examines the territorial scope of the non-conventional right to life. It argues that, today, the jus cogens character of the right to life has become virtually unassailable. Outside the conduct of hostilities, even a single targeted killing carried out by State agents in deviation from the normative paradigm of law enforcement constitutes an unjustifiable violation of international jus cogens.
Steven Wheatley
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198749844
- eISBN:
- 9780191814174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198749844.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Human Rights and Immigration
Chapter 3 tells the story of human rights in the United Nations. The work shows how we can understand the UN as a complex system of regulatory authority, which evolves with changes in the behaviours ...
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Chapter 3 tells the story of human rights in the United Nations. The work shows how we can understand the UN as a complex system of regulatory authority, which evolves with changes in the behaviours of the Member States and United Nations bodies as they respond to new information. The analysis demonstrates that, up until the 1960s, human rights provided a set of moral guidelines only, informing states how they should treat those subject to their jurisdiction and control. That was until the newly independent African countries joined the Organization and turned their attention to the problem of systematic racial discrimination in southern Africa, especially after the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, when UN action against South Africa and South West Africa (Namibia) transformed the non-binding moral code contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into a body of international human rights law, with the development explained by the importance of subsequent agreements and practices in the evolution of the regulatory authority of the United Nations.Less
Chapter 3 tells the story of human rights in the United Nations. The work shows how we can understand the UN as a complex system of regulatory authority, which evolves with changes in the behaviours of the Member States and United Nations bodies as they respond to new information. The analysis demonstrates that, up until the 1960s, human rights provided a set of moral guidelines only, informing states how they should treat those subject to their jurisdiction and control. That was until the newly independent African countries joined the Organization and turned their attention to the problem of systematic racial discrimination in southern Africa, especially after the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, when UN action against South Africa and South West Africa (Namibia) transformed the non-binding moral code contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into a body of international human rights law, with the development explained by the importance of subsequent agreements and practices in the evolution of the regulatory authority of the United Nations.
Daniel Engster
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199214358
- eISBN:
- 9780191706684
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214358.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter explores the question: What does it mean to care for others in international relations? Sara Ruddick, Fiona Robinson, and others have outlined international relations theories based upon ...
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This chapter explores the question: What does it mean to care for others in international relations? Sara Ruddick, Fiona Robinson, and others have outlined international relations theories based upon care ethics, but their accounts are fairly general and say little about the rights and policies necessary for establishing caring relations among people across the world. The first half of this chapter develops a human rights framework based upon human beings' universal duty to care for others. The chapter argues that this framework avoids the central shortcomings of other international rights frameworks, and more generally provides a standard of justice that should be reasonably acceptable to people from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. The second half of the chapter outlines some specific strategies and policies for enforcing human rights abroad and caring for distant others. In the last section, the chapter discusses the conditions under which care theory might justify the use of military force, especially for the sake of intervening into other countries for humanitarian purposes.Less
This chapter explores the question: What does it mean to care for others in international relations? Sara Ruddick, Fiona Robinson, and others have outlined international relations theories based upon care ethics, but their accounts are fairly general and say little about the rights and policies necessary for establishing caring relations among people across the world. The first half of this chapter develops a human rights framework based upon human beings' universal duty to care for others. The chapter argues that this framework avoids the central shortcomings of other international rights frameworks, and more generally provides a standard of justice that should be reasonably acceptable to people from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. The second half of the chapter outlines some specific strategies and policies for enforcing human rights abroad and caring for distant others. In the last section, the chapter discusses the conditions under which care theory might justify the use of military force, especially for the sake of intervening into other countries for humanitarian purposes.
Dan Edelstein
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226588988
- eISBN:
- 9780226589039
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226589039.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, History of Ideas
From the perspective of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the French Declaration of 1789 seemed like the foundation of a new international doctrine. Its principles would be echoed, often ...
