Bill Of Human Rights Research Articles

Human Rights Law and Practice

The book, Human Rights Law and Practice, critically examines the evolution of contemporary human rights law and practice with special reference to India. It evaluates the ongoing discourse on various issues relating to life, liberty, equality and human dignity and their reflections in international human rights law referring the state practice through Constitutional guarantees, judicial decisions as well as through enacting appropriate legislations. The book is divided into nine Chapters. The Chapter 1 is preliminary which discusses theoretical foundations of human rights law. The Chapter 2, namely, “international bill of human rights” demonstrates various facets of civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights. While the Chapter 3 is devoted to discuss the importance of human rights law in protection against inhuman wrongs, the Chapter 4 demonstrates a large number of debates oncerning human right to development and protection of environment. The Chapter 5 explores various issues relating to human rights in Indian Constitutional law, while the Chapter 6 discusses role of human rights law in protecting women and children. The scope and ambit of the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities have been debated during last few decades. Therefore, the Chapter 7 discusses the function of human rights law for protection of indigenous peoples, whereas the Chapter 8 is devoted to discuss the contour of the human rights law that deals with minority protection. The persons with disabilities have not only been discriminated against in almost all societies throughout history but they are even excluded from the societal mainstream and denied their basic human rights. Therefore, the Chapter 9 examines the utility and justifications of human rights law in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Thus, the division of Chapters of the book is excellent as the initial Chapters have discussed mostly individual rights and rest of the Chapters have thrown light on the collective rights of women, children, minorities, indigenous “peoples” as well as the right to have good environment and balanced development.

'Doing Her Time': A Human Rights Analysis of Overcrowding in Brisbane Women's Correctional Centre

At the end of 2016, the Queensland Ombudsman released his report ‘Overcrowding at Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre’. This investigation, alongside reports from the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland and Crime and Corruption Commission Queensland reveal that, despite the best efforts of Queensland Correctives Services, there are a number of potential human rights violations that have arisen within Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre as a result of ongoing overcrowding. As of 27 February 2019, Queensland has become the third Australian state or territory to pass a human rights Act, 14 years after the Australian Capital Territory introduced the Human Rights Act 2004, and 12 years after Victoria introduced the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006. In 2019, Australia remains to be the only Western democracy that is yet to introduce a national Act or bill of human rights. This article will consider the potential violations of female prisoners’ human rights inside Queensland’s largest female correctional facility, drawing on case law from Canada, Scotland, and the ECtHR to discuss their potential for recourse under Queensland’s new Human Rights Act 2019.

Ontology and human rights

This paper examines the question of whether human rights are related to ontology. It examines perspectives on this question from human rights theories in the Western and African traditions of philosophy and defends the thesis that a good account of human rights requires an explicit ontology of the human, and that taking this seriously engenders divergent conclusions about what rights are. It then proceeds to claim that the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights adds substantive features to the International Bill of Human Rights, and that the Charter expresses Kwame Gyekye’s ontology of the human being.

The Magna Carta of Mankind: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70

This paper provides an overview of the human rights provisions of the UN Charter and the detailed catalogue of human rights proclaimed in the historic UDHR. The drafting history of UDHR reveals many compromises and agreements among participating States representing different socio-political, legal, cultural and philosophical backgrounds. The salient features of human rights have been essayed, besides providing criticisms and praises of the Declaration. It also briefly discusses the significance of two International Covenants on Human Rights – the ICESCR and the ICCPR. The UDHR and the Covenants together with their Optional Protocols are known as the “International Bill of Human Rights”, the first in human history. The Universal Declaration was viewed as the first step in the formulation of an “International Bill”. It is a baseline of all international human rights documents, as it inspired their adoption. It discusses the significance and impact of UDHR in national and international politics. It argues that now the UDHR has become customary international law, as it has been invoked by national and international courts. The state practice during the last 70 years reveals that UDHR, though a non-binding resolution of the General Assembly, has acquired moral, legal, and political status. Since UDHR is considered as an explanation and elaboration of UN Charter provisions on human rights, UN members are obliged, to comply with them.

