Equality of Opportunity in Education

The Nuremberg tribunal was the expression and the beginning of states' recognition of their duty to prosecute genocide and other gross human rights violations. It was a first step towards fulfillin...

The Opportunity Agenda and the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy of Northeastern University School of Law have released a new report, Human Rights in State Courts 2014. The report reviews state court decisions and Attorneys General opinions interpreting human rights treaties, laws, and standards.Since the last version of this report was released in 2011, litigants have continued to use international human rights law in their arguments before state courts. In fact, the range of cases in which international law arguments are offered seems to have increased, now encompassing environmental claims, tort cases, and guardianship matters. Many of these arguments have been cursorily dismissed, with a few courts and individual judges staking out their opposition to the application of international human rights law. However, some state courts have considered and affirmatively used international law as persuasive authority for the interpretation of state constitutions, statutes, and common law. Further, individual judges regularly draw on human rights norms in concurring or dissenting opinions.This updated publication includes previously reported cases as well as those that have been decided since the 2011 edition. Highlights of the new report include the following developments:-The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court gave retroactive effect to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sentencing a juvenile to life without the possibility of parole is unconstitutional, citing international law in support.-A Maryland Court of Appeals considered the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and its recognition of the right to “family life” as a marker of fundamental fairness, when deciding upon a due process challenge to a guardianship proceeding.-The Tennessee Attorney General addressed international human rights law when a state representative inquired as to whether a bill to prohibit and criminalize observation of state elections by United Nations (U.N.) officials violated the United States Constitution. The Attorney General determined that the bill would likely violate the Supremacy Clause and noted that U.N. officials would be immune from prosecution under the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, to which the United States is a party.-A dissenting judge in an Iowa Supreme Court decision, addressing the right to education under the state constitution, would have used the human rights norms as a tool for interpreting the Iowa constitution. The dissent cited the UDHR for the proposition that education is essential to the development of an autonomous individual with dignity.-State courts continued to consider claims arising under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, generally finding that the treaty does not grant defendants the right to any actual assistance by consular officials, as opposed to a right to consular notification.-There continue to be a host of cases citing the Hague Service Convention for guidelines to proper service of process between parties residing in signatory countries. Additionally, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction continues to play a substantial role in guiding courts in child custody hearings.-Regional international norms articulated by the Inter-American system figured in several cases. For example, a Connecticut Superior Court utilized the Inter-American Convention on Letters of Rogatory and Additional Protocol to impose proper service of process when it found that protocols under the Hague Service Convention were not applicable.-A New York court stated that while the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is not binding under New York law, the international adoption of a guarantee of legal capacity for all persons is entitled to persuasive weight in the interpretation of local laws.

Prior to 1948, human rights education (HRE) was exclusively a concern of domestic legal and education systems, as human rights were not considered to be an appropriate subject matter for international law. However, the development of the United Nations (UN) and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) saw this change, and for the first time HRE was included in an international instrument. This chapter considers the historical background to HRE becoming part of international human rights law and analyzes what States are required to do in order to comply with international HRE obligations contained in treaties and other instruments. It concludes with a few observations about levels of compliance with international laws pertaining to HRE, and obstacles to the realization of those laws, before closing with some recommendations about how States might increase their adherence to international HRE mandates. Keywords: human rights education (HRE); international human rights law; international law; states; United Nations (UN); Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

The importance of positive home-school relationships and shared decision making for children’s well-being and achievement at school is well documented. Based on this, our action-research project was designed to enable parents to recognize and demand their children’s rights. The primary goal was to improve the well-being and performance of children with disabilities in a Lyceum in Cyprus. To this end, we approached eight parents of four children with disabilities, aged 15 to 17. Through attentive listening, explanation of the legislation, support, encouragement and meetings with the special education stakeholders we tried to encourage parents demand their children’s right to equal opportunities in quality education in a positive learning environment. In order to assess the intervention, the parents, the children and their teachers were interviewed. We found that the children were satisfied because they had significantly improved their grades, their self-confidence and their relationships with the teachers, albeit the children had not the same performance. The teachers were pleased because of the children’s increased participation in the classroom, even though some of them had reservations regarding power issues. The parents were also happy with both their children’s improved well-being and performance and the teachers’ efforts to respond to the children’s needs. In conclusion, co-operating with parents and developing working partnerships may increase the likelihood for equal opportunities in education, while learning at school may become a more joyful and fruitful experience.

