LAW5503 Human Rights Law — Unit 1: Introduction of Human Rights

Unit 1: Introduction of Human Rights

1.1 Concept, Principles and Nature of Human Rights

Human rights are the rights every human being holds simply by being human — universal, inherent, inalienable and indivisible. The four defining qualities (the exam’s list): (1) universality — they belong to all persons everywhere; (2) inherentness — they are not granted by any state or law; (3) inalienability — they cannot be surrendered or taken (though their exercise can be limited by law in defined cases); (4) indivisibility and interdependence — civil-political and economic-social-cultural rights stand or fall together. The principles’ frame: equality and non-discrimination; participation and inclusion; accountability and the rule of law. The nature’s debates: natural right vs positive law; moral claim vs legal entitlement — the modern answer: human rights are moral claims made effective through law (the constitutions and treaties of Units 3–5).

1.2 Evolution and Development of Human Rights Law

The standard tour (the exam’s ladder):

1. The philosophical ancestors: natural law from Stoicism through Locke (natural rights: life, liberty, property) and the Enlightenment.
2. The constitutional births: the American Declaration of Independence 1776 and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen 1789.
3. The industrial-and-social layer: the nineteenth century’s labour struggles and the first social legislation.
4. The turning point: the Second World War’s atrocities → the UN Charter 1945 (human rights in the purposes) → the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 — the “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.”
5. The codification: the two Covenants of 1966 (ICCPR and ICESCR, in force 1976) and the specialised conventions (CERD 1965, CEDAW 1979, CAT 1984, CRC 1989, ICRMW 1990, CRPD 2006, CED 2006) — the nine core treaties of U3.
6. The regional and domestic multiplication: the regional systems of U4 and the constitutional bills of rights of U5.
7. The modern generations: development, environment, peace, and the new frontiers (business and human rights; digital rights; the R2P of U7).

1.3 Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights

The theories’ menu (each with one name and one line):

1. Natural rights theory — Locke’s lineage: rights precede the state; the state exists to protect them.
2. Positivism — Bentham’s scepticism: rights are what the law grants; the critique (the lawful atrocity’s lesson) and the reply (the post-1945 settlement: law anchored in higher rights).
3. Utilitarianism — the greatest happiness as the test; the tension with the individual right’s absoluteness.
4. Human dignity — Kant’s formula: every person an end, never merely a means — the dignity foundation the modern instruments proclaim (the UDHR’s opening and the Constitution’s Preamble alike).
5. Marxist and critical critiques — rights as the bourgeoisie’s ideology vs the material conditions; Baxi’s “future of human rights” and the subaltern critiques.
6. Capability approach — Sen and Nussbaum’s names: rights as the real freedoms people have reason to value — the development bridge of U2.5.
7. Cultural and religious foundations — the Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic ethics’ own dignity vocabularies (the Asian-values debate of U7.1’s seed).

Model Questions

1. Define human rights and explain their nature and principles. (10)
2. Trace the evolution of human rights law from natural law to the Covenants. (15)
3. Explain the philosophical foundations of human rights. (15)
4. Short notes: (a) UDHR; (b) Inalienability; (c) Capability approach; (d) Dignity foundation. (4×5)

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📚 Get the complete notes: Download the full Human Rights Law PDF (all units) — Law Info Nepal Original Notes Series.