NATURE AND DEFINITION

TO HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND PRACTICE
 DEFINITION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

• Human rights are rights that belong to all human beings merely by virtue of being born in the human family.
They belong to every person regardless of sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language,
nationality, place of residence, or any other status. In other words, all of us are equally entitled to the full
range of human rights without discrimination.
• According to the United Nations, human rights may be defined as “universal legal guarantees that belong to
all human beings and that protect inviduals and groups from actions and omissions that affect fundamental
human dignity”. In other words, human dignity is the quintessence of human rights.
• The principle of non-discrimination is supplemented by the principle of equality, as stated in Article 1 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights.”
 INALIENABLE AND INDIVISIBLE RIGHTS

• The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action that was adopted at the end of the World Conference on
Human Rights asserted that human rights are universal, indivisible, interconnected and mutually dependent.
Human rights are inalienable.
• All human rights are indivisible, whether they are civil and political rights, such as the right to life, equality
before the law and freedom of expression; economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to work,
social security and education, or shared rights, such as the right to development and self-determination.
• They are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent. The development of one right enables improvement
of the others. Likewise, the restriction of one right adversely affects the enjoyment of other rights.
 SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES OF HUMAN
RIGHTS ARE THE FOLLOWING:

• They are for everybody.

• They are internationally guaranteed.
• They are protected by law.
• They emphasise on the dignity of the human being.
• They defend individuals and groups.

• They cannot be taken away.

 UDHR 1948

• The international community has agreed upon certain universally recognized human rights. These are
enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which the UN General Assembly
adopted on 10 December 1948. The UDHR has had a great impact all over the world.
 SOME OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS ENUMERATED IN THE UNIVERSAL
DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

• The right to life.

•  Freedom from discrimination.
•  The right for everyone to be treated equally by the law.
•  Freedom to have privacy in the family, home or with personal correspondence.
•  Freedom of association, expression, assembly and movement.
•  The right to seek and enjoy asylum
•  The right to a nationality.
•  Freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
•  The right to vote and take part in government.
•  The right to fair working conditions.
 CONTD.,

•  The right to adequate food, shelter, clothing and social security.

•  The right to health.
•  The right to education.
•  The right to property.
•  The right to participate in cultural life.
•  The right to development.
•  Freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment.
•  Freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention.
•  The right to a fair trial
 MANY SCHOLARS MOST SIGNIFICANT DEFINITIONS ARE:

• Richard Wassertrom: “one ought to be able to claim as entitlements (i.e. as Human Rights) those minimal things
without which it is impossible to develop one‟s capabilities and to have life as human being”. That is Human
Rights are moral entitlements possessed only by persons.
• Tiber Macham: “Human Rights are universal and irrevocable elements in a scheme of justice. Accordingly,
justice is the primary moral virtue within human society and all rights are fundamental to justice”.
• Joel Feinberg: “Human Rights as moral rights held equally by all human beings, unconditionally and unalterably.
That is for Feinberg Human Rights are moral claims based on primary human needs”.
• D.D. Basu: “Human Rights as those minimal rights which every individual must have against the State or other
public authority by virtue of his being a member of the human family, irrespective of any other consideration”
 UDHR DEFINITION ON HR

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, refers Human Rights as inalienable rights of all members of
the human family. The above definitions generally focus upon the idea that Human Rights apply to all
human beings because they are human beings.