Law

National Human Rights

National human rights refer to the fundamental rights and freedoms that are recognized and protected by the laws and institutions of a specific country. These rights encompass civil, political, economic, social, and cultural aspects, and are intended to ensure the dignity, equality, and well-being of all individuals within the nation's jurisdiction. National human rights laws are often aligned with international human rights standards and treaties.

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6 Key excerpts on "National Human Rights"

  • Book cover image for: Human Rights Brought Home
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    Human Rights Brought Home

    Socio-Legal Perspectives of Human Rights in the National Context

    • Simon Halliday, Patrick Schmidt, Simon Halliday, Patrick Schmidt(Authors)
    • 2004(Publication Date)
    • Hart Publishing
      (Publisher)
    Not least of them is the problem of origins and definition: where do these rights come from and how are they defined? As rights, human rights may seem univer-sal in character but they are also subjected to interpretation and adaptation in national contexts. In single domestic contexts observers may be comfort-able with limiting assumptions made about the scope of human rights — such as whether they include economic and social rights in addition to civil and political rights — but taken internationally there are serious challenges made to the authority of human rights as norms for governance. In an important move, the authors recognise the dependence of the international on the national context. Thus, they map out the course of human rights from international treaties to constitutionalism and, ultimately, consider the significance of administrative processes to the protection of human rights. This tour emphasises the wide scope and breadth of the problem fac-ing human rights implementation, for we are reminded that human rights must pass from a contested international order through layers of gover-nance and layers of norms. Yet, while reminding us of the idiosyncratic nature of human rights, Galligan and Sandler frame the chapters to follow by directing us to seek out the patterns and variables affecting the regula-tory effectiveness of human rights norms. The remaining chapters present new empirical data to explore the subject of human rights in the domestic context. The first of these chapters examines the historical development of human rights law. Mikael Rask Madsen offers a richly textured account of the emergence of the field of human rights in the second half of the twentieth century.
  • Book cover image for: Morality Matters
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    3 Human rights The Political Context Views about natural law have become closely connected with talk of ‘natural rights’, which was given great impetus by the English philosopher of the seventeenth century, John Locke. He in turn is often credited with having provided the philosophical basis for the American Declaration of Independ-ence. Such talk gets its cogency from the implication that ‘rights’ are deeply ingrained in the nature of things. Above all, of course, they are then linked to our own nature as human beings. Yet this is not just of historical interest, since appeals to rights form a large part of contemporary moral language. ‘Human rights’ are the currency of much contemporary moral discourse, and form a potent weapon in international relations. People get particularly indignant when they feel their rights have not been met. Moral campaigns are often couched in the language of human rights. At a time when natural law itself is often neglected, this may seem curious. Yet in politics the language of rights, both within nations and in relations between them, has its effect. It can empower victims, and give them an opportunity to appeal to standards beyond their own social context. What precisely is being appealed to? What are human rights, and how can they be enforced? What are they grounded in (if anything) and how can we tell the difference between a legitimate and a spurious right? ‘Rights’ are often appealed to in a vague way. Increasingly the laws of various countries are required to take notice of human rights, and there is a major question of interpretation. Often the rights are underspecified. The United States has always allowed judges to veto legislation on the ground that it trans-gresses basic constitutional rights. In the United Kingdom the doctrine was always that Parliament was sovereign, but in recent years judicial review of legislation has become increasingly common.
  • Book cover image for: Crime, Justice and Human Rights
    • Leanne Weber, Elaine Fishwick, Marinella Marmo(Authors)
    • 2017(Publication Date)
    • Red Globe Press
      (Publisher)
    Far from bypassing state sovereignty according to Arendt’s vision, this framework operates within a system of independent sovereign nations, creating an ongo-ing tension between individual and group rights and the rights of states. Chapter 2 provides a basic overview of the current system of interNational Human Rights law. Additional readings and materials Universal Declaration of Human Rights Available at: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b1udhr.htm. The Origins and Idea of Human Rights 17 Constitution of the United States of America Available at: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Available at: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b2esc.htm. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Available at: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b3ccpr.htm. Cushman, T. (2012) Handbook of Human Rights , Abingdon: Routledge. Dembour, M. (2006), Who Believes in Human Rights? Reflections on the European Convention , Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Donnelly, J. (2002) Universal Rights in Theory and Practice , Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Douzinas, C. (2000) The End of Human Rights: Critical Legal Thought at the Turn of the Century , Oxford: Hart Publishing. Kalin, W. (2013) ‘ Late modernity: human rights under pressure? ’ Punishment and Society 15(4): 397—411. Locke, J., The Second Treatise of Government (first published 1689). Available as a free download from Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/ 7370. Neier, A. (2012) The InterNational Human Rights Movement: A History , Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Nickel, J.W. (1987) Making Sense of Human Rights: Philosophical Reflections on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Osiatynski, W. (2009) Human Rights and Their Limits , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Court case cited Muir v The Queen [2004] HCA 21 (Australia).
  • Book cover image for: The Development of Human Rights Law by the Judges of the International Court of Justice
    This relationship is not diffi-cult to discover between the human right(s) of a person, or a group of persons, and the State, or any governing entity. Sometimes the term right is used to indicate an immunity from having a legal status altered. Sometimes it also indicates a privilege to do something. And also sometimes right refers to a power to create a legal rela-tionship. According to Shestack: Sometimes scholars classify civil and political rights as types of immunities since they protect against encroachments of govern-ment. They are restraints on government in the nature of a command: ‘Thou shall not’. Generally, such negative restraints can be secured by fairly simple legislation. Economic, social, and cultural rights, on the other hand, are ‘rights’ in which affirmative action by the government is necessary. Therefore, they are viewed as claims upon the governments which may or may not be realized depending on such matters as availability of resources and other conditions. Relationship between Human Rights and International Law 59 74 Encyclopedia of International Law , vol 2, p 886. Article 29, paragraph 1, of the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates: ‘Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible’. Hence, according to Morsink, human rights in ‘Article 29 . . . admits that rights are balanced by and are correlative with duties. Thus, human rights even when conceived of as natural rights, are not unlimited’. 75 Since there cannot be a right without a remedy, Hohfeld’s theory of jural rela-tions has certainly something to offer to the law of human rights in its various forms and norms. Judge Higgins’ theory of integrity and dignity of human being at once elevates individual human being to the status of an equal partner, along with the State, in international law.
  • Book cover image for: Introduction To Governance NQF2 SB
    • M van Heerden, LC van Jaarsveldt A Inghels(Authors)
    • 2017(Publication Date)
    • Macmillan
      (Publisher)
    violate: fail to comply with (a law, a rule or formal agreement) commission: deliberate action; an instruction or command given to a person or group omission: failure to do something; a failure to fulfil a moral or legal duty New words 54 Module 4 Unit 4.1: Explain the terms ‘human rights’ and ‘fundamental freedoms’ Human rights are the basic rights to which we are entitled as human beings. They guarantee us a meaningful and decent life. You may already be wondering what exactly is intended by describing a right as fundamental and in what circumstances such a description is justified. In many ways, the words ‘rights’ and ‘freedoms’ mean similar things. The word ‘fundamental’ means at the most basic level, or at the heart of the subject. We often see newspaper reports about fundamental religions, and these are simply religions that have gone back to the origins – or very basic levels – of their beliefs. Fundamental rights are those that are at the heart of people living and working together, such as: l Treating each other with dignity. l Equal access to all opportunities. l Freedom to live peacefully within the law. My fundamental rights to work and live where I want are protected by the Bill of Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Freedom Charter The fundamental human rights we now enjoy in South Africa are formally stated in Chapter 2 of our Constitution and are known as the Bill of Rights. These rights are based on the rights expressed by the UN in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by the South African Congress Alliance in the Freedom Charter. The history and basis of these two documents were discussed in Module 2. We will now look more closely at some of the points in these documents as well as the corresponding rights in the Bill of Rights. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (extracts) l Article 1 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
  • Book cover image for: Limiting Government
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    Limiting Government

