Abolition of slavery
What is the definition of slavery?
Abolition of slavery
Slavery is a type of forced labour in which a person is considered legal property
Define labour rights
Labour rights are collective rights that relate to work, such as appropriate breaks and pay.
Define universal suffrage
The right to vote, regardless of status, gender, race or creed
What is the right to education?
Access to FREE and COMPULSORY education for all children.
Define peace rights
Collective right of people to have their government maintain peace and eliminate war
How is slavery protected against by the UDHR? Is it enforceable?
UDHR (1948) Art 4 - - No-one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited → binding Art 8 ICCPR.
Explain how trade unions protect labour rights
Trade unions are organisation of workers who use collective bargaining to further promote labour rights
Art 21 - UDHR (1948) - everyone has right to partake in government → Art 25 ICCPR
How is the right to education protected internationally?
Article 26 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR )(1948), legally binding under Art 13 + 14 ICESCR
Define and explain how self-determination is legally protected.
Collective right for group to determine their own government and statehood (essentially right to become a country).
What was the first international treaty to ban slavery?
Passed after WWI by the League of Nations, the Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery (1926) was the first international convention on abolishing slavery worldwide
Trade unions came upon due to the shocking working conditions during the Industrial Revolution. Groups formed to protest appalling working conditions including lack of safety, low wages and long working hours.
Public pressure resulted in UK government granting trade unions legal status → Trade Union Act 1871 (UK)
Unions played a major role in securing rights for workers in the UK, by utilising collective bargaining power and labour strikes.
What was the FIRST and LAST country to grant women the right to vote?
1983: NZ
2011: Saudi Arabia
How has the right to education developed over time? Give at least TWO pieces of legal evidence.
Historically, formal education was associated with power or religions, and usually restricted to wealthy males.
Churches played a large role in promoting early education, but overtime this became a responsibility of the state. In 1870, the UK enforced compulsory primary education under the Education Act.
After world war II, free and compulsory education had spread throughout developed countries and was regarded as a basic human right, included in Article 26 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR )(1948) which further states that primary education should be compulsory and widely accessible.
In NSW, the Education act 1990 enforced compulsory education for any child 6-17.
Give a contemporary example of the protection of a collective right.
Self determination
While Palestine and Taiwan, have some aspects of self-determination, their exclusion from the UN denies its people full enjoyment of self-determination.
Mabo v Queensland (no 2) 1992 resulted in Native Title as a partial recognition of self-determination of Aboriginal people. Uluru Statement from the Heart is a further movement for self-determination.
Environmental
Peace rights
Current conflicts are indicative of the challenges in achieving peace rights e.g. Syria (2016-ongoing) or recent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Explain the historic development to abolish slavery citing at least TWO pieces of legal evidence.
Slavery was a commonly practiced human rights abuse from ancient to 18th century times, culminating in the transatlantic slave trade. Abolitionism was a movement to end slavery in the early 1800s in both western Europe and North America that eventually brought an end to the transatlantic slave trade
UK:
How are labour rights protected under international law? Give at least TWO pieces of legal evidence.
UDHR (1948)
→ Binding through Arts 6, 7 and 8 ICESCR
1919 – International Labour Organisation (ILO) formed aimed to improve global working conditions and create international standards for labour practices
How was the right to universal suffrage protected in Australia.
Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902: women could vote, indigenous people could not
Commonwealth Electoral Act (1962) granted all ATSI people the right to vote however it was not yet compulsory
Why is it difficult to ensure protection of the right to positive environmental conditions?
Environmental rights are third generation collective rights which are not universally recognised, but have been furthered by environmental treaties e.g. Kyoto Protocol 1997 and Paris Agreement 2015
Progress is often restricted by failure of states to commit to measures of environmental protection due to economic reliance on environmentally damaging practices e.g. burning fossil fuels, deforestation etc.
Unlike other rights, environmental rights are not expressly contained in the UDHR.
However, enjoyment of other human rights cannot be fully realised without environmental rights. For example the right to work, without a clean and safe environment work outside could become unbearable.
BONUS ROUND:
The first country to ban slavery - WHERE + WHEN
Iceland - 12th Century.
CONTEMP EXAMPLE
Give a contemporary explanation about the role of trade unions in pushing labour rights.
rade unions helped to organise a strike of 50,000 nurses demanding better working conditions and pay in NSW, 2022.
In the USA, Amazon has denied workers the right to form a trade union, with workers reporting abhorrent conditions.
Explain the three MOVEMENTS for universal suffrage.Give at least 3 supporting dates.
Early movements
Women's suffrage:
Explain how international protection of the right to peace has developed over time.
Historically, war viewed as normal method for dispute resolution until aftermath of WWI Paris Peace Conference created LoN whose primary aim was to prevent war