Reflections on the Regulation of the Principle of Nondiscrimination in the Romanian Constitutions and in the International Bill of Rights – Selective Aspects

Abstract At the onset of the study it is necessary to mention that its topic will be circumscribed to "Reflections on the regulation of the principle of non-discrimination in the Romanian Constitutions and in the International Bill of Human Rights - Selective aspects". By this approach, the proposed study opens a complex and complete vision, but not exhaustive, on the "Reflections on the regulation of non-discrimination in the Romanian Constitutions and in the International Bill of Human Rights - Selective aspects”. In the analysis of the International Bill of Human Rights, we will keep a symmetrical approach to identifying regulations concerning non-discrimination. The subject of the scientific endeavour will be circumscribed to the scientific analysis of its parts, as follows: 1. Preliminary considerations. 2. Identification of constitutional rules on the principle of nondiscrimination in the Romanian Constitutions. 3. Identification of rules on the non-discrimination in the International Bill of Human Rights. 4. The highlights of Romanian doctrine on the nondiscrimination. 5. Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court regarding non-discrimination (Selective aspects) 6. Conclusions

Human rights implications of the NonRefoulement & Development

States are obliged for protection of refugees under international law on account of their membership of United Nations and signature or accession to International Refugee Instruments as well as International Human Rights Instruments. The legal basis for this international protection may either be customary international law or conventional international law. The basic customary international laws applicable to them are those pertinent fundamental human rights found in the International Bill of Human Rights. Hence, it is submitted that all states should protect the fundamental human rights of refugees under customary international law. Principle of non-refoulement is one of them. The refugee regime has generated a serious body of law that elaborates basic human rights norms and has important implications in and beyond the refugee context. There are a number of universal, regional and domestic human rights instruments and mechanisms which can be employed to enhance the protection of refugees and asylum seekers. This research aims at finding out the role of principle of non-refoulement in protecting refugees and asylum seekers under international human rights law.

Vertical inequalities: are the SDGs and human rights up to the challenges?

ABSTRACTExtreme inequalities in income, wealth and social outcomes are one of the greatest human rights challenges that we face today as they threaten individual and community health, national political and economic stability and global peace. This article considers the extent to which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted on September 25, 2016, and international human rights norms are adequate to address the challenges of these extreme inequalities. It focuses specifically on SDG 10, which aims to reduce inequalities within and among countries, and finds the targets inadequate to address many of the most pressing inequalities. It then examines international human rights law to discern whether human rights standards might inform the SDGs to alleviate some of the shortcomings of SDG 10. The article concludes that interpretations of international human rights to date also fall short in terms of addressing income, wealth and social inequalities. It therefore calls for research on the legal interpretation of the multiple equality provisions in the International Bill of Human Rights in a manner that would address the greatest human rights challenges of our time.

The international human rights covenants

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966, list the human rights to which everyone is entitled. They build on the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Together, the Universal Declaration and the two Covenants form the International Bill of Human Rights.

Revisiting the History of International Human Rights Law: Focusing on the heteronomous meaning of human rights of the non-Westerners during the Formative Years of the International Bill of Human Rights

Revisiting the History of International Human Rights Law: Focusing on the heteronomous meaning of human rights of the non-Westerners during the Formative Years of the International Bill of Human Rights

Mass Migration: An Ordeal by Fire for Universal Human Rights

The authors focus on the crisis of mass migration faced by the European Union as a lens through which to consider the universality of human rights. The authors seek to answer two questions: first, whether universal human rights are indeed “universal”; and second, whether universal human rights truly constitute “rights”. In relation to the first question, the authors reject the narrow Rawlsian conception of universal human rights, preferring an approach that says cultural values may be exported by one culture and assimilated by another, and universality may be progressively achieved. As such, the rights contained, for instance, in the International Bill of Human Rights are indeed universal. The second question presents difficulties. The authors note a conflict between Kant’s moral imperative – as reflected in international human rights instruments – and Bentham’s utilitarianism – reflected in the politics of states. Consequently, the human rights of those in the waves of mass migration run up against the politics of states, and it remains for advocates of universal human rights to see that these boundaries are broken such that universal rights truly become rights.

The Contentious History of the International Bill of Human Rights by Christopher N.J. Roberts

The Contentious History of the International Bill of Human Rights, by Christopher N.J. Roberts. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015. xiv, 237 pp. $32.99 US (paper). Historical scholarship on has been critiqued for using history to affirm the inevitable rise of rights. Human have been presented as the ultimate utopia, rather than an ideology shaped by conscious choices and historical accidents. Several recent studies have therefore highlighted the limitations of the linear and triumphalist narratives that dominate scholarship. These new histories go beyond the triumphs of to draw attention to the underlying tensions and contestations that have shaped the development of the idea. In this book, Christopher Roberts contributes to the emergent genre of contested histories by exploring the conflicts and opposition that underscored the development of the International Bill of Human Rights (IBHR) at its mid-century moment of inception. The story of contemporary rights, Roberts points out, is incomplete without these oppositional narratives because they shaped what has become in our world. Although are held to be a universal good, this book shows that there has not been universal agreement about the nature of the concept. After WWII, individuals, organized groups, nations, conservative leaders, and progressive scholars objected to the emerging idea of universal for numerous reasons. The concept of as a response to the carnage and atrocities of the war was anything but self-evident. The process of drafting a nonbinding Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and binding Covenants was defined by deep-seated disagreements. Imperial powers such as Great Britain and influential political factions in the United States resisted the inclusive discourse promised by universal because it threatened the colonial order and domestic racial hierarchies. In the US, professional organizations such as the American Bar Association, the American Anthropological Association and the American Medical Association rejected parts of the new concept. Even progressive thinkers such as Hannah Arendt and Mohandas Gandhi were skeptical of the value of a universal regime. Beyond the confines of intellectual and diplomatic debates at the United Nations, Roberts shows how opposition to universal also manifested in public discourse. Proponents and opponents of American internationalism sparred loudly in newspapers and magazines, newsreels and radio shows, and on the floor of Congress about the implications of universal for the mixing of the races, the future of colonialism, national sovereignty, and the spread of communism. Roberts cautions, however, that highlighting the opposition to universal should not be read as representing a normatively critical approach to the history of rights. Opposition directed at the UDHR or other instruments were more or less contentions of particular representations of social and political relationships rather than a rejection of human rights per se. …

