Developing Recognition of Human Rights
Name three features of human rights
Universal - applicable to all
● Indivisible - equally important and are interdependent
● Inalienable - cannot be taken away or given up
● Inherent - permanent and essential from birth
What are the combination of UDHR, ICCPR and ICESCR known as.
The international bill of rights
Outline the role of the united nations.
intergovernmental organisation with the aim of increasing political and economic cooperation among its 193 member states. It promotes and encourages the development of human rights.
UN has been highly effective in promoting human rights, evident through the formation of the International Bill of Rights (i.e., UDHR, ICCPR, ICESCR) which has inspired over 200 other international documents such as the Convention Against all forms of Racial Discrimination (1966).
Made up of General Assessembly --> Body in which nations come together to discuss the progression of human rights.
Security Council --> 5 nations with Veto power. 10 non - permanent members. It is responsible for maintaining international peace.
However, despite the implementation of different measures, the ability for the UN to enforce human rights has been limited as a result of state sovereignty
What 3 words could be used to describe the role of Media and NGO's. What are these responses known as?
Non-legal responses:
Pressure
Promote
Encourage
Expose
What is the system that Australia uses to enact treaties? Explain it...
Australia has a dualist system, meaning Australia needs to legislate the treaties it ratifies to make them domestically binding.
● This is achieved through enactment which effectively makes the human rights enforceable in domestic law and occurs when federal or state parliaments pass a statute law based on international treaties.
● An example of this is Australia enacting the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) in compliance with the UDHR (1948).
● For nations with a monist system, like France, any treaty ratified, automatically becomes an Act of Parliament
Outline how slavery has developed overtime...
During ancient to 18th Century time, slavery was a commonly practiced human rights abuse
First moves to abolish slavery began as early as the 12th century, but didn’tlargely affect world attitudes as slavery was still practiced heavily during the colonial period.
Transatlantic slave trade gave way to changing values. France abolish in 1794. In UK, Abolitionism began (18th century) - movement involved attempting to abolish slave trade
Many central and South America countries abolished slavery during war for the independence against Spain around 1810 - 1822. United States eventually changed consitution to outlaw slavery.
● At the end of WW2, the United Nation developed the UDHR whereby under Article 4 of the UDHR, “no one shall be held in slavery or servitude.”
Describe UDHR. Give key features
The UDHR (1948) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines 30 central rights and freedoms of all human beings. E.g. the right to life, liberty, security, thought, religion, education and equality
Not a legally binding document, the UDHR is still majorly influential in the development and recognition of human rights.
Due to its influential nature, many of the rights enshrined in the UDHR have subsequently been reflected in other human rights instruments and treaties and as such, much of the UDHR is now codified into bindin human rights obligations e.g., Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
What is the ICC?
he role of international courts is to protect human rights by prosecuting those who commit grave breaches of human rights.
○ International courts can only prosecute offenders if they are not dealt with by courts in the country they reside in, or if the countr allows the court to do so. The ICC, established in 2002 by the Rome Statute, has successfully tried some people accused of violating human rights, however its first success, the Lubanga Case (2012), took 10 years and cost millions of dollars.
○ In total since its establishment the ICC has had four convictions despite having an annual budget of AUD$170 million.
○ This shows that whilst the ICC is successful in protecting human rights through being enforceable, it is time-consuming and requires a lot of resources to secure a conviction
What are the four legal responses domestically?
Australian COnsistution
Statute Law
Common Law
Courts and Tribunals
Outline how universal suffrage developed overtime.
Originally in most colonial countries, the vote was restricted to landholders. Wealthy white men of higher class.
The US extended its vote to all men in 1870. Australia soon followed in 1901, and the UK followed in 1918.
During the late 19th– early 20th century, there was a large campaign for women
to vote known as the Suffragette Movement.
● This led to reforms in numerous countries, with New Zealand being the first country to let women vote in 1893, followed by Australia in 1902, followed by the US in 1920, and UK in 1928.
● In Australia, the previous legislation barred Indigenous people from voting. Law passed in 1962 ensure indigenous peoples had the right to vote regardless of their state voting rights (not compulsory though). A 1967 referendum finally gave them equal status as citizens as well as being counted in the Australian census. This constitutional referendum became a symbol of public recognition of the rights of indigenous Australians.
What is the ICCPR. Give key features...
The ICCPR (1966) is a multilateral treaty of 53 articles adopted by the United Nations General Assembly which focuses on preventing the arbitrary exercise of power by thestate through the protection of individuals’ civil and political rights.
● E.g. the right to a fair trial, privacy, freedom of religion, freedom from torture, freedom of expression
Given the ICCPR is a covenant, it is binding on states hence promoting compliance to upholding the rights contained in the international instrument
However, the ICCPR is limited as even if violations are apparent, the UN lacks extensive powers and can only condemn the respective state as a result of the principle of state sovereignty e.g.Australia's poor treatment of asylum seekers.
What is the ICJ?
The primary judicial organ of the UN.
One of the six principal organs of the United Nations. It settles disputes between states in accordance with international law and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues.
