Showing papers on "Fundamental rights published in 1997"

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with Regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine

Abstract: I. This Explanatory Report to the Convention on human rights and biomedicine was drawn up under the responsibility of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, on the basis of a draft prepared, at the request of the Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI), by Mr Jean MICHAUD (France), Chairman of the CDBI. It takes into account the discussions held in the CDBI and its Working Group entrusted with the drafting of the Convention; it also takes into account the remarks and proposals made by Delegations.

Human rights and Asian values

Abstract: The thesis that Asian values are less supportive of freedom and more concerned with order than discipline than are Western values and that the claims of human rights in the areas of political and civil liberties are therefore less relevant in Asia than West.

Human rights approaches to environmental protection

Abstract: This collection of essays explores links between the environment and human rights, and responds to the growing debate among activists, lawyers, academics and policy-makers on the legal status of environmental rights in both international and domestic law. The essays contribute to the existing literature and offer a sustained analysis which addresses both the conceptual and practical problems of environmental rights.

The Idea of Natural Rights: Studies on Natural Rights, Natural Law and Church Law 1150-1625

Abstract: "...a compelling historical account of natural rights...That Tierney brings to his historical task a thorough acquaintance with major contemporary theories of moral and legal rights gives his work additional value for ethicists." - Religious Studies Review "...a tour de force of integration and learning...It is a synthesis that will become the required starting point in all future efforts to write about the history of rights." - Studia canonica

The Political Institution of Private Property

Abstract: List of figures and tables Preface and acknowledgements Introduction 1 Classical theories of the origin of rights: the social contract 2 Neo-classical theories of the origin of property rights: non-strategic individuals in a world without politics 3 A game theoretic approach: contemporary theory of institutions 4 A neo-liberal theory of the state: the role of government in the evolution of property rights 5 A neo-liberal theory of the social contract: the role of autonomous individuals in the evolution of property rights 6 Political entrepreneurs: the linkage between autonomous individuals and central agents 7 A case study: the grant of private property rights in air slots Conclusion: the political origin of human rights References Index

Universal human rights: A critique

Abstract: (1997) Universal human rights: A critique The International Journal of Human Rights: Vol 1, No 2, pp 41-65

Human rights education for the twenty-first century

Abstract: Human Rights Education for the Twenty-First Century is a comprehensive resource for training, education, and raising awareness in a wide variety of settings, both formal and informal. A diverse group of contributors--experienced activists, education experts, and representatives of several international governmental organizations--provides a rich potpourri of ideas and real-world approaches to initiating, planning, and implementing programs for teaching people about their human rights and fundamental freedoms. This volume has been developed for a global audience of educators, scholars in many disciplines, nongovernmental organizations, and foundation officers.

The Normative and Institutional Evolution of International Human Rights

Abstract: This article analyzes the different stages in which contemporary international human rights law has evolved.' The starting point of this analysis is the Charter of the United Nations (Charter), which laid the foundation of modern international human rights law.2 While it is true that international law recognized some forms of international human rights protection prior to the entry into force of the UN Charter, "the internationalization of human rights and the humanization of international law"3 begins with the establishment of the United Nations.4 The Charter ushered in a worldwide movement in which states, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental organiza-

Language policies and language rights

Abstract: This review is an overview of the newly developing field of language rights. It distinguishes between (a) historical/descriptive studies where language rights are treated as the resultant variable with no attempt to predict consequences, and (b) exhortatory and ideologically based studies in which language rights are considered a causal variable. An attempt at definitions follows, set within the field of language planning. Principal concerns, such as territoriality versus personality principles and individual versus collective rights, are discussed. The review ends with an argument to consider language rights as emic rights, which is to say culture-language-context–specific rights, rather than to consider linguistic human rights from a universal rights perspective which overstates issues and masks rights to as also being rights against. We need a careful exploration of the nature of language rights and their consequences.