Human rights in a moderate communitarian political framework

The International Bill of Human Rights (IBHR) enjoys universal acclaim as the source of the best standards and definition of human rights. This paper argues that the IBHR is inspired by liberalism and harbours ambiguities that open the door to a neoliberal seizure of the rights agenda; and that this effectively destabilises the focus on the IBHR on socio-economic and community rights, and therefore its stated ideal of the equal value of all human rights. I argue that Kwame Gyekye's moderate communitarian political philosophy affords a viable philosophical basis for justification of a more balanced conception of human rights than the theoretical basis of the IBHR does.

Rethinking Violence, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Burundi

Armed violence and genocide are among the on-going problems that are still facing contemporary Africa and the world. In the aftermath of the outrages, devastation and appalling carnage of the Second World War, member states of the United Nations (UN) undertook radical steps, inter alia, "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights". Subsequently, the International Bill of Human Rights was proclaimed in order to lay down international human rights norms and standards of conduct and to prevent the recurrence of mass killings. Although Burundi is a State Party to the UN and African Union and is a signatory to a number of international and regional human rights treaties, the post-colonial history of Burundi is an epic tale of indescribable human suffering and misery as a result of systematic mass killings. At least every family or household in Burundi has been negatively affected by the mass killings of the 1960s, 1972, 1988 and 1990s, which have created a significant number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).This article traces the root causes of Burundi's systemic armed violence and argues that despite several UN Security Council Resolutions and peace agreements aimed at national reconciliation and reconstruction, mass killings and other heinous crimes remain unaddressed. The article recommends that a comprehensive transitional justice model is required in post-conflict Burundi in order to bring about national reconciliation, healing and reconstruction.

Классификация международно-правовых норм

The authors examine key issues related to the classification of rules of international law. Great attention is paid to the scope of international law. International legal norms are analyzed in terms of scope, legal force, the nature of impact, functions in the system of international law, the source of publication. The main provisions of the jurisprudence, being the basic categories of any legal system, are called the rule of law. The legal norms are classified into types so as to determine which type is the norm. Also, the rules of law are classified in the international area. First of all, they differ in scope. There are global, universal norms, which are mandatory for all countries - members of the UN. These are generally accepted principles of international relations, the provisions of the UN Bill of human rights. Regional norms determine the relationships between countries in certain geographical boundaries, while, particular norms depend on bilateral or multilateral treaties (1). The point of view denying the existence of universal norms has become widespread in politics. However, the life itself has proved that even in conditions of cold war universal norms can be quite effective. The global system of international relations cannot function without universal international law. The international practice proceeds from the reality where universal norms exist. In some regions the interaction between the states is going significantly deep, which generates the necessity of legal regulations at a higher level up to creation of supranational regulations. The general international law cannot provide such regulations. Therefore, complexes of norms, new mechanisms of law-making, which are considerably specific, are created in the regions of integration.

To what extent is the use of human enhancements defended in international human rights legislation?

Human enhancement technologies appear to come under the protection of human rights law. This protection is afforded both explicitly and through deeper analysis of the principles espoused in documents such as the Oviedo Convention and the International Bill of Human Rights, specifically its subsidiary legislation in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. Focus lies on the rights to health and access to science. These can be described as rights of ‘enablement’, which relate to the practice of self-realisation, legislatively backed through rights to personality, personhood and self-determination. In this paper I will argue that human enhancements can act as the means by which these rights are given effect. Denied these means, one is denied the exercise of personhood. I propose, too, that the enablement provided by enhancement technology is required for true societal equality and ‘real freedom’ through provision of opportunity.