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From the perspective of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the French Declaration of 1789 seemed like the foundation of a new international doctrine. Its principles would be echoed, often verbatim, in the many constitutions drafted during the first half of the nineteenth century, in Spanish America and throughout Europe; and it served as the model for international jurists, for a future, more complete international declaration of rights, which would include social and economic rights as well as political ones. This account of the Declaration’s legacy contrasts with a popular view that credits the Catholic Church with leading the push for an international declaration. But this account rests on the false assumption that the Church had been opposed to human rights until the 1930’s, and it excessively downplays the role of international lawyers and legal associations in leading the push for an international declaration.Less
From the perspective of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the French Declaration of 1789 seemed like the foundation of a new international doctrine. Its principles would be echoed, often verbatim, in the many constitutions drafted during the first half of the nineteenth century, in Spanish America and throughout Europe; and it served as the model for international jurists, for a future, more complete international declaration of rights, which would include social and economic rights as well as political ones. This account of the Declaration’s legacy contrasts with a popular view that credits the Catholic Church with leading the push for an international declaration. But this account rests on the false assumption that the Church had been opposed to human rights until the 1930’s, and it excessively downplays the role of international lawyers and legal associations in leading the push for an international declaration.
Jennifer Moore
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199856961
- eISBN:
- 9780190260064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199856961.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter examines international human rights law and its role in ensuring respect for human dignity as well the additional norms it provides to empower members of societies emerging from armed ...
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This chapter examines international human rights law and its role in ensuring respect for human dignity as well the additional norms it provides to empower members of societies emerging from armed conflict and repression. It emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between civil-political rights and socioeconomic rights, along with the creative tension between individual and collective rights. It compares the regional human rights frameworks established in Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. It also considers the relationship between socioeconomic security and human liberty, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the interdependence of fundamental rights and freedoms. Finally, the chapter discusses human rights protections that are laid out in the constitutions of individual states, with particular reference to Uganda, Burundi, and Sierra Leone.Less
This chapter examines international human rights law and its role in ensuring respect for human dignity as well the additional norms it provides to empower members of societies emerging from armed conflict and repression. It emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between civil-political rights and socioeconomic rights, along with the creative tension between individual and collective rights. It compares the regional human rights frameworks established in Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. It also considers the relationship between socioeconomic security and human liberty, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the interdependence of fundamental rights and freedoms. Finally, the chapter discusses human rights protections that are laid out in the constitutions of individual states, with particular reference to Uganda, Burundi, and Sierra Leone.
Joseph R. Slaughter
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823228171
- eISBN:
- 9780823241033
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823228171.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
The United Nations delegates' encryption of Robinson Crusoe within the text of Article 29 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, illustrates something of the historical cooperation between the ...
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The United Nations delegates' encryption of Robinson Crusoe within the text of Article 29 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, illustrates something of the historical cooperation between the novel and human rights between what is typically regarded as the sociocultural work of literature and the civil and political work of law. This chapter focuses on the formal, historical, rhetorical, and institutional conditions of international human rights law that make it especially dependent upon cultural forms to give its precepts moral force. It begins by analyzing the image of the human person, and the development of its personality, that the law both takes for granted and articulates, situating this figure at the intersection of natural and positive law approaches to personhood. Abstract rhetorical structures of the law in the chapter become most technically refined and commonly legible in the literary conventions of the Bildungsroman.Less
The United Nations delegates' encryption of Robinson Crusoe within the text of Article 29 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, illustrates something of the historical cooperation between the novel and human rights between what is typically regarded as the sociocultural work of literature and the civil and political work of law. This chapter focuses on the formal, historical, rhetorical, and institutional conditions of international human rights law that make it especially dependent upon cultural forms to give its precepts moral force. It begins by analyzing the image of the human person, and the development of its personality, that the law both takes for granted and articulates, situating this figure at the intersection of natural and positive law approaches to personhood. Abstract rhetorical structures of the law in the chapter become most technically refined and commonly legible in the literary conventions of the Bildungsroman.