The urgency of the study is stipulated by the necessity to cover the process of project preparation and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which will allow a comprehensive study of the nature of human rights, to understand their universal nature. The choice of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as an object of the study is determined by the special nature of this international soft law act. It is emphasized that the process of adopting this international act remains somewhat unclear among lawyers. The preparation and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is hardly covered in the legal literature, which does not contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the Western human rights concept and relativism in the interpretation of human rights as a phenomenon within various legal cultures. Some aspects of project preparation and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are described. The activities of the Human Rights Commission, which consisted of 18 members representing various political, cultural and religious groups, are noted. It is emphesized that starting with Art.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the words “All people are born free and equal…”, the developers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reproduced the idea of the universality of human rights, their global nature, that is not limited to a state or even a region. It is summed up that representatives of various groups of the population were involved in the work on the text of the document, creating an international act that was to consolidate human rights, to embody the ideas of equality of human rights, and their universal character. However, while adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, not all states voted in its favor. Eight states have refrained from supporting it which is stipulated by a number of religious and political factors. At the same time, different interpretations of human rights by various states do not deny their universal nature. Covering the issue of human rights, it is advisable to disclose the process of preparation and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which will allow systematically and clearly understand the nature of human rights, differences in the activities of various states concerning human rights ensuring.

A UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?Mary J. MayerSince its creation, the protection of human has been a cornerstone of the work of the United Nations (UN). Article 1 of its Charter proclaims that one of the purposes of the UN is to achieve international cooperation in promoting and encourag- ing respect for human and fundamental freedoms for distinction regarding race, sex, language, or religion. And, one of the first major achievements of the UN was the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948, which stated that all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights and are entitled to the and freedoms set forth in the Declaration without distinction of any kind such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.Note that one important distinction is not included: age. Thus, despite the existence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, older persons are not explicitly recognized under interna- tional human laws that legally oblige governments to realize the of people. In effect, older persons' are mostly invisible under international law.What are these rights? Simply put, they are the same that are set out in the Universal Declaration: the right to equality before the law; the right to own and inherit property; the right to have adequate income support; the right to work; the right to have access to health care; and, importantly, the right to have freedom from violence and abuse.Although, historically, ageing has not been a major focus at the UN since its founding, older persons and ageing issues have been specifically recognized by the UN in a number of documents, events, and programs as well as implicitly in others. Insofar as UN documents are concerned, older persons' are implicitly protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), both of which apply to everyone regard- less of age. However, apart from the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Their Families (1990), which mandates against age discrimination, as of today there is no legally binding UN commitment to the of older persons.However, there have been other important actions centered on ageing. In its very early days, the UN undertook an extensive worldwide survey on ageing. But it was not until 1969 that a Reso- lution was adopted to investigate and report back by 1973 to the General Assembly on the situation of ageing in the world. Also at that time, an Ageing Unit was created at the UN in the Depart- ment of Economic and Social Affairs where it continues today as the Programme on Ageing. Study findings providing new data on the expected growth of the world's older population and the rec- ognition that little was known about global ageing led to a sec- ond Resolution in 1978 that called for the convening of a World Assembly on Ageing in 1982-the first major UN event in which ageing was the sole focus. Out of this assembly came the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing.In 1991, by Resolution of the General Assembly, the UN Principles for Older Persons were formulated covering five areas: independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment, and dignity. It is appropriate to note that these principles were based on materi- als first proposed by the International Federation on Ageing (IFA), 8 years later, the General Assembly declared 1999 the first Interna- tional Year of Older Persons. In the years following, the impact of demographic change that had been primarily a concern of devel- oped nations began to gain momentum in developing countries as well and became an impetus for the convening of the Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid in 2002. …

INTRODUCTION. The year of 2018 marks with a global celebration of 70th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the landmark international document which represents the universal recognition that basic rights and fundamental freedoms are inherent to all human beings which is solemnly proclaimed by the UN member states. The most debatable and ambiguous issue is the determination of the legal status of this essential document. Given the fact that the Declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly in a form of the resolution, it has a recommendatory character. However, the Declaration which adopted as “standard to which all nations and states should strive to achieve” has undergone a certain legal transformation related to the constant development and refinement in the process of concluding a rich body of legally binding international human rights treaties that affected both domestic and international law. In this regard, the statements on the necessity of recognition of the certain provisions of the Declaration as norms of the international customary law are timely and fully justified. The article analyzes national judicial practice of sovereign states and the International Court of Justice in order to identify the possibility of such recognition. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The article is based on a considerable amount of materials, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, working materials of the UN Commission on Human Rights, statements made during General Assembly meeting (documented as verbatim records) on adoption of the Declaration, decisions and advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice, as well as the doctrinal positions of different authors. The methodological basis of the research comprises the general scientific methods (the dialectical, historical, statistical methods, methods of generalization and system analysis) and special methods of cognition (comparative legal and formal legal methods, methods of interpretation of legal norms). RESEARCH RESULTS. In the basis of the study of the international legal acts and international judicial practice, national legislation and judicial practice of concrete states, as well as doctrinal positions of scientists, the author makes conclusions on the legal status of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. In the article the author gives a historical reference on the diplomatic contestation in the period of the adoption of the Declaration which subsequently affected the final text of the document. Taking into account the moral significance, as well as weighty contribution of the Declaration to the adoption of international and regional human rights treaties, national legislation and judicial practice, the author comes to the conclusion that the certain provisions of the Declaration should be recognized as norms of the international customary law. The author also concludes that in modern conditions, when a number of states are still not a party to the main international human rights treaties, the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should act for them as binding norms of international customary law that are formed as a result of international practice of states and are gradually recognized by them as a legal norm. This conclusion is also formed on the basis of the practice of the International Court of Justice, the decisions and advisory opinions of which are analyzed by the author in this article.

