2. The Development Of The International Law Of Human Rights

Abstract

The chapter provides a discussion of the temporal and substantive development of the international law of human rights, starting with the creation of the United Nations, where the history of human rights was left in Chapter 1. It explores the process of adoption of the so-called ‘International Bill of Human Rights’—comprising the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two 1966 Covenants—and of the mechanisms for the implementation of the protected rights. The chapter places special emphasis on the ‘traditional’ debate concerning the distinction between civil and political rights, on the one hand, and economic, social, and cultural rights, on the other, to conclude that such a dated differentiation of rights should be considered a relic of the past. The chapter then engages in further reflections on the development of the international law of human rights, focusing both on the convergence of different regimes for the international protection of individuals, as well as on the meaning of time in the protection of rights.