William J. Talbott
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195173482
- eISBN:
- 9780199872176
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195173482.003.0015
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter retraces the history of moral development to show how it is possible for us to have discovered a meta-theoretical principle of moral improvement, the main principle. The main principle ...
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This chapter retraces the history of moral development to show how it is possible for us to have discovered a meta-theoretical principle of moral improvement, the main principle. The main principle explains why guarantees of the fourteen human rights on the chapter’s list would be moral improvements in any human society. The fourteen rights on the chapter’s list include almost all of the rights in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but also include a number of rights not in the UNUDHR. So the main principle helps to unify the rights in that document and points to future improvements. The chapter concludes with a reminder that the possibility of future moral improvement depends on there being lots of reasonable disagreement in the ongoing social process of the free give-and-take of opinion.Less
This chapter retraces the history of moral development to show how it is possible for us to have discovered a meta-theoretical principle of moral improvement, the main principle. The main principle explains why guarantees of the fourteen human rights on the chapter’s list would be moral improvements in any human society. The fourteen rights on the chapter’s list include almost all of the rights in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but also include a number of rights not in the UNUDHR. So the main principle helps to unify the rights in that document and points to future improvements. The chapter concludes with a reminder that the possibility of future moral improvement depends on there being lots of reasonable disagreement in the ongoing social process of the free give-and-take of opinion.
Rosalyn Higgins Dbe Qc
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198262350
- eISBN:
- 9780191682322
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198262350.003.0043
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has provided an essential starting point for what is proving, over fifty years on, to be a momentous journey in human history. Much has been resolved and has ...
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has provided an essential starting point for what is proving, over fifty years on, to be a momentous journey in human history. Much has been resolved and has developed yet further since 1948. But it is a sad reality that, after all these years, there is still disagreement as to the real universality of the rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration. Resistance to the universality of the Universal Declaration and the International Bill of Rights takes many forms, such as Western states’ rejection of economic, social, and cultural rights as universal rights. There are Islamic states that deem certain rights in these instruments to be incompatible with Islam. Further, the desirable policy of perpetuating tribal cultures has sometimes also clashed with notions of universality. And China offers particular perspectives on the question of universality. All the leading instruments, regional as well as international, prohibit torture and cruel or inhuman treatment and punishment. This chapter also discusses freedom of religion and women’s rights in the context of the Universal Declaration.Less
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has provided an essential starting point for what is proving, over fifty years on, to be a momentous journey in human history. Much has been resolved and has developed yet further since 1948. But it is a sad reality that, after all these years, there is still disagreement as to the real universality of the rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration. Resistance to the universality of the Universal Declaration and the International Bill of Rights takes many forms, such as Western states’ rejection of economic, social, and cultural rights as universal rights. There are Islamic states that deem certain rights in these instruments to be incompatible with Islam. Further, the desirable policy of perpetuating tribal cultures has sometimes also clashed with notions of universality. And China offers particular perspectives on the question of universality. All the leading instruments, regional as well as international, prohibit torture and cruel or inhuman treatment and punishment. This chapter also discusses freedom of religion and women’s rights in the context of the Universal Declaration.
Steven Wheatley
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198749844
- eISBN:
- 9780191814174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198749844.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Human Rights and Immigration
Chapter 5 looks at customary human rights law, explaining how we can think about custom as a self-organizing system, the emergent property of the performative acts of states, who literally ‘speak’ ...
