Are there Collective Human Rights?

Abstract

The doctrine of human rights affirms two fundamental principles of Western liberalism. The first is that the human individual is the most fundamental moral unit. The second is that all human individuals are morally equal. The problem of collective rights, therefore, arises in two ways. It arises firstly because the concept of individual human rights has been introduced into an international discourse committed to various forms of collectivism. It arises secondly because liberal-democratic theory and practice have traditionally concerned themselves with the relation between individual rights and the collective rights of nation-states. The protection of minority rights by treaty has been practised for centuries. Such protection has been exceptional, however, since international law has normally recognized the sovereign power of states: it was, indeed, sovereign states that made treaties to protect minorities.