İNSAN HAKLARI

Magna Carta Libertatum, also known as the Articles of Barons, is far away from the current human rights thought from which we deduce the modern law practices. During the late 12th and at the beginning of the 13th century, there was no mention of the value of a human being, but there were only two bodies or persons which have value among the residents of the empires: King and the Church. Infinite authority of these two bodies could not be probed or opposed in that times according to Zeitgeist of the era. They had unlimited sovereignty over the society. They did not have to respect any of the human values in their ruling practice. The rebellion movements of the Barons were a result of the repression of the king and the authority of the King began to erode. King John (1166-1216) – King of England during that period – had several dissensions with the barons, just because of the protracted wars and high taxation that drive the society into a corner. Besides that, English army under the 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. The correct answer is Choice E.

St. Thomas Aquinas has been one of the philosophers who contributed to these developments. “Aquinas produced a systematic introduction to theology, including the definition and classification of kinds of law. Aquinas defines law in general as a role of human action determined by reason, directed towards the common good shared by all humans.” (Hayden, 2001, 43). Aquinas classifies 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. The correct answer is Choice B.

But before the United States Declaration of Independence, we should mention the Virginia Declaration of Rights published just a month before it, in the year 1776. Especially the first article of this declaration might have been the cradle of thought behind 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.

That is the reason of its being considered as the first human rights document in the modern sense, because of its talking about equal rights of every human
being, not only from rights of some people as barons.

“Building on the English Bill of Rights, the U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776) announced the secession of the thirteen American colonies from England. Largely written by Thomas Jefferson, and influenced by liberal thinkers like Locke and Paine, the declaration advanced a conception of the social contract based on a doctrine of fundamental natural rights. The notion that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” had an electrifying effect far beyond the thirteen colonies.” (Ishay, 2007, 488).

While the English Bill of Rights proclaimed the “ancient rights and liberties” as English legal practices; United States Declaration of Independence as well as the Virginia Declaration of Rights, defended and stressed “equality, universality and freedom”. We witness these heirships between the consecutive documents on human rights. As of the Declaration of Independence, individual rights began to take place in the significant legal articles. But before the United States Declaration of Independence, we should mention the Virginia Declaration of Rights published just a month before it, in the year 1776. Especially the first article of this declaration might have been the cradle of thought behind all human rights documents. The correct answer is Choice C.

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 his independence from England with the Declaration of Independence. The correct answer is Choice D.

On the 26th of August in 1789, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens was announced in the National Assembly. This declaration has been a turning point not only for human rights, but also for all successor governments. The articles of this Declaration of rights paved the way for, and are also harmonic with modern human rights theories. What makes this declaration unique was its emphasis on the term “common good” instead of natural law. The term “common good” has begun to be a basis for human rights and for justifying human rights, and it has lasted till today.

Another momentous document in human rights history is the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens 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. It has been also criticised from different points of view by different thinkers. The political scientists and the historians, thoroughly appreciating its importance, have repeatedly come to the conclusion that the Declaration had no small part in the anarchy with which France was visited soon after the storming of the Bastille. The debate on the relation of the French Declaration with the American Declaration of Independence goes beyond the discussion about the influence of Contract Social in the French Declaration. Jellinek asserted that the French Declaration was substantially a nearly copy of the American Declaration of Independence. Te correct answer is Choice D.

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. “Although not legally binding, it was 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. The correct answer is Choice A.

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.

Even though we consider the Magna Carta Libertatum as the first example of the human rights documents, it is also important to search the previous documents that could be seen as human rights documents.

If it is compared with the current law practices, some articles as the article 39 may be seen the root of modern legal perspective. The article 39 of the Magna Carta 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. (Sol, 2016, 67). This article demonstrates the end of the unlimited authority of King, which might be called a revolution in the history of rights discourse as well. There has been a broad spectrum of amendments for over 800 years since this agreement, but the root of the fair trial thought was the article 39 of Magna Carta Libertatum. This article impeded the extrajudicial execution of the King, which expresses the main idea of the releasing trail in the current legal system.

After the Magna Carta Libertatum, legal and juridical concepts had started to change. St. Thomas Aquinas has been one of the philosophers who contributed to these developments. “Aquinas produced a systematic introduction to theology, including the definition and classification of kinds of law. Aquinas defines law in general as a role of human action determined by reason, directed towards the common good shared by all humans.” (Hayden, 2001, 43). Aquinas classifies 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.

The first legal document Magna Carta and its amendments, with the philosophical account of right in it, have become a source of fire for the coming human rights legal documents. With the rebellion movements against the English parliament and monarch, claims for life, property and religious freedom became louder in England. Peasants and their demands about their basic needs triggered the human rights movements, even if there was nothing about them in any articles of the charter. Different classes of society were not represented in the parliament equally, and they were anxious for their rights. With the monarchical restoration, human rights thought that had been released by the English tradition was terminated. Yet the revolutionary spirit was still alive amidst peasants’ grief and despair. With the Great Revolution 1688, they fought for parliamentary and civil rights – later embraced by the English Bill of Rights

Four major revolutionary documents of the eighteenth century, i.e. Virginia Declaration of Human Rights (1776), US Declaration of Independence (1776), the US Bill of Rights (1791), and the French Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen (I789) have been addressed generally as milestones in the history of human rights and its cradle of modernity. Greek legal Philosopher and human rights lecturer Costas Douzinas has pointed out the evolution of the human rights through these documents:

The American Bills of Rights do not attempt merely to set forth certain principles for the state’s organization, but they seek above all to draw the boundary line between state and individual. According to them the individual is not the possessor of rights through the state, but by his own nature he has inalienable and indefeasible rights

Another significant expression of this document was the article: “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.” (United States Declaration of Independence, 1776) This article also exemplifies the liberal influence on the theory of human rights. With these articles, on the 4th of July in 1776, the United States of America was declared as de facto. Even though this article might have been seen as a declaration of independence, United States Declaration of Independence was more than the establishment of a state. Since, with this declaration as well as the Virginia Declaration of Rights, deliberation on human rights moved to another stage which was absolutely unfamiliar with previous ones. As of this declaration, all human rights documents have started with the quote “born equally” which comprises the main idea of respecting and protecting human rights.

Despite the efforts of the League of Nations and several other human rights declarations, human rights violations were at every corner of 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.

The twin Covenants put emphasis on the right of self-determination for any people or minority and tried to set a road map for on-going – and of course, future – assertions. Even though, selfdetermination right may be seen as a group right, it is considered as a substantial human rights. Although the bearer of rights was different from the Universal Declaration, fundamental rights as right to life and liberty, freedom from pain and poverty, the right to fair trial, freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman treatments have kept to constitute the core of the twin Covenants.

“In the Universal Declaration human rights appear as principles or demands concerning a special treatment of the individuals belonging to the human species. The 26 articles of this Declaration are attempts to word such principles and some of their implications in the existing conditions of world –viewed from a Western perspective in the middle of our century” (Kuçuradi, 1995, 5-6). Human rights in the Universal Declaration are conceived mainly as principles of action which articulates how human beings should treat others, so that they “can afford the possibility to develop their human potential, and consequently some of them carry out the human activities that constitute what we call ‘human dignity’”.