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Chapter 5 looks at customary human rights law, explaining how we can think about custom as a self-organizing system, the emergent property of the performative acts of states, who literally ‘speak’ customary human rights into existence; customary law then binds the same countries that brought it into existence, exhibiting the characteristics of a complex system. Complexity serves to remind us of the importance of path dependence, the power of events, and possibilities of change as states respond to new information. The work shows how the measures targeting apartheid South Africa after the Sharpeville Massacre resulted in the first customary human right on the prohibition of racial discrimination, as well as an evolution in the methodology for custom-formation, allowing reference to General Assembly resolutions and law-making treaties. The chapter further demonstrates how the status of persistent objector was denied to apartheid South Africa, confirming the non-negotiable character of fundamental human rights.Less
Chapter 5 looks at customary human rights law, explaining how we can think about custom as a self-organizing system, the emergent property of the performative acts of states, who literally ‘speak’ customary human rights into existence; customary law then binds the same countries that brought it into existence, exhibiting the characteristics of a complex system. Complexity serves to remind us of the importance of path dependence, the power of events, and possibilities of change as states respond to new information. The work shows how the measures targeting apartheid South Africa after the Sharpeville Massacre resulted in the first customary human right on the prohibition of racial discrimination, as well as an evolution in the methodology for custom-formation, allowing reference to General Assembly resolutions and law-making treaties. The chapter further demonstrates how the status of persistent objector was denied to apartheid South Africa, confirming the non-negotiable character of fundamental human rights.
Arvind Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195665857
- eISBN:
- 9780199082025
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195665857.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
Chapter 1 argued that conceptions of human rights can be recognized within Hinduism, once the categories which correspond to them in the Hindu tradition are identified. One must now contend with the ...
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Chapter 1 argued that conceptions of human rights can be recognized within Hinduism, once the categories which correspond to them in the Hindu tradition are identified. One must now contend with the fact that human rights discourse in the West is neither monolithic nor static. This chapter addresses the following question: does the Hindu tradition possess the resources to interact with diverse and evolving patterns of human rights discourse? It begins by considering the two traditions embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It then examines how Hindu thought may be related to the idea of generations of human rights within human rights discourse. The final section discusses matters at the cutting edge of human rights discourse: those having to do with the evolution of international humanitarian law as it embodies the evolving tradition of human rights norms and standards.Less
Chapter 1 argued that conceptions of human rights can be recognized within Hinduism, once the categories which correspond to them in the Hindu tradition are identified. One must now contend with the fact that human rights discourse in the West is neither monolithic nor static. This chapter addresses the following question: does the Hindu tradition possess the resources to interact with diverse and evolving patterns of human rights discourse? It begins by considering the two traditions embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It then examines how Hindu thought may be related to the idea of generations of human rights within human rights discourse. The final section discusses matters at the cutting edge of human rights discourse: those having to do with the evolution of international humanitarian law as it embodies the evolving tradition of human rights norms and standards.
Carolyn Evans
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199243648
- eISBN:
- 9780191697272
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243648.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter explains the history and development of the Convention through the drafting of the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to explain the intended interpretation of Article ...
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This chapter explains the history and development of the Convention through the drafting of the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to explain the intended interpretation of Article 9. The intention of the Convention, based upon the work of the United Nations, is described as ‘securing the universal and effective recognition and observance of the rights’, but certain aspects, such as the protection of religious freedom, were controversial at the time and were particularly debated within the establishment, more so in the Universal Declaration. The travaux préparatories may be limited in discussing and understanding what the drafters intended to protect in Article 9, and also in Article 2 of the First Protocol, but several significant points are made regarding the right to freedom of religion.Less
This chapter explains the history and development of the Convention through the drafting of the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to explain the intended interpretation of Article 9. The intention of the Convention, based upon the work of the United Nations, is described as ‘securing the universal and effective recognition and observance of the rights’, but certain aspects, such as the protection of religious freedom, were controversial at the time and were particularly debated within the establishment, more so in the Universal Declaration. The travaux préparatories may be limited in discussing and understanding what the drafters intended to protect in Article 9, and also in Article 2 of the First Protocol, but several significant points are made regarding the right to freedom of religion.
Mathias Risse
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691142692
- eISBN:
- 9781400845507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691142692.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter examines whether labor rights are human rights. Labor rights appear in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are covered by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and ...
