FUNDAMENTAL LECTURES
Lecture 1: Fundamental rights in Europe: Development and challenges
Development: A long history
• Aristotle – equal treatment: he said treat like cases a like. There are some concepts
of HRL that were already used back then but he didn’t believe in HR as we do now.
• Magna Carta (UK, 1215): orded the king to abite by the law. monarch weren’t bound
by the law back then and this document said they actually should. The right of fair
trail and freedom of religion
29. NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or
free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass
upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land.
We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right
• Declaration of independence (USA, 1776): right to live and liberty
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
• Declaration of the Rights of Man (France, 1789): about equality but only for men.
Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only
upon the general good.
Development: Awareness turned into action
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Non-binding: just a declaration, inspiration. You can’t rely on it before a
judge. Adopted by 48 states
• Recognition of universal and indivisible character of fundamental rights
• Long list of two different rights
• Political and civil rights: right to free elections. No positive obligation
• Social and economic rights: right to work. positive obligation.
Development: International protection (UN): some background and that there are more
human rights documents
General: these rights were now included in different treaties.
- Int’l Conv. on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
- Int’l Conv. on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
Special groups
- Int’l Conv. o/t Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)
- Int’l Conv. o/t Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(1979)
- Conv. o/t Rights of the Child (1989)
- Conv. o/t Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)
Special topics
- Conv. against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (1984)
- Int’l Conv. for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
(2006)
Lecture 1: Fundamental rights in Europe: Development and challenges
Development: A long history
• Aristotle – equal treatment: he said treat like cases a like. There are some concepts
of HRL that were already used back then but he didn’t believe in HR as we do now.
• Magna Carta (UK, 1215): orded the king to abite by the law. monarch weren’t bound
by the law back then and this document said they actually should. The right of fair
trail and freedom of religion
29. NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or
free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass
upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land.
We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right
• Declaration of independence (USA, 1776): right to live and liberty
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
• Declaration of the Rights of Man (France, 1789): about equality but only for men.
Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only
upon the general good.
Development: Awareness turned into action
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Non-binding: just a declaration, inspiration. You can’t rely on it before a
judge. Adopted by 48 states
• Recognition of universal and indivisible character of fundamental rights
• Long list of two different rights
• Political and civil rights: right to free elections. No positive obligation
• Social and economic rights: right to work. positive obligation.
Development: International protection (UN): some background and that there are more
human rights documents
General: these rights were now included in different treaties.
- Int’l Conv. on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
- Int’l Conv. on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
Special groups
- Int’l Conv. o/t Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)
- Int’l Conv. o/t Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(1979)
- Conv. o/t Rights of the Child (1989)
- Conv. o/t Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)
Special topics
- Conv. against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (1984)
- Int’l Conv. for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
(2006)