Human Rights, Human Difference: Anthropology's Contribution to an Emancipatory Cultural Politics

Abstract: The concept of universal cultural features or principles is not in itself incompatible with some forms of cultural relativism, but the idea of universal human rights poses special problems. "Rights," in the specific sense, cannot be universal attributes of "humanity," as anthropologically conceived, but general principles of right or justice may be so. Anthropology may be able to provide knowledge of universal attributes of humanity with ethical or moral implications that can help to define such concepts. More specifically, anthropological activism in defense of human difference provides an important lead for the formulation of a universal right to difference. This argument converges with a historical analysis of the social and historical origins of the concept of human rights and the ways the concept has become transformed and reoriented in the context of the contemporary crisis of the state and the rise of ethnic and identity politics. In this historical conjuncture, the criterion of difference has emer...

Authors' and Artists' Moral Rights: A Comparative Legal and Economic Analysis

Abstract: In recent years the United States has followed other common‐law jurisdictions, as well as most of the civil‐law jurisdictions of western Europe, in adopting legislation recognizing artists' “moral rights.” While there has been extensive debate about that legislation, to date there has been little effort at sustained analysis, from an economic point of view, of the functions that moral rights might perform. This article offers such an analysis, arguing that moral rights doctrine serves, among other purposes, to control reputational externalities to the potential benefit, not just of the individual artist, but of other owners of the artist's work and of the public at large. The article also discusses the importance of copyright doctrine in performing a similar role and explores the merits of supplementing or replacing moral rights doctrine with a broader and more flexible system of display rights for visual artists.

The South African Bill of Rights

Abstract: JUSTICE RICHARD J. GOLDSTONE^ I. INTRODUCTION The question posed in Professor Wright's article1 is whether a Bill of Rights matters. His conclusion is that it does matter and that "anything that promotes moderation, liberty, and equal justice under law is highly desirable."2 A Bill of Rights certainly mattered in South Africa. In a unanimous opinion, the recently established Constitutional Court of South Africa, quoting from the preamble of the 1993 transitional Constitution,3 described South Africa's past as that of "a deeply divided society characterized by strife, conflict, untold suffering and injustice" which "generated gross violations of human rights, the transgression of humanitarian principles in violent conflicts and a legacy of hatred, fear, guilt and revenge."4 A Bill of Rights was one of the essential tools without which the relatively peaceful transition from this history of racial oppression and apartheid to a nonracial democracy would not have been possible. Without some guarantee of protection for the rights of minorities, the previous ruling white minority government would not have relinquished power to an inevitably black-controlled majority government. It was in that context that an extraordinary constitution-making process was established. This process gave birth to the South African Bill of Rights. The decision to incorporate a "full" Bill of Rights in the Constitution was not a difficult one for the African National Congress who, as long ago as 1955, adopted the Freedom Charter, which embodied the principle elements of a Bill of Rights. It was a different matter for the ruling National Party, which as recently as 1983, dismissed proposals for a Bill of Rights to be incorporated in the new Constitution of that year. However, after the banning of the African National Congress and other liberation organizations dramatically ceased in February 1990 and after the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, all of the major political parties, who joined to fashion a new constitution, agreed that any new constitution should contain such a Bill of Rights.5 II. THE CONSTITUTION-MAKING PROCESS I will only deal briefly with the difficult and lengthy negotiations conducted between the major political parties between 1990 and 1994 that led to the 1993 transitional Constitution and eventually to the 1996 Constitution.6 At the beginning of the process, the then minority, white-controlled government had control over all three organs of government, the civil service, and the security forces. More importantly, it had control over the financial and other resources of the state. Its desire and intent was to control the transition and to retain at least a veto power over the constitution-making process and, further, to maintain control over legislative and executive power for a substantial time in the future. This was quite unacceptable to those parties who represented the disenfranchised majority.7 They insisted upon a democratically elected Constitutional Assembly to draft the Constitution. In short, those parties representing the majority were not prepared to have a democratically elected government hamstrung by minority interests, nor to have an unelected government rule by decree. They demanded that not only the form of apartheid, but also its substance, be dismantled. It took almost two years before sufficient consensus was reached to enable formal negotiations to begin. A forum known as the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA),8 consisting of most of the political parties and other interest groups, was constituted to carry out these negotiations. Any political party or grouping which could establish that it had substantial support was invited to join CODESA. CODESA established working groups to consider and advise on many issues that needed to be resolved.9 Each party to the negotiations was represented by two delegates and two advisors in each working group. …