    An Introduction to Constitutionalism

    Even the Human Rights Court in Stras-bourg, which is the most advanced supranational enforcer of human rights, cannot but be influenced by the developments and commonly accepted standards in the ... policy of the member States of the Council of Europe. 9 At this stage an attractive dream popular with international lawyers has to be mentioned, namely, the idea that binding human rights exist in international documents or are recognized by international law. No doubt these obscure and unenforceable international documents carry some weight because constitutions-especially as the role of real partici-8 Canada supplemented its constitution with fundamental rights only in 1967 and 1982. ln Britain, from time to time, the need for a bill of rights arises, which would be given increased protection against the legislature; however, the time was not yet right as of 1998. Certain patterns of historical development resu!t in a strong consensus among the political elite regarding fundamental rights, or the legal, social-contro l mechanisms (beliefs or traditions) facilitating the enforcement of these rights seem so strong that the constitutions need not concern themselves with fundamental rights. This may change, however. No fundamental rights can be found in the Australian Consti tu tion, but to everyone's surprise, in 1992 the Supreme Court declared that it went without saying that Australia as a representative democracy safe gu arded free speech. Likewise, the text of the French Constitution of 1958 is silent on fundamental (civil) rights. ln 1971, the Constitutional Council incorporated these rights into the Constitution by declaring that the provisions of the 1789 Declaration and the Preamble of the Consti tu tion of 1946 were applicable consti tutional texts. 9 Tyrer v. U.K ., Ser. A 26 (1978), par. 31. 2S4 Fundamental Rights patory confirmation is so small-use for their own legitimation the fact that they incorporate rights that are deemed recognized international ly .
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