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This chapter examines whether labor rights are human rights. Labor rights appear in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are covered by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. Nevertheless, there are three primary objections to the notion that labor rights are human rights: the nature-of-rights objection, the inferior urgency objection, and the cultural imperialism objection. In light of the persistent skepticism confronting the idea of labor rights as human rights, the chapter traces the historical development that brought labor rights into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also considers whether we can derive labor rights from the various substantive sources of membership rights in the global order.Less
This chapter examines whether labor rights are human rights. Labor rights appear in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are covered by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. Nevertheless, there are three primary objections to the notion that labor rights are human rights: the nature-of-rights objection, the inferior urgency objection, and the cultural imperialism objection. In light of the persistent skepticism confronting the idea of labor rights as human rights, the chapter traces the historical development that brought labor rights into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also considers whether we can derive labor rights from the various substantive sources of membership rights in the global order.
Mary Ann Glendon
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- February 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199782451
- eISBN:
- 9780190252533
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199782451.003.0013
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter describes how Lebanese philosopher Charles Malik and Eleanor Roosevelt worked closely with a multinational committee of philosophers and diplomats to produce the 1948 Universal ...
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This chapter describes how Lebanese philosopher Charles Malik and Eleanor Roosevelt worked closely with a multinational committee of philosophers and diplomats to produce the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration became the model for most post-World War II rights declarations; it was the polestar for the movements that brought about the relatively peaceful collapse of totalitarian governments in Eastern Europe; and it remains the single most important reference point for cross-national discussions of how to order lives together on an increasingly interdependent planet. It also stands as a monument to what can be achieved through creative collaboration between statespersons and scholars, a collaboration that in some cases extends not only across disciplines but over generations.Less
This chapter describes how Lebanese philosopher Charles Malik and Eleanor Roosevelt worked closely with a multinational committee of philosophers and diplomats to produce the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration became the model for most post-World War II rights declarations; it was the polestar for the movements that brought about the relatively peaceful collapse of totalitarian governments in Eastern Europe; and it remains the single most important reference point for cross-national discussions of how to order lives together on an increasingly interdependent planet. It also stands as a monument to what can be achieved through creative collaboration between statespersons and scholars, a collaboration that in some cases extends not only across disciplines but over generations.
Ed Bates
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199207992
- eISBN:
- 9780191728440
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207992.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, EU Law
This chapter examines the international human rights law background to the creation of the ECHR system. It looks at the main steps taken in the field of the international law of human rights in the ...
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This chapter examines the international human rights law background to the creation of the ECHR system. It looks at the main steps taken in the field of the international law of human rights in the late 1940s, after World War Two. It comments on the writing and views of Hersch Lauterpacht, one of the leading intellectual forces on international human rights law at the time. It addresses and examines the failures of the United Nations to create effective human rights institutions and systems in the immediate post war period, focussing on the work of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Less
This chapter examines the international human rights law background to the creation of the ECHR system. It looks at the main steps taken in the field of the international law of human rights in the late 1940s, after World War Two. It comments on the writing and views of Hersch Lauterpacht, one of the leading intellectual forces on international human rights law at the time. It addresses and examines the failures of the United Nations to create effective human rights institutions and systems in the immediate post war period, focussing on the work of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
David Little
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199733453
- eISBN:
- 9780190258269
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199733453.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines the interrelationships among religion, human rights, and public reason as well as the claim that human rights language is “secular.” In particular, it considers three serious ...
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This chapter examines the interrelationships among religion, human rights, and public reason as well as the claim that human rights language is “secular.” In particular, it considers three serious problems raised by the exclusion of religious warrants as a basis for justifying human rights by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent human rights documents: whether it is possible to justify human rights apart from religious belief; the suspicion about what it means to embrace human rights as “a secular system”; and the perception that human rights are superior to religious beliefs. It also attempts to make sense of human rights language as the drafters understood it by relating it to John Rawls's idea of public reason.Less
This chapter examines the interrelationships among religion, human rights, and public reason as well as the claim that human rights language is “secular.” In particular, it considers three serious problems raised by the exclusion of religious warrants as a basis for justifying human rights by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent human rights documents: whether it is possible to justify human rights apart from religious belief; the suspicion about what it means to embrace human rights as “a secular system”; and the perception that human rights are superior to religious beliefs. It also attempts to make sense of human rights language as the drafters understood it by relating it to John Rawls's idea of public reason.
