THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AS A CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENT
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is not a treaty. However, it reflects the tendency of treaty making after the end of World War II. The very name emphasizes that this Declaration aimed at setting a common standard of rights for all people universally, irrespective of gender, race, ideology, social, or economic status.
It constituted a new moment in the history of humanity. “In substance as well as in form, it is a declaration of interdependence—interdependence of people, nations, and rights” (Glendon, 2001, p. 174) and by no means has it introduced enforceable legal obligations. Quite the contrary, the implementation of the UDHR is completely left at the discretion of individual states. The document would affect millions of lives around the globe, especially those previously struggling for freedom. It must be noted, also, that it is composed of almost all the traditional civil and political rights proclaimed in the major legal systems and constitutions of the world. The structure of the Declaration is as follows:A. Preamble and Articles 1 and 2: It sets the purposes and the principles of the document. Dignity, liberty, equality, and brotherhood constitute the four pillars on which to “establish” the significance of human rights. Right in the beginning of the preamble it is stated “... recognition of the inherent dignity and of equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” and this is regarded as the “foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.”
Article 1 reflects the inspirational and universal nature of the project: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” The reason for including it in the main text is to state firmly the basis of all human rights, the rationality of human persons, and their obligation to deal fairly with everyone else, regardless of race, gender, and so on.
B. Articles 3—11: rights that the individual is entitled to per se (Article 3, right to life; Articles 4-5: bans on slavery and torture; Articles 6-7: rights to legal recognition and equality before the law; Article 8: right to remedial action in case of violation of rights; Article 9: freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile; Article 10: right to just criminal procedures; Article 11: recognition of fundamental principles of penal law (presumption of innocence and nonretroactivity of criminal laws).
C. Articles 12-17: rights and freedoms of the individual (Article 12: freedom of arbitrary interference with one’s “privacy, family, home or correspondence” as well as “attacks upon its honour and reputation”; Article 13: freedom of movement; Article 14: right to seek and be granted political asylum; Article 15: right to a nationality; Article 16: rights to marriage and family; Article 17: right to own property).
D. Articles 18-21: religious, public, and political liberties (Article 18: freedom of religion, conscience, and thought; Article 19: freedom of opinion and expression; Article 20: freedom of assembly and association; Article 21: rights to political and civil participation).
E. Articles 22-27: economic, social, and cultural rights (Article 22: right to social security and to free development of one’s personality; Articles 23-24: rights to work and rights pertaining to just work conditions, for example, equal pay for equal work, protection against unemployment, trade unions formation, rights to rest, leisure and holidays; Article 25: right to standard of adequate living for oneself and one’s family and special protection of motherhood and childhood; Article 26: rights pertaining to education and its paraphernalia, for example, “elementary education shall be compulsory,” “education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality”; Article 27: right to full participation in the cultural life of the community, as well as rights protecting the intellectual “products” of the individual).
It should be noted that the set of Articles 22-27 is quite different in concept from the rest of the units. The differentiation is focused on the fact that that Articles 22 through 27 refer to what ought to be done for people (positive sense), whereas Articles 3 through 21 mainly refer to what must not be done to people (Glendon, 2001, p. 187).F. Articles 28-30: individual, civil society, and the state—in lieu of a conclusion (Article 28: entitlement to a social and international order for the full realization of the rights and freedoms of the individual; Article 29: duties to the community to which the individual belongs and legitimate limitations of rights so as to attain mutual respect and well-being in any given society; Article 30: prohibition of any misinterpretation of the document). The last part of the UDHR sets the scene in which the respect and actual enjoyment of rights and freedoms proclaimed in the document can be materialized. Examining the UDHR after more than half a century, the only significant lack is in the area of the environment. Nonetheless, it can be argued that this is implied from rights such as the right to life and to an adequate standard of living.5