Rights
 Right refers to entitlement to do or possess something with justice and
due process.
 Rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed to
people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical
theory.
 Rights are often considered fundamental to civilization as they are
established the pillars of society and culture.
 According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "rights
structure the form of governments, the content of laws, and the shape
of morality as it is currently perceived“.
 In simple words, rights are the common claims of people which every
civilized society recognizes which are enforced by the state.
 Rights are those conditions of social life without which no man can
seek in general, to be himself at his best.” -Laski
 So, Rights are common and recognized claims of the people which are
essential for their development as a human beings.
Features of Rights
Features of Rights are:
1. Rights exist only in society and these are the products of social living.
2. Rights are claims of the individuals for their development in society.
3. Rights are recognized by the society as common claims of all the
people.
4. Rights cannot be exercised against the society.
5. Rights are equally available to all the people.
6. Rights are not absolute. Limitations can be maintained for public
health, security, order and morality.
7. Rights are inseparably related with duties. “No Duties Ho Rights. No
Rights No Duties.” “If I have rights it is my duty to respect the rights
others in society”.
8. Rights are protected and enforced by the laws of the state and it is the
duty of a state to protect the rights of the people.
Types of Right
Natural Rights
Generally, people inherit these rights from nature.
Before they came to live in society and state, they
used to live in a state of nature.
Example: Right to life, right to liberty and right to
property.
Natural rights are parts of human nature and
reason.
However, several other scholars regard the
concept of natural rights as imaginary since rights
are the products of social living and these can be
used only in a society.
Moral Rights
 Moral Rights are those rights which are based on human
consciousness.
 They are backed by moral force of human mind like sense
of goodness and justice.
 These are not backed by the force of law.
 If any person violates any moral right, no legal action can
be taken against him. The state does not enforce these
rights and courts do not recognize these rights.
 Moral Rights include rules of good conduct, courtesy and
moral behaviour.
Legal Rights
 Legal rights are those rights which are recognized
and enforced by the state.
 Any violation of any legal right is punished by law
and courts of the state enforce legal rights.
 These rights can be enforced against individuals as
well as the government.
 Legal rights are equally available to all the citizens.
All citizens enjoy legal rights without any
discrimination.
Other Types
 Individual Rights: These rights held by
individual people regardless of their group
membership. Example: Right to take own
profession.
 Group Rights: These rights have been
granted to a group. Example: Right to
Procession.
Human Rights
 Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that
belong to every person in the world from birth until
death.
 They can never be taken away but sometimes can be
restricted.
 They are equally applicable everywhere and at every time
as these are universal.
 1st sentence of the Preamble to the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) said “All
human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights”. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights)
Classification of Human Rights
 Human rights can be classified in several different ways.
 At international level, the most common categorization of
human rights are : Civil and political rights and Economic,
social and cultural rights.
 Civil and political rights are enshrined in articles 3 to 21 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and in
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR).
 Economic, social and cultural rights are enshrined in articles
22 to 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) and in the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
History of the Human Rights
 The earliest concept of human rights emerged from natural law.
 The first recording of human rights were inscribed by Cyrus the
Great (the founder of the Achaemenid Empire) into the Cyrus
Cylinder. The Cyrus Cylinder is a clay tablet created in 539 B.C. it
stated the freedom to practice one's faith without persecution
and forced conversions.
 The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka ruled from 268 to 232 BC and
established the largest empire in South Asia. Following the
reportedly destructive Kalinga War, Ashoka adopted Buddhism
and abandoned an expansionist policy in favor of humanitarian
reforms. The Edicts of Ashoka were erected throughout his
empire, containing the “Law of Piety”. These laws prohibited
slavery, religious discrimination, and cruelty against both humans
and animals.
History of the Human Rights
Later documents of human rights are:
Constitution of Medina (622),
Al-Risalah al-Huquq (late 7th to early 8th century),
Magna Carta (1215),
The German Peasants' War Twelve Articles (1525),
The English Bill of Rights (1689),
The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen (1789), and
The Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution
(1791).
History of the Human Rights 16th–18th Century
 In 1689, the English Bill of Rights and the Scottish Claim of Right
made illegal in Britain oppressive governmental actions.
 In 17th-century English philosopher John Locke discussed natural
rights.
 He identified “life, liberty, and estate (property)” as fundamental
rights.
 By this time, two major revolutions occurred during the 18th
century in the United States (1776) and in France (1789), leading
to the United States Declaration of Independence and the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen respectively,
and both of which articulated certain human rights.
 Additionally, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776 encoded a
number of fundamental civil rights and civil freedoms.
 These were followed by some philosophers i.e. Thomas Paine,
John Stuart Mill and G.W.F. Hegel during the 18th and 19th
centuries.
History of the Human Rights (19th
Century)
 In the 19th century, human rights became a central concern over
the issue of slavery.
 A number of reformers (notably British Member of Parliament
William Wilberforce) worked towards the abolition of the Atlantic
slave trade and abolition of slavery.
 This was achieved across the British Empire by the Slave Trade Act
1807, which was enforced internationally by the Royal Navy and
the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
 In the United States, all the northern states had abolished the
institution of slavery between 1777 and 1804.
 In Russia, the reformer Tsar Alexander II ended serfdom in 1861 .
 In Europe and North America, labour unions brought about laws
granting workers the right to strike, establishing minimum work
conditions and forbidding or regulating child labour.
