Human Rights Law

Human rights law concerns the legal protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of all people, at national and international levels.

Scope

It covers the international human-rights framework, civil-political and economic-social rights, enforcement mechanisms, and debates over universality.

Core questions

• What rights do all humans have, and why?
• How are human rights protected in law?
• Are human rights universal or culturally relative?
• How can human rights be enforced?

Key concepts

• Universality
• Civil and political rights
• Economic and social rights
• Human dignity
• Enforcement
• Cultural relativism

Key theories

Human rights in international law

Lauterpacht argued for the individual as a subject of international law and for an international bill of rights.

Universal human rights

Donnelly defended the universality of human rights while engaging cultural-relativist critiques.

History

Modern human-rights law was founded by the Universal Declaration (1948) and the subsequent covenants, building on Lauterpacht's vision, and is theorized and contested through debates over universality (Donnelly).

Debates

Universalism versus cultural relativism

Whether human rights are universal or culturally specific Western constructs.

Key figures

• Hersch Lauterpacht
• Jack Donnelly

Seminal works

• lauterpacht-1950
• donnelly-1989

Frequently asked questions

Are human rights universal?

Human-rights law asserts universality, though this is debated against cultural-relativist arguments; most scholars defend a qualified universalism.