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Theory paper

Human Rights Law

Examined on Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, Protection of Human Rights Act 1993, Constitution of India. A General Assembly resolution proclaimed on 10 December 1948 as a common standard of achievement; not binding as such, but much of it now customary.

This page is the map of the paper: every syllabus unit, the leading cases with full summaries, and the exam questions the paper actually sets.

Units

  1. Unit 1 · History and Philosophy of Human Rights — Module I — concept, evolution, characteristics, need and limitations; theories of natural rights, utilitarianism, idealism, socialism and positivism; human rights in the Indian tradition; the three generations; universality; the Western tradition and the eighteenth-century declarations; the UN human rights system and the UDHR
  2. Unit 2 · International Conventions and Protocols — Module II — the ICCPR and its First and Second Optional Protocols; the ICESCR; the role of the ILO, UNESCO, UNICEF and the WHO; the Sustainable Development Goals, the right to environment, and the role of NGOs
  3. Unit 3 · Human Rights, the Indian Constitution and the Commissions — Module III — fundamental rights, directive principles and fundamental duties; the relationship between rights and duties; the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993; the National Commissions for Women, Minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; the role of the judiciary
  4. Unit 4 · Vulnerable Groups and Regional Arrangements — Module IV — CEDAW 1979, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; LGBT persons, refugees and aliens; and the European, American and African regional arrangements

Leading cases in this paper

Exam questions

Where it sits

Statutes