Jean-Paul Costa
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197265642
- eISBN:
- 9780191760389
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265642.003.0022
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
The chapter first gives several examples of where ‘dignity’ (or ‘a person’s dignity’, or ‘human dignity’) has been a central element in the reasoning of the Court, or in the arguments advanced by ...
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The chapter first gives several examples of where ‘dignity’ (or ‘a person’s dignity’, or ‘human dignity’) has been a central element in the reasoning of the Court, or in the arguments advanced by judges in separate opinions. Based on this analysis, the principal question addressed is why the Court draws on ‘dignity’, a word neither explicitly nor, implicitly mentioned in the text of the Convention or the Protocols. What are the reasons for having—or not having—recourse to the concept of dignity in judicial decisions? Is there any objective reason for such choice? Or does it depend on the subjective preferences of the judges sitting on the bench? Is ‘dignity’ necessary for judicial decision-making in order to reach a specific conclusion in a case? Or does ‘dignity’ simply reinforce the legal reasoning of the Court, enabling the Court to give more weight to the arguments of one of the parties in the case? Finally, the chapter looks for a possible conceptual link between human dignity and human rights, insofar as this arises from the jurisprudence of the Strasbourg Court.Less
The chapter first gives several examples of where ‘dignity’ (or ‘a person’s dignity’, or ‘human dignity’) has been a central element in the reasoning of the Court, or in the arguments advanced by judges in separate opinions. Based on this analysis, the principal question addressed is why the Court draws on ‘dignity’, a word neither explicitly nor, implicitly mentioned in the text of the Convention or the Protocols. What are the reasons for having—or not having—recourse to the concept of dignity in judicial decisions? Is there any objective reason for such choice? Or does it depend on the subjective preferences of the judges sitting on the bench? Is ‘dignity’ necessary for judicial decision-making in order to reach a specific conclusion in a case? Or does ‘dignity’ simply reinforce the legal reasoning of the Court, enabling the Court to give more weight to the arguments of one of the parties in the case? Finally, the chapter looks for a possible conceptual link between human dignity and human rights, insofar as this arises from the jurisprudence of the Strasbourg Court.
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226318172
- eISBN:
- 9780226318196
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226318196.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter reviews the cultural traditions on which contemporary human rights work relies, with a special focus on three defining documents. Two of these—the French Declaration of the Rights of Man ...
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This chapter reviews the cultural traditions on which contemporary human rights work relies, with a special focus on three defining documents. Two of these—the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the U.S. Bill of Rights—date from the age of democratic revolutions. These documents, along with thinkers such as Locke and Voltaire, helped construct the tradition of human rights. The third document is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations shortly after World War II. The UDHR has become the sacred text of the contemporary human rights movement. The discussion of these documents is intended as a sketch of the most important elements of the historical deposit contemporary human rights work draws upon, not an intellectual history of this tradition. The second half of the chapter takes a quick look at the organizational structure and history of Amnesty International and then examines Amnesty's appropriation of the human rights tradition, focusing on the rules it has adopted to govern its work and how it defines its organizational “mandate.”Less
This chapter reviews the cultural traditions on which contemporary human rights work relies, with a special focus on three defining documents. Two of these—the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the U.S. Bill of Rights—date from the age of democratic revolutions. These documents, along with thinkers such as Locke and Voltaire, helped construct the tradition of human rights. The third document is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations shortly after World War II. The UDHR has become the sacred text of the contemporary human rights movement. The discussion of these documents is intended as a sketch of the most important elements of the historical deposit contemporary human rights work draws upon, not an intellectual history of this tradition. The second half of the chapter takes a quick look at the organizational structure and history of Amnesty International and then examines Amnesty's appropriation of the human rights tradition, focusing on the rules it has adopted to govern its work and how it defines its organizational “mandate.”
Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195171853
- eISBN:
- 9780199865352
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171853.003.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter describes the nature of social injustice and its impact on public health. It defines social injustice in two ways: as the denial or violation of economic, sociocultural, political, ...
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This chapter describes the nature of social injustice and its impact on public health. It defines social injustice in two ways: as the denial or violation of economic, sociocultural, political, civil, or human rights of specific populations or groups in a society based on the perception of their inferiority by those with more power or influence; and as policies or actions that adversely affect the societal conditions in which people can be healthy. The chapter describes a wide range of adverse health consequences that result from social injustice. Boxes in the chapter describe concepts of social justice, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Declaration of Health Rights. The chapter describes what needs to be done to address social injustice.Less
This chapter describes the nature of social injustice and its impact on public health. It defines social injustice in two ways: as the denial or violation of economic, sociocultural, political, civil, or human rights of specific populations or groups in a society based on the perception of their inferiority by those with more power or influence; and as policies or actions that adversely affect the societal conditions in which people can be healthy. The chapter describes a wide range of adverse health consequences that result from social injustice. Boxes in the chapter describe concepts of social justice, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Declaration of Health Rights. The chapter describes what needs to be done to address social injustice.
William Schabas
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199653072
- eISBN:
- 9780191739361
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653072.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
Only the law can define a crime and a penalty: nullum crimen [nulla peona] sine lege. To respect the principle of legality, the scope of the crime and the applicable punishment must be set out in ...
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Only the law can define a crime and a penalty: nullum crimen [nulla peona] sine lege. To respect the principle of legality, the scope of the crime and the applicable punishment must be set out in clear terms before its commission. This is affirmed in article 11(2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as in virtually all human rights treaties and national constitutions: ‘No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed’. Retroactivity is an issue that has obsessed international criminal justice since its earliest days. At the international criminal tribunals, it has been a source of unceasing controversy. Arguments about retroactive prosecution persist at both the judicial and political levels. The development of international criminal law is accompanied by constant attempts to reassess the past.Less
Only the law can define a crime and a penalty: nullum crimen [nulla peona] sine lege. To respect the principle of legality, the scope of the crime and the applicable punishment must be set out in clear terms before its commission. This is affirmed in article 11(2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as in virtually all human rights treaties and national constitutions: ‘No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed’. Retroactivity is an issue that has obsessed international criminal justice since its earliest days. At the international criminal tribunals, it has been a source of unceasing controversy. Arguments about retroactive prosecution persist at both the judicial and political levels. The development of international criminal law is accompanied by constant attempts to reassess the past.
Joseph R. Slaughter
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823228171
- eISBN:
- 9780823241033
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823228171.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
Fifty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), human rights have been rearticulated explicitly as a program for development; nonetheless, the human person(ality) ...
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Fifty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), human rights have been rearticulated explicitly as a program for development; nonetheless, the human person(ality) remains both the fundamental principle behind the law and its ultimate referent — the projected vanishing point of the convergence of human rights and development discourses. According to international law, the rights to development and self-determination derive from and realize the dignity and worth of the human person and the sovereignty of the human personality. In the “global information age,” human personality development (Bildung) becomes quantitative as well as qualitative. The relatively recent appointment of a right to development among the list of fundamental human rights makes explicit some of the unstated assumptions about the human personality and its free and full development that underpinned the UDHR.Less
Fifty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), human rights have been rearticulated explicitly as a program for development; nonetheless, the human person(ality) remains both the fundamental principle behind the law and its ultimate referent — the projected vanishing point of the convergence of human rights and development discourses. According to international law, the rights to development and self-determination derive from and realize the dignity and worth of the human person and the sovereignty of the human personality. In the “global information age,” human personality development (Bildung) becomes quantitative as well as qualitative. The relatively recent appointment of a right to development among the list of fundamental human rights makes explicit some of the unstated assumptions about the human personality and its free and full development that underpinned the UDHR.