History of the Human Rights (20th Century)
 The World Wars caused huge losses of life and gross abuses of
human and these were a driving force behind the development of
modern human rights instruments.
 The League of Nations was established in 1919 at the negotiations
over the Treaty of Versailles following the end of World War I. The
League's goals included disarmament, preventing war through
collective security, settling disputes between countries through
negotiation and diplomacy, and improving global welfare. Later
these were included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
 Under the 1945 Yalta Conference, the United Nations was
established. It has played an important role to develop the
international human-rights law since its creation.
 Following the World Wars II, the United Nations and its members
developed International humanitarian law and international
human rights law.
Cairo Declaration on Human Rights
(CDHR) in Islam
 It was signed by member states of the OIC in 1990
at the 19th Conference of Foreign Ministers held in
Cairo, Egypt.
 The object of the CDHR was to “serve as a guide
for member states on human rights issues”.
 CDHR translated the Qur'anic teachings as follows:
“All men are equal in terms of basic human dignity
and basic obligations and responsibilities, without
any discrimination on the basis of race, colour,
language, belief, sex, religion, political affiliation,
social status or other considerations”.
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR)
 This historic document was adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly at its third session on 10 December 1948 as Resolution 217
in Paris, France.
 Of the then 58 members of the United Nations, 48 voted in favor,
none against, eight abstained, and two did not vote.
 The Declaration consists of 30 articles affirming an individual's
rights which, although not legally binding in themselves, have been
elaborated in subsequent international treaties, economic
transfers, regional human rights instruments, national
constitutions, and other laws.
 The Declaration was the first step in the process of formulating the
International Bill of Human Rights, which was completed in 1966,
and came into force in 1976, after a sufficient number of ratification.
History of UDHR
 During World War II, the Allies adopted the Four Freedoms as their
basis of war. Which are : freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
freedom from fear, and freedom from want.
 The United Nations Charter reaffirmed faith in fundamental
human rights and dignity, and worth of the human person. It
committed all member states to promote “universal respect for,
and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”.
 In June 1946, the UN Economic and Social Council established the
Commission on Human Rights, comprising 18 members from
various nationalities and political backgrounds.
 The Commission was constituted to undertake the work of
preparing the International Bill of Rights.
 The Commission established a special Universal Declaration of
Human Rights Drafting Committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt to
write the articles of the Declaration. The Committee met in two
sessions over the course of two years.
History of UDHR
 Canadian John Peters Humphrey became the Declaration's
principal drafter.
 Other well-known members of the drafting committee included
René Cassin of France, Charles Malik of Lebanon, and P. C. Chang
of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
 Once the Committee finished its work in May 1948, the draft was
further discussed by the Commission on Human Rights, the
Economic and Social Council. During these discussions many
amendments and propositions were made by UN Member
States.
 The Universal Declaration was adopted by the General Assembly
as Resolution 217 on 10 December 1948.
 The Declaration of Human Rights Day is commemorated every
year on December 10, the anniversary of the adoption of the
Universal Declaration, and is known as Human Rights Day or
International Human Rights Day.
Structure and Content of UDHR
The Declaration consists of a preamble and thirty articles:
The preamble sets out the historical and social causes that
led to the necessity of drafting the Declaration.
Articles 1–2 established the basic concepts of dignity, liberty,
equality, and brotherhood.
Articles 3–11 established other individual rights, such as the
right to life and the prohibition of slavery, as well as a
universal freedom of speech.
Articles 6–11 refer to the fundamental legality of human
rights with specific remedies cited for their defence when
violated.
Articles 12–17 established the rights of the individual
towards the community (freedom of movement).
Structure and Content of UDHR
 Articles 18–21 sanctioned the so-called "constitutional
liberties", and with spiritual, public, and political freedoms,
such as freedom of thought, opinion, religion and
conscience, word, and peaceful association of the
individual.
 Articles 22–27 sanctioned an individual's economic, social
and cultural rights, including healthcare.
 Articles 28–30 established the general ways of using these
rights, the areas in which these rights of the individual can
not be applied.
Legal Effect of UDHR
 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a fundamental constitutive
document of the United Nations.
 The Declaration forms a part of customary international law and is a
powerful tool in applying diplomatic and moral pressure to governments
that violate any of its articles.
 The 1968 United Nations International Conference on Human Rights
advised that the “Declaration constitutes an obligation for the members of
the international community to all persons”.
 The Declaration has served as the foundation for two binding UN human
rights covenants i.e. The International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights.
 The principles of the Declaration are elaborated in other international
treaties such as:
 The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, the International Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women, the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child, the United Nations Convention Against Torture, and
many more.
The International Bill of Human
Rights
 It was the name given to UN General Assembly
Resolution 217 (III) and two international treaties
established by the United Nations.
 It consists of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (adopted in 1948), the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966)
with its two Optional Protocols and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966).
 The two covenants entered into force in 1976.
Other Global Human Rights Instruments
 United Nations Charter
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 1966.
 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) (adopted 1979, entry into force: 1981)
 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) (adopted
1966, entry into force: 1969)
 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (adopted 2006, entry
into force: 2008)
 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (adopted 1989, entry into force: 1989)
 United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT) (adopted 1984, entry into force:
1987)
 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
Members of their Families (ICRMW or more often MWC) (adopted 1990, entry into
force: 2003)
Others can be found here : http://wwda.org.au/issues/unhrt/hrins1/ and
https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/coreinstruments.aspx