Although equality of opportunity in education is a current and important issue, most of the studies on this subject are based on theoretical studies rather than empirical studies. The main reason for this can be said to be the lack of a valid and reliable measurement tool in this field. For this reason, this study aims to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool for determining pre-service teachers' perceptions of equality of opportunity in education. For this purpose, data were collected from four different samples using a simple random sampling technique. First, a literature review was conducted, and qualitative interviews were conducted with the first sample on equal opportunities in qualitative education. After the item pool was created, the first application was made in order to determine the factor structure of the measurement tool. Data were collected from a separate sample to test the resulting structure and perform confirmatory factor analysis. Then, in the context of reliability studies of the measurement tool, calculation of the internal consistency coefficient, extracted mean variance, composite reliability and test-retest processes were used. As a result, a valid and reliable scale for determining the perception of equality of opportunity in education consisting of three factors and 23 items has been brought to the education literature. Keywords: equal opportunity in education, factor analysis, validity and reliability, scale development

The article is devoted to the investigation of scientific views of Lviv University alumni Louis Sohn on the formation of institution of human rights defense. Attention has been paid to impact of United Nations on the formation of intergovernmental cooperation to ensure basic human rights and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights development. The common scientific positions of Louis Sohn, Volodymyr Koretskyy and Hersh Lauterpacht about the meaning of this fundamental international legal act have been underlined. Lauterpacht was one of the few international lawyers actively campaigning for human rights. He gave idea and prepared actually first draft of this important document in the sphere of human rights. Koretskyy had participated in the meeting of the working committee of the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He has been argued need for creating a system where the individual is not opposed to society and the state. The Declaration thus is now considered to be an authoritative interpretation of the U.N. Charter, spelling out in considerable detail the meaning of the phrase «human rights and fundamental freedoms» which Member States agreed in the Charter to promote and observe. In a parallel development, individuals gained rights under international law and, to some extent, means for vindication of those rights on the international plane. This development entailed four different lawbuilding stages: assertion of international concern about human rights in the U.N. Charter; listing of those rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; elaboration of the rights in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Louis Sohn has been investigated International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Those documents contain clear commitments binding on all States Parties. Key words: Louis Sohn; Volodymyr Koretskyy; Hersh Lauterpacht; human rights defence; Universal Declaration of Human Rights; United Nations.

Economic Sanctions Against Human Rights Violations

There are significant inequalities in the lives of America’s children, including inequalities in the education that these children receive. These educational inequalities include not only disparities in funding per pupil but also in class size, teacher qualification, and resources such as books, labs, libraries, computers, and curriculum, as well as the physical condition of the school and the safety of students within it. While not all schools attended by poor children are bad schools, and not all schools attended by well-off children are good schools, there are clear patterns. Poor children are more likely to attend crowded and poorly equipped schools with less qualified teachers than the children of more affluent families. They are less likely to have computers, books, and advanced placement academic courses. To give one example of the differences in school resources, the wealthiest districts in New York spent more than $25,000 per pupil at the same

