The concept of Human Rights is viewed differently by different individuals, some see it as a device to provide justice, which is moral and ethical, and others treat it with hostility and suspicion because of the overriding power it has over the other laws.
For Lawyers especially, the knowledge of Human Rights has proven to be an important one. The interpretation and application of these rights are considered an art because only these claims can stand all-conquering in a national or an international court of law.
The Evolution of Human Rights
Throughout history, individual rights were bestowed by being part of a group or association, like family, religion, class, community, caste, or nation. Religious texts like the Vedas, Bible, Quran, etc. have addressed people’s rights, duties, and general way of life. Ancient civilizations also had written and unwritten codes and constitutions which spoke about what rights a person can have and their limitations of it. Almost all the ancient civilizations before the 18th century had oral or written codes to provide justice and take care of the health and welfare of the people.
Before the existence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there were many of its precursors in the 20th century itself. Documents like the Magna Carta (1215), Bill of Rights (1689), the French Declaration on Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), and the US Constitution and Bill of Rights (1791) were written based on the jurisprudence of ‘Natural Rights’. Though these documents proved to be revolutionary at the time, most of them excluded provisions for women, people of color, people belonging to religious and cultural minorities, and the oppressed classes of the society.
The two World Wars showed the entire world that there could be a state in mankind where they may have a complete disregard for basic human needs and rights. This called for the immediate need for these Human Rights to be established and followed by every nation and its citizens.
The World Governments then committed themselves to forming an organization to keep the peace of all the countries in the world. Hence, the United Nations Organisation was established on 24 October 1945, in San Francisco, California, USA. During this, many political scholars started advocating for the need for Human Rights. Their importance was recognized and was proclaimed as the “birthright of man”.
The Three Generations Theory
One of the most dominant schools of thought in the study of Human Rights believes in the ‘Three Generations Theory’ proposed by a Czech- French jurist, Karel Vasak, in the late 1970s. He drew his inspiration from the Doctrines of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity of the French Revolution while putting together this theory.
His classification offers three notions of Human Rights, the first generation is called Liberté and consists of civil and political rights (which are negative rights), the second generation is called Égalité and is composed of social, economic, and cultural rights (positive rights), and the third generation is called Fraternité, which is the generation of solidarity or group rights. This classification mainly addresses the three dichotomies that are commonly discussed during a debate on Human Rights: positive v. negative rights, individual v. collective rights, and national v. international liabilities.
The first generation of rights is derived from the 17th- 18th-century Reformist theories, which gained popularity during the American, English, and French revolutions. It is inspired by the philosophies of Individualism and Laissez-faire. It is ‘negative’ because it expresses the rights which provide ‘freedom from’ an authority or regressive rule or policy, it favors abstention of the Government from the activities of citizens of the state. Belonging to this category of rights are the Articles 2- 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including freedom from gender, racial, and equivalent forms of discrimination; right to life, liberty, and security of a person; freedom from arbitrary detention and exile; right to a fair and public trial; freedom from interference in privacy and correspondence; freedom of movement and residence; right to asylum from persecution; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; freedom of opinion and expression; freedom of peaceful assembly and association and the right to participate in government, directly or through free elections.
The second generation is influenced by the Socialist principles, which came into existence mainly because of the exploitation of power and labor by the Capitalists. Initially, these rights came to existence as a response to the first-generation rights of individual liberty and the revolutionary struggles that took place because of the abuses of the capitalist structure which eventually normalized labor exploitation and colonialism. These rights require more intervention and affirmative action from the governing body. Some examples of these rights can be seen in Articles 22–27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such as the right to social security; the right to work and to protection against unemployment; the right to rest and leisure, including periodic holidays with pay; the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of self and family; the right to education; and the right to the protection of one’s scientific, literary, and artistic production.
The third generation is the most recent and vague one. They include collective rights of a group, like the right to self-determination, social and economic development, health requirements, natural sources, participation in cultural practices, etc. These rights were framed in the 20th century and are derived from the rethinking of the first two generations. Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that “everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized,” which is an example of the third generation. This generation seems to mainly consist of six rights, the first three advocate for Nationalism, which became popular in the mid-1900s. These rights are the right to political, economic, social, and cultural self-determination; the right to economic and social development; and the right to participate in and benefit from “the common heritage of mankind”. The remaining three rights explained the solidarity of the group, which are, the right to peace, the right to a clean and healthy environment, and the right to humanitarian disaster relief. All these rights suggest that there must be a collective effort to enforce them by the governing body and other social forces, but they do have some level of individualism in them as well. For example, to secure an “international economic order”, governmental and social forces are necessary, but at some level, even the individual will gain benefits from this policy too.
Criticisms of the Theory
The very assumption that all the rights in the first generation are considered to be ‘Negative’ and the rights in the second generation are purely ‘Positive’ is wrong. For example, rights like the right to a fair and public trial, the right to security of a person, or asylum from persecution, from the first generation, cannot be fulfilled without an affirmative action from the government, hence it makes them ‘Positive’. For example, the right to free choice of employment, the right to form and join trade unions, and the right to participate freely in the cultural life of the community (Articles 23 and 27) do not require affirmative action to ensure employment and are negative though they belong to the second generation.
There were many claims that the vaguely defined rights, especially of the third generation, cause confusion in defining international relations. The third generation confuses the fundamental principles of Human Rights protection which blends everyone into a vague political mass and brings a negative impact on the International Human Rights system.
Conclusion
Thomas Jefferson wrote in his first draft of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." According to his statement, these Human Rights are inherent and given to all people by the Creator of mankind. These rights cannot be abandoned in any circumstance and exist only for the welfare of all human beings. He calls these rights “Truths” which means that they are universal and uniform.
Human Rights reflect the minimum standards necessary for people to live with dignity. They give people the freedom to choose how to live, how to express themselves, and what kind of country they want to live in. Human Rights ensure that everyone gets to use benefits that are offered and attain their basic needs, like food, shelter, education, and medical facilities. They guarantee liberty, equality, and security to the people and make sure that no one abuses their power for personal gain or for malice.
References
United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1984, https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
Moyn, Samuel. The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History. London (England),
The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010.
Clapham, Andrew. Human Rights: A very short introduction. Oxford (England),
Oxford University Press, 2016.
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