Global Order or Global Disorder

World Peace Model towards the Implementation of Plan of Dialectical Transformation of Positive Law and Legal Order as Guaranty of Spiral, Evolutionary and Endlessly Development of Humankind under the Auspice of Universal Human Rights Law through the Introduction of Comparative Legal Order Study. Substantial problem of Humankind is at the junction of Anthropology, Sociology and Jurisprudence. Based on my attempt to harmonize philosophies of Kant, Hegel and Husserl, and studies of famous legal scholars Bentham, Ostin, Holmes, Ehrlich, Kelsen, Reinach, Lauterpacht, Llevellyn, Hart, Kardozo, Rawls, David, Dworkin concerning the problems of public law, private law, international law, comparative law, justice, human rights, post-modernism, and Georgian philosophical, sociological and legal traditions since XII century, I discovered a synergetic model of dialectical, spiral, evolutionary and mutual transformation of irrationalism and rationalism as the effective method of conflicts prevention and peacefully resolution at the International, Regional, National and Local levels under the auspice of Bill of Human Rights. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n3p621

An Analysis of Home-State Obligations to International Migrants

This Report argues for greater co-ordinated action within international human rights institutions to encourage diplomatic protection as a supplementary mode of human rights implementation and enforcement. This report underlines that diplomatic protection involves more than basic consular assistance, but rather can be broadly defined as any action taken by a State in response to internationally wrongful acts against its nationals while abroad. This includes a traditional category of action – underappreciated within international human rights law – the espousal of claims, whereby a home state can take action for redress, political, administrative or legal, on behalf of its citizen. While the international bill of human rights, in protecting the individual rather than the citizen, purports to offer migrants equal rights as nationals, it is simply a reality that migrants continue to lack accessible and effective mechanism for remedying violations of their rights at international level. Diplomatic Protection represents one of the ways in which states can ensure the effective implementation of Treaty commitments they are parties to, in particular it bears upon the obligation to co-operate with other States to prevent violations and the individual’s right to an effective remedy. This Report considers whether the long established discretion of home state governments to take action can, in certain circumstances, be construed as an obligation to take action.

Islamic Law & Women Rights in Bangladesh

The concept of women rights is in fact originated from Islamic jurisprudence although there many debates and arguments on this issue. It is observed that the position of women was ignored since the pre-Islamic customs of the Arabian people in all respects. But after the revelation of the Hoy Quran, it is found that many suras such as the sura An-Nissa, Attin, Al-Mayeda etc.; cover a wide range of women rights. The Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Communism etc.; emphasizes equal rights to men and women. However, the women rights as guaranteed to the women are not implemented properly due to unconsciousness and ignorance as to the importance of the women, lack of knowledge in Islam etc.; and therefore, the scholars of the Muslim world suggested that the respective government may pass some leading laws empowering the women community such as the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961; the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, 1939; the Family Laws Ordinance, 1985 etc.; which is really significant in this regard. It is being done in the most of the Islamic countries in the world including Pakistan, India, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain etc. The authority should implement the provisions of the International Bill of Human Rights as to the women rights. In Bangladesh, there are some important laws as mentioned above. This study however, examines the potentialities and constraints of the Islamic Family Laws in Bangladesh focusing on the women rights as applied in in the country based on the primary and secondary sources consisting of 25 respondents in the different criteria such as lecturers, students, primary school teachers, common people, business people, lawyers etc.; in Sylhet.

Exploring the Textured Landscape of Water Insecurity and the Human Right to Water

he last decade has seen historic advances in the formal establishment of the human right to water and global agreements on development goals that target improved access to water and sanitation. How...

Human Rights Approach to the Protection of Traditional Knowledge: An Appraisal of Draft Nordic Saami Convention

Abstract Traditional knowledge offfers significant contribution to the intellectual creations. While authors of intellectual creations are protected within the intellectual property rights regime, the authors of traditional knowledge, however, are not. Intellectual property rights regime offfers certain exclusive rights over the innovations of private authors leaving holders of traditional knowledge aside. Given the collective nature of knowledge held traditionally by a community, and unknown in the intellectual property rights system, traditional knowledge faces complexity to be included within the existing intellectual property rights system, and hence, demands alternative protection regime. This article argues human rights approach as an alternative protection regime for the traditional knowledge – the knowledge mostly held by the indigenous communities. The article examines specific human rights provisions embodied in the international bill of human rights pertaining to both right to enjoy a culture and right to enjoy ‘moral and material’ interests arguing that traditional knowledge form a part of culture, and that such culture-oriented right generates economic interests akin to that of intellectual property right system, albeit within the framework of human rights. While the Saami are the indigenous people holding diverse traditional knowledge of great importance, the article also addresses the specific provisions of the Draft Nordic Saami Convention in order to examine how efffectively the Saami’s traditional knowledge right is protected within the regime of human rights.