salient feature of Human Right.
Natural law Theory (Though the expression human rights' had its origin in
international law, which is not older than the World War II, the concept of an
individual having certain basic, inalienable rights as against a sovereign
State had its origin in the doctrines of natural law and natural rights, Thomas
Hobbes (1588-1679), John Locke (1632-1704) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712-1778) are the three main thinkers who developed the Natural Rights
theory. Thomas Hobbes was the first champion of the theory of 'natural
rights'. In his celebrated book, "Leviathan' he advocated that no individual
could ever be deprived of the right to life, which he enjoyed in the state of
nature. He asserted that all human beings are equal, without any
consideration, ohn Locke developed the idea further in his book, Two
Treatises Government.' He argued that every human being has a natural
right to life. personal liberty, and property, and that no governmental
authority has power to deprive individuals of these rights because they had
enjoyed them even before the creation of the civil or political society
Rousseau is regarded as the greatest master of natural law school. In his
celebrated book, "The Social Contract', Rousseau states that All men are
born free but everywhere they are in chains." Rousseau proclaimed that men
are bestowed with ipalienable rights of liberty, equality and fraternity. These
concepts became the basis for the French Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen, Paine an American revolutionary thinker developed the
doctrine of natural rights without linking it to the social contract theory. He
held that rights are natural, because they were bestowed upon man by God
himself. These rights exist independently of the legal code of any country.
Its Development: The important landmarks in the progress of human rights
are as follows:
1 The Magna Carta, 1215. The Magna Carta, also known as the Great
Charter, of 1215 is the most significant constitutional document of all human
history. The main theme of it was protection against the arbitrary acts by the
king The 63 clauses of the Charter guaranteed basic civic and legal rights to
citizens, and protected the barons from unjust taxes, The English Church too
gained freedom from royal interferences. King John of England granted the
Magna Carta to the English barons on 15th June 1215. The king was
compelled to grant the Charter, because the barons refused to pay heavy
taxes unless the king signed the Charter
2 The English Bill of Rights, 1689. The next source and avenue of the
development of the philosophy of human rights is the English Bill of Rights,
enacted on December 16, 1689, by the British Parliament. The British
Parliament declared its supremacy over the Crown in clear terms (The
English Bill of Rights declared that the king has no overriding authority The
Bill of Rights codified the customary laws, and clarified the rights and
liberties of the citizens. It lays down the twin foundations, viz., the
supremacy of the law, and the sovereignty of the nation, upon which, the
English constitution rest.
3. American Declaration of Independence, 1776. The first colonies to revolt
against England were the thirteen States of America) These states declared
their independence) from their mother country on 4 th July 1776. The
declaration charges the king 7 with tyranny and affirms the independence of
the American colonies. The declaration of independence has great
significance in the history of mankind as it justified the right to revolt against
a government that no longer guaranteed the man’s natural and inalienable
rights)
4. The U.S. Bill of Rights, 1791. The U.S. Constitution was epacted on 17 th
September 1787. The most conspicuous defect of the original constitution
was the omission of a Bill of Rights concerning private rights and personal
liberties, Madison, therefore proposed as many as twelve amendments in the
form of Bill of Right fen of these were ratified by the State legislatures. These
ten constitutional amendments came to be known as the Bill of Rights. The
overall theme of the Bill of Rights is that the citizen be protected against the
abuse of power by the officials of the States.
5. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1789 The
fall of Bastille and the abolition of feudalism, serfdom and class privileges by
the National Assembly ushered France into a new era. On 4 th August 1789,
the National Assembly proclaimed the Rights of Man and of the Citizens. The
Rights were formulated in 17 Articles. The Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen has far reaching importance not only in the history of
France but also in the history of Europe and mankind. The declaration served
as the death warrant for the old regime and introduced a new social and
political order, founded on the noble and glittering principles. Further the
declaration served as the basis for many Constitutions, framed in different
countries, where the framers gave top priority to human rights.
6. Declaration of International Rights of Man, 1929. After World War I,
questions about human rights and fundamental freedoms began to be
raised.) In 1929, the Institute of International Law adopted the Declaration of
International rights of Man The Declaration declared that fundamental rights
of citizen, recognized and guaranteed by several domestic constitutions,
especially those of the French and the U.S.A constitutions, were in reality
meant not only for citizens of the states but for all men all over the world,
without any consideration .
7. The UN Charter, 1945. The United Nations Charter was drafted, approved
and unanimously adopted by all the delegates of the 51 states, who
attended the United Nations Conference at San Francisco) The UN Charter
contains provisions for the promotion and protection of 8 human rights) The
importance of the Charter lies in the fact that it is the first official document
in which the use of ‘human rights’ is, for the first time traceable and which
also recognized the respect for fundamental freedom.)
8. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the General Assembly of the
United Nations on 10th December, 1948. (The Declaration consists of thirty
Articles and covers civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for all
men, women and children. The declaration however is not a legally binding
document. It is’an ideal for all mankind.)
9. International Covenants on Human Rights The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, 1948 was not a legally binding document. It lacked
enforcements. This deficiency was sought to be removed by the U.N. General
Assembly by adopting in December, 1966, the two Covenants, viz
ICCPR
ICESCR