In this article the author explores what he terms ‘an emergent traderelated, market-friendly paradigm of human rights’, in contrast to the paradigm of human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It focuses on a reassertion of the UDHR paradigm in relation to corporate governance and business conduct, looking specifically at the Proposed Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with regard to Human Rights (‘Norms’). The article examines, in this respect, five central themes: the intertextuality of the Norms; the ‘network’ conception of trade and business conduct; ways of categorising human rights obligations; duties regarding implementation of the Norms; and, finally, related ethical theory concerns. 1. The Proposed Norms on Human Rights Responsibilities of Transnationals and Other Business Enterprises In The Future of Human Rights, the present author developed a contrast between the paradigm of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the emergent paradigm of the trade-related, market-friendly paradigm of human rights by which it was confronted. In this article a particular set of practices of resistance, which takes the form of full reassertion of the UDHR paradigm in Human Rights Law Review 5:1 (2005), 1–26 p Professor of Law, University of Warwick (upendra.baxi@warwick.ac.uk). This article is a revised version of a chapter that is due to be published in Baxi, The Future of Human Rights, 2nd edn (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2005). 1 Baxi, The Future of Human Rights (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002) at 153. Human Rights Law Review 5:1 q The Author [2005]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org doi:10.1093/hrlrev/ngi001 relation to corporate governance and business conduct, is addressed. What is indeed remarkable is the fact that the articulation of this reassertion occurs under the auspices of the United Nations system, which otherwise fosters contemporaneously somewhat assiduously the trade-related, market-friendly human rights paradigm. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights and, particularly, the SubCommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, provide important sites of critique and renewal. The Sub-Commission thrives on dialogical interaction with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) communities; and often its expert consultants (howsoever named) emerge from within these communities, or at the very least remain extraordinarily sensitive to activist critique of contemporary economic globalisation. This article focuses on the Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights (‘Norms’), formulated by a Working Group of five independent experts. The adoption of the Norms, together with the Commentary by the Sub-Commission (on 13 August 2003), marks the first step in a long and perilous journey towards their final adoption. The Norms, now transmitted to the Human Rights Commission, remain open to further consideration within and outside the United Nations system and the comments and responses received stand slated for further consideration by March/April 2005. In the interim, the Sub-Commission’s Working Group stands mandated to assemble information from all relevant sources concerning implementation processes, as well as to further innovate these processes where necessary. The Norms, and the accompanying Commentary, had a very short gestation compared with the archetypal endeavour that produced a stillborn United Nations Draft Code of Conduct on Transnational Corporations. Even more remarkable is their enunciative audacity, unfazed by glittering histories of past failures. Twenty-three articles provide an arsenal of general and specific obligations. Transnational corporations and other business organisations stand conceived as networks of corporate governance and business conduct. Ideologies of voluntarism stand replaced by those of regulation 2 See Globalization and its Impact on the Full Enjoyment of Human Rights, 15 August 2001, E/CN.4/Sub.2/2000/13. 3 See the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights, 13 August 2003, E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/12/Rev.2 (2003); hereafter cited as ‘Norms’. For the Commentary on the Norms, see E/CN/4/Sub.2/2003/38/Rev.2 (2003). The latter document refers to ‘paragraphs’ rather than ‘Articles’; The provisions are here described as Articles. Further, all citations to the Norms are derived from the last document above. 4 See, for background analysis, Weissbrodt and Kruger, ‘Norms on Responsibility of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Entities’, (2003) 97 American Journal of International Law 901. See also Muchlinski, Multinational Enterprises and the Law (Oxford: Blackwell, 1995) at 592–7 and the literature cited therein. 5 E/C.10/1984/S/5 (1984); (1984) 23 International Legal Materials 602. 2 HRLR 5 (2005), 1–26

They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade union...

The principle of equal opportunities in education aims to eliminate the social and economic privileges that young people face in acquiring their social status and roles. In this way, everyone, regardless of their social and economic status, will have the opportunity to take their place in society according to their wishes and abilities, and to fully realize their personalities and aspirations. Education, besides being a fundamental right, plays a crucial role in reducing societal inequalities, preventing detrimental factors, and fostering economic and human development. Education represents an enduring benefit for all of humanity, underscoring the importance of preventing factors that lead to disparities in educational access. This study aims to assess the significance of inclusion in higher education and equal educational opportunities in the context of sustainability. It will also evaluate factors related to economics, social dynamics, regional disparities, biology, and management that contribute to inequality of opportunity.

Journal Article Human Dignity:The Internationalization of Human Rights (Essays based on an Aspen Institute Workshop, with selected International human rights documents), Human Rights: Thirty Years After the Universal Declaration. (Commemorative volume on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.) and UN Law/Fundamental Rights: Two Topics in International Law Get access Human Dignity:The Internationalization of Human Rights (Essays based on an Aspen Institute Workshop, with selected International human rights documents). Edited by Alice H. Henkin. New York: Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies; Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana; Alphen aan den Rijn: Sijthoff and Noordhoff 1979. 203 pp.Human Rights: Thirty Years After the Universal Declaration. (Commemorative volume on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.). Edited by B. G. Ramcharan. The Hague, London: Nijhoff for the International Forum on Human Rights. 1979. 274 pp. Fl90.00.UN Law/Fundamental Rights: Two Topics in International Law. Edited by Antonio Cassese. Alphen aan den Rijn: Sijthoff and Noordhoff. 1979. 258 pp. Fl76.0. $38.00. Colin Warbrick Colin Warbrick 1University of Durham Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Affairs, Volume 56, Issue 1, January 1980, Pages 134–136, https://doi.org/10.2307/2615749 Published: 01 January 1980