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 RIGH DUTIES
T of Right
Notion
The Meaning of Duty
Kinds of Right
Kinds of Duties
Characteristic of Rights
Exemption from Duty
Civil and Political Rights
Conflict of Duties
Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights

RIGHTS AND
DUTIES
Correlation of Right and Duty

Reciprocity of Rights and Duties

 Notion o f
RIGHT:
• RIGHT is anything which is owed or due.

• RIGHT is the moral power, bound to be

respected by others.
Kinds o f Right

1. Natural Rights – based on the natural law.

2. Human Rights – based on human positive laws,
either those enacted by the State or by Religion.
3. Alienable and Inalienable Rights
• Alienable rights are those which could be surrendered,
renounced or removed –such as the right to travel and the
right to operate a business.

• Inalienable rights are those which cannot be surrendered,

renounced or removed –such as the right to life, the right to
marry and the right to education.
4. Juridical and Non-Juridical Rights
• Juridical rights are those based on the law. These rights are
to be respected, permitted, and fulfilled as a matter of
justice.
• Non-Juridical rights are those based on virtue rather
than strict justice.

5. Rights of Jurisdiction – is the power of a lawful authority to

govern and make laws for his constituent or dependent.
C h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f Ri g hts :

1. Coaction is the power to inherent in rights to prevent

their being violated and to exact redress for their unjust
violation.

2. Limitation is the natural limits or boundary beyond

which a right may not be insisted without violating the
right of another.
3. Collision is the conflict of two rights so related that it
is not possible to exercise one without violating the
other.

In the resolution of conflict, the right which should

prevail is that which;
(1) belongs to the higher order, or
(2) is concerned with a graver matter, or
(3) founded upon a stronger title or claim.
C i v i l a n d P o l i t i c a l Ri g ht s
• Civil Rights – enjoyed by person as private
individuals in pursuit of their personal activities and
in their transaction with others.
• Political rights – enjoyed by persons as citizens in
their participation in government affairs.
 “ THE B I L L OF RIGHTS ”
 A list of rights pertaining to persons.
 These rights are recognized, guaranteed and
protected against invasion, reduction or
destruction.
 Premised on the belief in the dignity of man and
the intrinsic worth of human life.
Economic, S o c i a l a n d C u l t u r a l R ig hts
Economic, social and cultural rights are as important
as political and civil rights. For freedom from
detention, torture and other forms of political
repression will be meaningless when people are
hostage to hunger, disease, ignorance and
unemployment.
The Meaning o f DUTY:

• DUTY is anything we are bound to do or omit.

• DUTY is a moral obligation incumbent upon a person

to do, omit, or avoid something.
C o r r e l a t i o n o f Right a n d
Duty

Right and Duty are correlative in a given person. One

who has a right to something has the duty to act
consistent with that right.
A prevailing error is insisting that other people
respect our rights, while we ourselves do very little
about our duty to act consistently with such right.
R e c i p r o c i t y o f R i g hts a n d
Duties

In interpersonal relationship,
rights and duties are reciprocal.
The right of one person implies in
another the duty to respect that
right.
Kinds o f Duties
1. Natural Duties – imposed by natural law
2. Positive – imposed by a human positive law
D u ti e s a re e it he r a f f i r m a t i v e o r n e g a ti v e :

*Affirmative duties are those which require the performance

of an act.
D u ti e s a re e it he r a f f i r m a t i v e o r n e g a ti v e :

*Negative duties are those which require the omission of

an act.
E x e mpt io n f r o m Duty
1. Negative duties arising from negative natural law
admit no exemption
2. Affirmative duties arising from affirmative percepts of
natural law admit exemptions when the act is rendered
impossible under certain conditions or would involve
excessive hardship on the person.
3. Ordinary hardships which come along with the
performance of a duty do not exempt one from
complying with such duty.
 C o n f l i c t o f Duties
1. Duties towards God must be given priority over
those towards men.
2. Duties that secure public order or the common
good have priority over those that safeguard the
individual.
3. Duties towards the family and relatives take
precedence over those towards strangers.
4. Duties of greater importance take precedence
those of lesser importance.

5. Duties based on higher law take precedence

over those coming from lower laws.