Unit 1 of Human Rights Law (syllabus: 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). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- What is the legal status of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
- What do Articles 55 and 56 of the Charter of the United Nations require?
- Which Charter article created the human rights machinery, and what were its powers?
- What are the three generations of human rights, and what is the criticism of the division?
- How are human rights limited under the international instruments?
- On what theories do human rights rest, and what are the criticisms?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, s. Preamble and Arts. 1 to 30
- Charter of the United Nations 1945, s. Arts. 55 and 56
- Charter of the United Nations 1945, s. Art. 68
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, with the two Covenants of 1966, s. UDHR Arts. 3 and 22 as the two cornerstones; ICCPR and ICESCR
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, s. Arts. 29 and 30, with Art. 5 of both Covenants of 1966
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, s. Art. 1
Leading cases
- Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala
- Charter of the United Nations 1945
- Karel Vasak's classification
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948
- The theoretical accounts of human rights as moral rights
Full case summaries
- Francis Coralie Mullin v The Administrator, Union Territory of Delhi (1981)
- Prem Shankar Shukla v Delhi Administration (1980)
- Chameli Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh (1995)
- Chairman, Railway Board v Chandrima Das (2000)