Human Rights and Language Policy in Education

Abstract: Many people have struggled throughout history to get language rights for themselves (and others) Language rights have been discussed and written about for quite some time, before and, especially, during the era of the League of Nations, and often by lawyers writing constitutions Human rights is a much more thoroughly studied and clarified but still contested concept which has been at the centre of a whole field of study and politics, but, so far, by very few language experts

Ending the Marginalization: Strategies for Incorporating Women into the United Nations Human Rights System

Abstract: Womens rights are human rights. The failure of the United Nations human rights system to address adequately the concerns of women became a rallying point at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna Conference). For the first time ever the international community openly acknowledged that the body of international laws and mechanisms established to promote and protect human rights had not properly taken into account the concerns of over half the worlds population. In the final document of the Vienna Conference states formally recognized the human rights of women to be "an inalienable integral and indivisible part of universal human rights." They further demanded that "the equal status of women and the human rights of women . . . be integrated into the mainstream of United Nations system-wide activity" and "form an integral part of the United Nations human rights activities." These calls were repeated in stronger terms and in greater detail some two years later at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing Conference). (excerpt)

Reinventing international law: Women's rights as human rights in the international community †

Abstract: (1997). Reinventing international law: Women's rights as human rights in the international community. Commonwealth Law Bulletin: Vol. 23, No. 3-4, pp. 1249-1262.

The struggle for human rights in Latin America

Abstract: Preface Beginning of the Human Rights Era: Military Repression Human Rights Organizing Spreads: Mexico and the Theoretical Frame Human Rights after the Military: Settling Accounts and Facing Issues Contemporary Democracy and Efflorescence of Human Rights Organizing Contemporary Societies under Siege: Peru, Politics, and Public Secrets Transnational Networking for Human Rights Protection Response in the United States: Challenging Foreign Policy Bibliographical Essay Index

Pluralist Approaches to Human Rights

Abstract: Some anthropologists criticize United Nations "universal" human rights as ethnocentrically Western. But all sociocultural groups define some concept analogous to human rights, and multiple political and philosophical cultures have contributed to the evolving UN framework. This essay traces the four major sources of modern human rights (Western political liberalism, socialism and social welfare principles, cross-cultural rights traditions, and the UN instruments) and focuses on points of agreement in the evolving framework. The evidence is used to argue for a pluralist approach to human rights (rather than narrower universal, Western, or broader cultural relativist approaches) and suggests points for additional anthropological contributions.

The Participation Rights of the Child: Rights and Responsibilities in Family and Society

Abstract: Introductory remarks. PART 1: The Rationale for Children's Rights 1. Human Rights in General. 2. The Basis of Rights for Children. 3. The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. PART 2: Participation Rights and Rights of Self-Expression 4. Important Legal Recognition. 5. Foundations for Participation and Self-Expression. 6. Considerations in the Practical Application of Rights. PART 3: Promotion and Exercise of Self-Expression Rights 7. Promotion and Exercise of Self-Expression Rights. Concluding remarks. Appendices. Bibliography. Index.

