Declaration on human rights (UDHR)
Product from the General assembly. States the standards of human rights.
General Assembly: 1 of the 6 principal organs of the UN (art. 7 UN Charter) (all members from UN
are part of it, 193). Anything that the assembly produces is non-binding, but more guidelines.
Security council: organ from the UN (5 permanent members and 10 rosulating members). Has
binding instruments.
The general assembly managed to create a common standard on Human Rights. regarding if a state
signed and ratified the treaties they still have to uphold on this standard. The UDHR can be seen as
customary law.
Different kind of rights
The rights stated in treaties and conventions can be sometimes discussed in certain situations, but
not always.
Non-degorable absolute human rights: rights that can NEVER be taken away from a person. Example:
- ‘’the Right of life’’ (Usually can be found at article 1/2 of every convention).
- Freedom from torture.
Degorable rights: rights that can be taken away in certain circumstances.
- Right to liberty (will be taken away when being imprisoned).
(if a state takes someone human rights, its called derogation)
Human rights generations
Categorise human rights in different areas.
First generation: dealing with liberty and participating in political life. (all rights can be found in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Second generation: dealing with equality in life. (all rights can be found in the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Third generation: rights that try to go beyond the legal framework of individual rights. So
peoples/collectives/groups rights.
The first and second generation human rights have binding treaties, the third does not.
State Obligations (Art. 1 ICCPR / ICESCR))
If a state signs and ratifies a treaty they are bound by it. The moment they breach this, there will be
some sort of punishment.
Even when there is something not in the treaty a state has a moral obligation to protect human
rights. That means that even if they have not signed and ratified a certain treaty a state can still be
held responsible.
, Treaties
Formal legally binding written agreement between actors in international law.
Article 38 (1) ICJ Statute: important for human rights because ‘’treaties’’ are there most important
source.
Treaty bodies
Every convention has a committee or council. They come together to make decisions about the
convention, because: when a human right is outdated they can make a general comment. This
means that they give their interpretation of that particular human right to clarify the reporting
duties of the member states.
All treaty bodies have their own article in the treaty:
Human Rights Committee (HRC) = ICCPR: art. 28
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) = ICESCR: art. 16
Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) = CRC: art. 43
Committee Against Torture (CAT) = CAT: art. 17
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) = CEDAW: art. 17
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) = ICERD: art. 8
Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) = CRMW: art. 72
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) = CRPD: art. 34
Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) = ICPPEDD: art. 26
Human Rights characteristics (Vienna convention 1993)
Universality:
Every human has human rights “everyone’’. (art.1 UDHR)
Interdependent:
If 1 human right is violated the chances are big that another will be violated too. (art.6/7 ICESCR).
Art.6 is the right to work. Art.7 favourable conditions when working. If you have a job where you
work in dangerous conditions your right to work is also in danger, so that interdependence.
Interrelated:
One human right is based on another right. If you develop the right of work you must also have the
right to favourable conditions and the right to have a minimum wage.
Indivisible:
All human rights have equal status, there is no hierarchy, they are all equally important.
(General Assembly (GA) actually mentioned these 4 characteristics in the GA resolution. They stated
that the ICCPR and the ICESCR are very important for human rights.
Product from the General assembly. States the standards of human rights.
General Assembly: 1 of the 6 principal organs of the UN (art. 7 UN Charter) (all members from UN
are part of it, 193). Anything that the assembly produces is non-binding, but more guidelines.
Security council: organ from the UN (5 permanent members and 10 rosulating members). Has
binding instruments.
The general assembly managed to create a common standard on Human Rights. regarding if a state
signed and ratified the treaties they still have to uphold on this standard. The UDHR can be seen as
customary law.
Different kind of rights
The rights stated in treaties and conventions can be sometimes discussed in certain situations, but
not always.
Non-degorable absolute human rights: rights that can NEVER be taken away from a person. Example:
- ‘’the Right of life’’ (Usually can be found at article 1/2 of every convention).
- Freedom from torture.
Degorable rights: rights that can be taken away in certain circumstances.
- Right to liberty (will be taken away when being imprisoned).
(if a state takes someone human rights, its called derogation)
Human rights generations
Categorise human rights in different areas.
First generation: dealing with liberty and participating in political life. (all rights can be found in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Second generation: dealing with equality in life. (all rights can be found in the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Third generation: rights that try to go beyond the legal framework of individual rights. So
peoples/collectives/groups rights.
The first and second generation human rights have binding treaties, the third does not.
State Obligations (Art. 1 ICCPR / ICESCR))
If a state signs and ratifies a treaty they are bound by it. The moment they breach this, there will be
some sort of punishment.
Even when there is something not in the treaty a state has a moral obligation to protect human
rights. That means that even if they have not signed and ratified a certain treaty a state can still be
held responsible.
, Treaties
Formal legally binding written agreement between actors in international law.
Article 38 (1) ICJ Statute: important for human rights because ‘’treaties’’ are there most important
source.
Treaty bodies
Every convention has a committee or council. They come together to make decisions about the
convention, because: when a human right is outdated they can make a general comment. This
means that they give their interpretation of that particular human right to clarify the reporting
duties of the member states.
All treaty bodies have their own article in the treaty:
Human Rights Committee (HRC) = ICCPR: art. 28
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) = ICESCR: art. 16
Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) = CRC: art. 43
Committee Against Torture (CAT) = CAT: art. 17
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) = CEDAW: art. 17
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) = ICERD: art. 8
Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) = CRMW: art. 72
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) = CRPD: art. 34
Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) = ICPPEDD: art. 26
Human Rights characteristics (Vienna convention 1993)
Universality:
Every human has human rights “everyone’’. (art.1 UDHR)
Interdependent:
If 1 human right is violated the chances are big that another will be violated too. (art.6/7 ICESCR).
Art.6 is the right to work. Art.7 favourable conditions when working. If you have a job where you
work in dangerous conditions your right to work is also in danger, so that interdependence.
Interrelated:
One human right is based on another right. If you develop the right of work you must also have the
right to favourable conditions and the right to have a minimum wage.
Indivisible:
All human rights have equal status, there is no hierarchy, they are all equally important.
(General Assembly (GA) actually mentioned these 4 characteristics in the GA resolution. They stated
that the ICCPR and the ICESCR are very important for human rights.
