Civil Rights

Concept, Meaning & Bangladesh

Perspective
 What are Civil Rights?
• "Civil rights" are the rights of individuals to
receive equal treatment (and to be free from
unfair treatment or "discrimination") in a
number of settings -- including education,
employment, housing, and more

• Civil rights can be thought of as the agreement

between the nation, the state, and the
individual citizens that they govern. 
 Human Rights Vs. Civil Rights
Human Rights Civil Rights
HR considered to be necessities of the
human existence. They include the right
to life, education, protection from torture,
free expression, and fair trial. 
Human rights are basic, like the right be
alive
mass murdering of Jews in WW2 would
be a human rights violation
CR are those rights that one enjoys by
virtue of citizenship in a particular nation
or state.
Civil rights are laws created by society.
Sueing a company for labor law violations
would be a civil rights issue.
 Fundamental Rights Vs. HR

Fundamental HR
Rights
The term ‘fundamental The term ‘human rights’ is
rights’ is used in a used in international law.
constitutional setting
The two terms refer to similar substance. So this two
terms are basically Same in meaning.
 Civil Rights

• What Are Civil Rights?

• "Civil rights" are the rights of individuals to receive equal
treatment (and to be free from unfair treatment or
"discrimination") in a number of settings -- including
education, employment, housing, and more -- and based on
certain legally-protected characteristics.

• Historically, the "Civil Rights Movement" referred to efforts

toward achieving true equality for African-Americans in all
facets of society, but today the term "civil rights" is also used
to describe the advancement of equality for all people
regardless of race, sex, age, disability, national origin, religion,
or certain other characteristics.
 Civil Rights
• Civil rights include the ensuring of peoples' physical and mental
integrity, life, and safety; protection from discrimination on grounds
such as race, gender, national origin, colour, age, political affiliation,
ethnicity, religion, or disability;[1][2][3] and individual rights such as
privacy and the freedoms of thought, speech, religion, press,
assembly, and movement.
• Political rights include natural justice (procedural fairness) in law, such
as the rights of the accused, including the right to a fair trial;
due process; the right to seek redress or a legal remedy; and rights of
participation in civil society and politics such as
freedom of association, the right to assemble, the right to petition,
the right of self-defense, and the right to vote.

• Civil and political rights form the original and main part of
international human rights.[4] They comprise the first portion of the
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (with
economic, social, and cultural rights comprising the second portion).
• Where Do Civil Rights Come From?
• Most laws guaranteeing and regulating civil rights originate at
the federal level, either through federal legislation, or through
federal court decisions (such as those handed down by the
U.S. Supreme Court). States also pass their own civil rights
laws (usually very similar to those at the federal level), and
even municipalities like cities and counties can enact
ordinances and laws related to civil rights.

• "Civil Rights" vs. "Civil Liberties"

• "Civil rights" are different from "civil liberties." Traditionally,
the concept of "civil rights" has revolved around the basic right
to be free from unequal treatment based on certain protected
characteristics (race, gender, disability, etc.), while "civil
liberties" are more broad-based rights and freedoms that are
guaranteed at the federal level by the Constitution and other
federal law.
 Example of Civil Rights

• freedom of speech,
• the right to vote, 
• due process of law, 
• equal protection of the laws, and 
• protection from unlawful discrimination
 History

• The phrase "civil rights" is a translation of Latin ius civis (rights of a citizen).
Roman citizens could be either free (libertas) or servile (servitus), but they all
had rights in law.[5] After the Edict of Milan in 313, these rights included the
freedom of religion.[6] Roman legal doctrine was lost during the Middle Ages,
but claims of universal rights could still be made based on religious doctrine.
According to the leaders of Kett's Rebellion (1549), "all bond men may be
made free, for God made all free with his precious blood-shedding." [7]
• In the 17th century, English common law judge Sir Edward Coke revived the
idea of rights based on citizenship by arguing that Englishmen had historically
enjoyed such rights. The Parliament of England adopted the
English Bill of Rights in 1689. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, by
George Mason and James Madison, was adopted in 1776. The Virginia
declaration is the direct ancestor and model for the U.S. Bill of Rights (1789).
• The removal by legislation of a civil right constitutes a "civil disability". In
early 19th century Britain, the phrase "civil rights" most commonly referred
to the issue of such legal discrimination against Catholics. In the
House of Commons support for civil rights was divided, with many politicians
agreeing with the existing civil disabilities of Catholics. The
Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 restored their civil rights.
• In the 1860s, Americans adapted this usage to newly freed blacks. Congress
enacted civil rights acts in 1866, 1871, 1875, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968, and
1991.
 Protection of rights

• T.H. Marshall notes that civil rights were among the first to be recognized
and codified, followed later by political rights and still later by social rights.
In many countries, they are constitutional rights and are included in a
bill of rights or similar document. They are also defined in
international human rights instruments, such as the 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1967
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
• Civil and political rights need not be codified to be protected, although
most democracies worldwide do have formal written guarantees of civil
and political rights. Civil rights are considered to be natural rights.
Thomas Jefferson wrote in his
A Summary View of the Rights of British America that "a free people
[claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift
of their chief magistrate."
• The question of to whom civil and political rights apply is a subject of
controversy. In many countries, citizens have greater protections against
infringement of rights than non-citizens; at the same time, civil and
political rights are generally considered to be universal rights that apply to
all persons.
• .
• According to political scientist Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr.,
analyzing the causes of and lack of protection from human rights
abuses in the Global South should be
focusing on the interactions of domestic and international factors
— an important perspective that has usually been systematically
neglected in the social science literature
• Other rights
• Custom also plays a role. Implied or unenumerated rights are
rights that courts may find to exist even though not expressly
guaranteed by written law or custom; one example is the
right to privacy in the United States, and the Ninth Amendment
explicitly shows that there are other rights that are also
protected.
• The United States Declaration of Independence states that people
have unalienable rights including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness". It is considered by some that the sole purpose of
government is the protection of life, liberty and property. [8]
• Ideas of self-ownership and cognitive liberty affirm rights to
choose the food one eats,[9][10][11] the medicine one takes,[12][13][14]
the habit one indulges.[
Fundamental Rights in Bangladesh
• The Constitution of BD:

⮚ PART III: FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

⮚ Articles 26-47A
 Cont..
Article-26: Laws inconsistent with fundamental
rights to be void
Article-26: Equality before law
Article-27: Equality before law
Article-28: Discrimination on grounds of religion,
etc
Article-29: Equality of opportunity in public
employment
 Cont..
Article-30:Prohibition of foreign titles, etc
Article-31:Right to protection of law
Article-32:Protection of right to life and personal
liberty
Article-33:Safeguards as to arrest and detention
Article-34:Prohibition of forced labour
Article-35:Protection in respect of trial and
punishment
 Cont..
• Article-36:Freedom of movement
• Article-37:Freedom of assembly
• Article-38:Freedom of association
• Article-39:Freedom of thought and
conscience, and of speech
• Article-40:Freedom of profession or
occupation
• Article-41:Freedom of religion
 Cont..
• Article-42:Rights to property
• Article-43:Protection of home and
correspondence
• Article-44:Enforcement of fundamental rights
• Article-45:Modification of rights in respect of
disciplinary law
• Article-46:Power to provide indemnity
• Article-47:Saving for certain laws
Article-47A: Inapplicability of certain articles