Sexual Orientation and Human Rights: The United States Constitution, the European Convention, and the Canadian Charter

Abstract: Preface to the Paperback Edition 1. Introduction 2. The United States Constitution: Fundamental Choice Approach 3. The United States Constitution: Immutable Status and Sex Discrimination Approaches and Assessment of Protection 4. The European Convention on Human Rights: Fundamental Choice Approach 5. The European Convention on Human Rights: Immutable Status and Sex Discrimination Approaches and Assessment of Protection 6. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Immutable Status and Fundamental Choice Approaches 7. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Is Sexual Orientation an Immutable or a Fundamental Choice? 8. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Is Sexual Orientation Discrimination Sex Discrimination? 9. Comparison and Conclusion Appendix of Canadian Charter Provisions Table of Constitutions, Statutes and Cases Bibliography

International Human Rights: A Comprehensive Introduction

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. The Philosophical Basis for Human Rights 3. The Historical Basis for Human Rights 4. The Contemporary Basis for Human Rights 5. Civil and Political Rights 6. Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights 7. Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes Against Peace, & War Crimes 8. Quantitative Dimensions 9. United Nations Charter-Based Organizations 10. Other Treaty-Based Global International Organizations 11. American Approaches to International Human Rights 12. European Approaches to International Human Rights 13. Third World Approaches to International Human Rights 14. New Dimensions & Challenges

Buddhism and Human Rights

Abstract: It is difficult to think of a more urgent question for Buddhism in the late twentieth century than human rights. The political, ethical and philosophical questions surrounding human rights are debated vigorously in political and intellectual circles throughout the world and now in this volume.

Do animals have rights

Abstract: A right, unlike an interest, is a valid claim, or potential claim, made by a moral agent, under principles that govern both the claimant and the target of the claim Animals cannot be the bearers of rights because the concept of rights is essentially human; it is rooted in and has force within a human moral world

Righting wrongs in Eastern Europe

Abstract: Part 1 Interferences with private property: interferences with private property, 1938-1945 interferences with private property during the immediate post-war period interferences with private property during the communist era. Part 2 The abuse of certain rights other than property rights: the abuse of certain rights other than property rights, 1938-1945 the abuse of certain rights other than property rights during the intermediate postwar period the abuse of certain rights other than property rights during the communist era. Part 3 Righting wrongs in Eastern Europe: the restitution of property to natural persons and related schemes of compensation the restitution of property to the churches and related schemes of compensation compensation for injuries to rights other than property rights.

The Inter-American Human Rights System

Abstract: The Inter-American System and Human Rights the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights the Inter-America Court of Human Rights individual application before the Inter-American commision individual applications before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights the advisory jurisdiction of the inter-American Court of Human Rights the rights protected.

Global Patterns in the Achievement of Women's Human Rights to Equality

Abstract: The large attendance and extensive press coverage of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women serves as an illustration of the growing interest in the topic of womens human rights around the globe. Increased popular interest in womens human rights issues has been paralleled by the proliferation of scholarly books and journal articles on the topic. Much of this literature addresses the topic of womens rights from the perspective of the international lawyer and deals with international laws and organizations that seek to forward the cause of womens rights. There is also some work conducted by social scientists who use traditional nonquantitative research methods but unfortunately there are only a few systematic empirical studies that have addressed questions related to womens human rights. The topic of womens human rights remains a topic in need of much more systematic empirical research. The lack of much quantitative social scientific research is somewhat puzzling because recent years have seen much work aimed toward achieving the goal of a theoretically driven and empirically supported understanding of why other classes of human rights are realized. One vein of research has focused on explaining cross-national variations in the class of human rights relating to personal integrity guaranteed in the UN Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and including the rights not to be imprisoned tortured or killed either arbitrarily or for ones political views. Several cross-national studies have focused on a class of rights pertaining to the provision of basic human needs which have been addressed in international human rights treaties. Still other research has focused on whether countries foreign policies in the form of foreign aid and refugee policies are influenced by human rights concerns. (excerpt)

Federalism: Essential Concepts in Evolution - The Case of the European Union

Abstract: This Article aims to examine the instrumental aspects of the European Union structure in order to elucidate the degree of federalism that it contains. The analysis considers: the status of the central authority; the constitutional embedding of the division of powers between the central authority and the component entities; the existence of mechanisms to preserve the identity of the component entities; the foundation of the constitutional order on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law; and the enforceability of the constitution. FEDERALISM: ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS IN EVOLUTION THE CASE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION