The concept of Human Rights and Fundamental Human rights is all about and the development of the subject matter over the ages in the field of International Law.
This article introduces us into the field of study in international law and as well as in the analysis of the various applications of the Laws within the domestic arena.
In this article, you should
be able to identify the subject matter of Human Rights in International Law,
identify the various international instruments that made provisions for the
enjoyment of Human Rights no matter, the colour, ethnicity, or religion and differentiate
between the laws that have been incorporated into the National Law and
enforceable within domestic jurisdiction.
History of International
Covenants and Conventions on Human Rights
The United Nation Charter
Marks a significant step forward in the development of international law. In a
sense, it is both a continuum and a new chapter in world history.
It does not pretend to
usher in a golden age, but it opens up fresh vistas, and new horizons in
international law.
One of the most notable
initiatives taken by the organization in the period was the preparation and
adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 proclaiming a
number of fundamental rights and freedoms of mainly a political nature.
Civil and political rights
constitute a component of human rights in general.
Human rights are natural,
divine, fundamental and inalienable right which attach to all human beings by
virtue of their common humanity.
The prevailing
“Universalist” doctrine of human rights, embraces the fact that all societies
have a coherent notion of human rights.
However because each
society has its own particularities, divergences do exist in the articulation
of human rights, and it is the duty of an increasing globalized world to find
or create minimum standards below which no nation should fall.
It is usual to trace the
modern concept of human rights to the Greek period- Socrates, Plato and
Aristotle being the significant protagonists of human rights in their age.
The contribution of the
Catholic theoreticians notably St. Augustine in the 5th Century A.D. and Thomas
Aguinas in the 13th century is also often mentioned.
The Renaissance period was
another Mile Stone, featuring the writings of Thomas Hobbes Jeremy, Benthant,
Cessare Beccaria, John Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, et al.
Then came the period of the
major human rights documents – the Magna Cartha (1215) the English Bill of
Rights (1689); the American Declaration of Independence (1788/89); and the
French Declaration of the Rights of man and the citizen (1791).
Every Modern Political
State has subsequently included some form of guarantee of human rights in its
constitution.
Important as these human rights document were, they were only of domestic application and merely presaged a trend of international documentation of human rights ideas.
The
Slavery Convention (1926), the United Nation Charter (1948), the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948, the International Conventions of Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
rights, both of 1966 are examples of the major international human rights
instruments.
They were supplemented by
various specialized treaties such as convention on Elimination of All forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) 1979; the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1986);
the Torture Convention, (1984), the Genocide Convention (1948) and the Refugee
Convention (1951).
Other sources of
international human right law include the governing instruments of various
specialized agencies of the United Nation like the International Labour Organization
(ILO); United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
etc.
Human rights have become so
pervasive in international Law that regional mechanisms have also been created
for their enforcement.
These include the European
Convention on Human Rights (1969), the African Charter on Human and Peoples
Right (1981), and the Arab Charter on Human Rights (in draft).
The Concept of Civil and Political Rights
In the hierarchy of human
rights, civil and political rights have taken primacy being usually referred to
as the “first generation rights”. Social, Economic and cultural Rights
constitute the second, the Right to development, the third.
The Right to a Sustainable
Environment and the Right to Democracy and Good Governance are being touted as
the fourth and fifth generation rights respectively.
The dichotomization of
human rights in the post 1945 Era can be traced to the ideological warfare
between the East and the West.
The Universal Declaration
of Human Rights of 1948 (UDHR) contains provisions for both civil and political
rights and economic and social rights, but the western European countries in
the United Nation lobbied for a separation:
• Purely “legal” rights
which are enforceable.
• “Programme” or manifesto
rights (i.e. economic and social rights), which were considered unenforceable,
depending on the relative capability of government to support its realization.
Also read: Fundamental Human Rights: Section 37, 38, 42 and 43 of the 1999 Constitution
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Many African Countries,
presumably on grounds of financial incapacity, relegate economic and social
rights to the level of “fundamental objective of State” separate from civil and
political rights, which are regarded as core rights. The future of human rights
jurisprudence is to increasingly forge a unity of these rights, one inseparable
from the other.
Happily, this trend is
championed by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right, which has
departed from the norm by uniting civil and political rights, with the social
economic and cultural rights in its provision.
Also read: Right to Life: Nigeria Abortion Law
Conclusion on Comparative Analysis of Human and Civil Liberties under Nigeria Law and International Instruments
In this article, we have
attempted to examine the provisions in many international instruments bordering
on human rights. The relationship between socio-economic rights and civil and
political rights was also examined and explained.
As can be seen from the
above outline, no satisfactory explanation of the different categories of
rights in different countries without looking at the legal framework on
individual countries.
All the Rights whether
fundamental or net have largely derived their existence from the legal and
constitutional framework of the system.
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