Basic Documents of Human Rights
When was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights accepted?
It was accepted in 1948.
Which document can be considered as the first human rights document?
Because Magna Carta Libertatum was the most common agreement which restricted King John’s authority over the society, it can be considered as the first human rights document.
Are there any previous documents on human rights?
There are several documents on human rights which were declared before the Magna Carta Libertatum. One – probably the most important one of them – was the Code of Hammurabi declared about 1750s BC by the emperor of Babylonian Kingdom, Hammurabi. There is still an intense debate about whether this code should be called a human rights document or it is just an example of a criminal justice article. The code is composed of 282 articles.
Which events lead to the rebellion of the Barons?
The rebellion movements of the Barons were a result of the repression of the King of England (1166-1216). King John had several dissensions with the barons because of the protracted wars and high taxation which caused problems in the society . Moreover, English army under King John’s rule lost many lands to France. These pressures paved the way to an inner resistance and ended up with an agreement called the Magna Carta in 1215. This agreement was the front and centre for many successive new agreements related to the rights of people against the rulers.
Which article of the Magna Carta demonstrates the end of king’s unlimited authority?
The article 39 of the Magna Carta demonstrates the end of the king’s unlimited authority and states that ‘No freeman shall be arrested or imprisoned or deprived of his freehold or outlawed or banished or in any way ruined, nor will we take or order action against him, except by the lawful judgment of his equals and according to the law of the land’ and guarantees that the government will not act against its citizens except in accordance with the law.’ This might be called a revolution in the history of rights discourse as well.
Who was St. Thomas Aquinas ?
After the Magna Carta Libertatum, legal and juridical concepts started to change. St. Thomas Aquinas was one of the philosophers who contributed to these developments. Aquinas classified four forms of law as eternal law, natural law, divine law and human law. These are the basic parts of law and related to human beings; namely their doing good and avoiding evil in their actions.
When was the English Bill of Rights signed into law?
The English Bill of Rights was signed into law in 1689.
What role does the English Bill of Rights play in the development of human rights?
The English Bill of Rights can be regarded as the first document on the right of individuals about their life and religious thoughts. Free election for the parliament which is still one of the core political values was secured in this document.
Which revolutionary documents of the eighteenth century can be considered as milestones in the history of human rights?
There are four major revolutionary documents of the eighteenth century: the Virginia Declaration of Human Rights (1776), the US Declaration of Independence (1776), the US Bill of Rights (1791), and the French Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen (I789) .
What did the United States Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Declaration of Rights defend?
Both, the United States Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Declaration of Rights defended and stressed “equality, universality and freedom”.
Why is the Virginia Declaration of Rights considered as the first human rights document in the modern sense?
The Virginia Declaration of Rights was published in 1776. Especially the first article of this declaration might have been the basic idea of all human rights documents: “That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.” (Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776). This article triggered not only the United States Declaration of Independence, but also all other modern human rights legal writings. It is important to mention that it is about equal rights of every human being, not only the rights of some people as barons.
When did the United States gain independence from England?
After a long period of colonial wars and sufferings, a new state was established on July 1776. Just a month after the Virginia Declaration of Rights, United States gained independence from England with the Declaration of Independence.
Who was the U.S. Declaration of Independence largely written by?
It was largely written by Thomas Jefferson and influenced by liberal thinkers like Locke and Paine and announced the secession of the thirteen American colonies from England.
When was the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens declared?
The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens was declared on August 26 by the French Constituent Assembly, in 1789. The declaration ‘the rights of man and of citizens” is one of the most significant results of the French Revolution.
What do the French Declaration and the American Declaration of Independence have in common according to Jellinek?
Jellinek claimed that the French Declaration was almost a copy of the American Declaration of Independence. According to Jellinek the French adopted the American ideas as well as the form, but not all rights written in the American Declaration are included in the French one because the political climate in France in 1789 was extremely different from the political circumstances in the United States in 1776.
In what way were the United States Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Declaration of Rights different from the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens ?
The articles of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Declaration of Rights differ from the ones of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens in the sense of the background of the articles. While the United States Declaration of Independence was a constituent document, French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens was like an amendment for an old-fashioned governance and endeavour to establish a modern and equal regime against an oppressing ruling system.
What were the backgrounds and aims of the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens ?
The ideology behind these two declarations was not the same. According to Douzinas, they have different backgrounds and different aims: The aim of the American documents was to legitimise political independence from Britain, while that of the French, the overthrow of the social order of the ancient regime. The Americans used both historical and philosophical arguments to support their newly established rights.
What makes the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens unique ?
The emphasis on the term “common good” instead of natural law makes the French Declaration unique. The term “common good” has begun to be a basis for human rights and for justifying human rights, and it has lasted till today.
Why is article 6 of the French Declaration so important?
Article 6 is one of the most important statements of this declaration, since it introduced equality for all in making laws and in reaching public positions. It aimed to prevent the discrimination which had been a common practice in the societies for a long time. Stating that “all men are by nature equally free and independent” the distinctions between different classes of society had been put aside, and it had been supposed that every citizen should have rights equally free from his/her social and economic class. Therefore, this article made a great impact both on human rights theory and government practices.
What other issues were included in the French Declaration?
Other important issues in the French Declaration were the freedom of speech, the taxation and the inviolability of domicile and the principle of separation of powers.
What was the content of the Geneva Convention?
The Geneva Convention was adopted in 1868. This convention could be considered as one of the core international humanitarian law articles. With this convention, sixteen European countries as well as several American States agreed to create a safe zone for amelioration of the wounded during the armed-conflicts and wars. Even this may seen a humanitarian article, because it was an expression of respecting human life.
What were the four freedoms Roosevelt talked about?
Despite the efforts of the League of Nations and several other human rights declarations, human rights violations happened everywhere in the world. That forced the world community to go further and to establish a new international body named United Nations, and to prepare a new declaration of human rights. President Franklin Roosevelt talked about four freedoms in his message to Congress. These four essential human freedoms that must be secured worldwide were freedom of speech and expression, freedom of every person to worship God, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. These four freedoms constituted the very core of new human rights declaration, and human rights theory.
What was the purpose of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10th December 1948, and this day is declared as Human Rights Day and is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December every year. It was not legally binding but it was supposed to serve as a set of guidelines for nation-states to follow, drawn from shared moral principles. Indeed, despite being promoted primarily by the United States and its Western allies, UDHR contains not only the civil and political rights traditionally advocated by Western liberal-capitalist democracies, but economic, social and cultural rights as well. Despite the abstentions of Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the Soviet Union, and the other five states, there was surprisingly little disagreement on the construction of the Declaration.
How many states ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
When this historic document was put to a vote, the UN counted only fifty-eight members. Fifty states ratified the declaration, while Byelorussia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Ukraine, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia abstained. While nonbinding, the Universal Declaration became a touchstone of human rights law, recognizing the indivisibility and inalienability of security, civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, regardless of sex, nationality, and race.
What is the subject of article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
Article 5 puts emphasis on the ban of torture or cruel, inhuman treatment to protect human dignity.
What were the next steps in human rights after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
With the efforts of the Council of Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights was declared in 1950 and entered into force in 1953. This convention has been the core protective human rights guide for all signatory member states. In 1966, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) were released to signature and entered into force ten years later in 1976. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is another significant document, and it was released December, 1965, after the UDHR.