Abstract
In this column I discuss the background, evolution, legal status and functions of the human right to development, with special reference to the proposed draft Convention on this subject, published by the Human Rights Council in January 2020. It notes the widely diverse views on the added value of the right to development. In my view, taking the discussion on the formulation, consolidation and implementation of the right to development seriously, is important to create a balance in the international human rights discourse by showing a genuine interest in matters raised for long by developing countries. This could serve the cause of the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of the global human rights architecture. However, it is questionable whether the adoption of a new Convention on the Right to Development would serve the cause of the right to development. The right to development is already well rooted in the existing core human rights treaties and has the potential to play a key role as a cluster right, an integrative right and a bridging right. Therefore, I suggest some alternative avenues for realising and operationalising the right to development.
Highlights
During the late 1970s, a trend emerged in international human rights discourse advocating a ‘structural approach’ to human rights
This approach was based on the view that individual human rights violations are certainly important and must be addressed, we should look
Secretary General of the Strasbourg International Institute for Human Rights Karel Vasak, the Algerian international judge Mohammed Bedjaoui, the Egyptian professor and international judge Georges Abi-Saab,[3] the Australian professor and UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, and the Indian economist and later Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen.[4]. They all argued at an early stage for the recognition of the right to development as a human right of both individuals and peoples
Summary
During the late 1970s, a trend emerged in international human rights discourse advocating a ‘structural approach’ to human rights. Mohammed Bedjaoui, former President of the International Court of Justice, even maintained that the right to development is ‘the precondition of liberty, progress, justice and creativity’ and ‘the alpha and omega of human rights, the first and last human right, the beginning and the end, the means and the goal of human rights’.5. While this might be seen as overstating the value of the right to development, Bedjaoui’s view may represent the views held by many developing countries Mohammed Bedjaoui, former President of the International Court of Justice, even maintained that the right to development is ‘the precondition of liberty, progress, justice and creativity’ and ‘the alpha and omega of human rights, the first and last human right, the beginning and the end, the means and the goal of human rights’.5 While this might be seen as overstating the value of the right to development, Bedjaoui’s view may represent the views held by many developing countries
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