Identify 1 court and 1 tribunal that enforce human rights domestically. (100 points)
Outline how each influences human rights. Include examples (200 points)
The High Court of Australia (HCA) – The HCA has been highly effective in promoting and enforcing human rights. The HCA can prosecute those who have allegedly breached human rights, whilst covering a wider range of human rights abuses and are less time and resource consuming than international courts. This can be seen in the case of R v Wei Tang (2008) where it took less than a year for the HCA to uphold the conviction for slavery. Furthermore, the HCA has the ability to overturn legislation incompatible with constitutional rights. For example, the court overturned anti-bikie association legislation which tried to remove freedom of association, hence effectively protecting human rights. In addition, the HCA can develop new rights through common law, evident through the development of the right to Native Title in the case of Mabo v Queensland (1992). Moreover, decisions in the HCA can be influenced by international resolutions or treaties that Australia has ratified, thus better enforcing and protecting human rights. In this manner, the HCA has been an effective mechanism in promoting and enforcing human rights.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) – The AHRC is a tribunal that promotes human rights through awareness programs dealing with human rights issues. In addition, the AHRC prepares and releases reports on issues which have violated human rights, publicising these so that these issues are brought to the public’s attention leading to increased pressure for the government to alter its policies. Examples of its successes include the Inquiry into Paid Parental Leave which led to the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 (Cth), and the Inquiry into Children in Detention which led to children being released. However, the AHRC is limited to the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) which does not include the rights in the ICESCR (1966) amongst others.
What three area could you look at for the role of the Australian consitution?
Speration of Powers
Division of Powers
Express + Implied rights
Self-Determination: the collective right of a group to make decisions about their own political, cultural or religious future
Colonisation is the opposite of self-determination whereby it is the process where one country enters another country and takes control. This was popular from the 15th century to WW2 and hence there was little to no concept of self-determination.
● The first major victory of independence was when the Americans revolted against their British colonists, fighting and winning the American War of Independence (1775-1783) leading to the creation of the United States Declaration of Independence (1776). This was the beginning of legal documentation of independence
With an aim of attempting to enforce peace post WW2, the UN and the UN Charter (1945) was created. Further, the idea of self-determination was made apparent and how nobody should arbitrarily interfere with others
In Australia, Indigenous people have been fighting for their own self-determination since white settlers arrived in the country. The Land Rights Movement and Mabo Cases which led to the acknowledgement of Indigenous land were critical steps to assisting the achievement of Indigenous self-determination, where they have the power to govern themselves.
● Further, Indigenous self-determination is still currently campaigned for through the Aboriginal Tent Embassy as part of the old Parliament House in Canberra
WHat is the ICESCR
a multilateral treaty of 31 articles adopted by the United Nations General Assembly which focuses on the material and cultural wellbeing of people through the protection of individual’ economic, social, and cultural rights.
● E.g. the right to work, social security, education, an adequate standard of living, cultural freedom
It is a covenant, so is binding on states hence promoting compliance to upholding the rights contained in the international instrument.
● Furthermore, the ICESCR established the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights which has the role of monitoring the implementation of the covenant, whereby all state parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee
Name an independent statutory authority and outline its role.
The Human Rights Committee is an independent statutory authority which has the role of monitoring the implementation of the ICCPR (1966), whereby all state parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights are being implemented.
○ However, the Human Rights Committee is limited as even if violations of the ICCPR are apparent, the committee lacks extensive powers and can only condemn the respective state as a result of the principle of state sovereignty e.g. Australia's poor treatment of asylum seekers.
Outline the role of non-legal responses in enforcing rights. Within your answer, include examples and include flaws.
NGOs operate towards human rights goals independently of governments.
● The roles of NGOs differ based upon their goals, but all NGOs have the capacity to raise awareness, change public opinion and lobby governments to protect individual human rights.
● For instance, Human Rights Watch Australia (HRW) is an NGO that produces regular reports that disclose certain human rights abuses to bring them to the public’s attention. A recent example of a report by HRW Australia is the ‘Abuse and Neglect of Prisoners with Disabilities in Australia’ (February 2018).
● Whilst these NGOs are non-legal responses and hence lack the power to enforce their resolutions, through naming and shaming human rights violations, governments often face pressure to change its policies and legislations.
● Thus, NGOs play a crucial role in not only promoting human rights, but promoting change, despite being limited in regard to enforceability.
In Australia, a key role of the media is to promote human rights through raising public awareness of human rights abuses. This ultimately places pressure on governments to reinforce policies and legislation that largely reflect the contemporary moral and ethical standards of society.
● For instance, the internet has generally been largely successful in promoting human rights through utilising various sources such as online journalism and social media to effectively reach a mass audience.
● Examples of article/program names that were nominated for the AHRC Human Rights Awards include ABC’s Investigation into Aged Care (ABC 2019), Inside the Watch House (Four Corners 2019), and Sick on the Inside (The Monthly 2018).
● However, the media still faces certain limitations in Australia. For instance, 58% of Australia’s newspapers are owned by one company – News Corp Australia. This means that when it comes to the reporting of human rights issues, the opinions of the owners of newspapers become very important. As such, this extensive power held by the single company casts a negative influence on the promotion of human rights in Australia.
● In addition, 62% of Australians surveyed in 2019 said they actively avoid the news, either because they’re tired of it or they can’t tell what’s real anymore (Digital News Report: Australia 2019).
● Moreover, similar to many countries, Australia has a “breaking news” culture, where only the most shocking stories are reported in a sensational way, rather than ongoing, systematic abuse of rights, which might not be
Name all developing human rights and describe each.
Abolition of Slavery
Universal Education
Trade Unionism
Self - Determination
Universal Suffrage
Environmental Rights
Peace Rights
Describe state sovereignty. Outline its role in Human Rights development.
Referenced in Article 2 of the UN Charter (1945), state sovereignty refers to every nation being equal, in that it has the right to control itself and make its own laws and decisions without external interference.
● Whilst its role is to protect nation states from being controlled against their will and ultimately prevent war, states can extinguish human rights without any international inference using state sovereignty, significantly hindering the enforceability of human rights.
● As such, the principle relies primarily on domestic legal systems to recognise, protect, and enforce fundamental human rights.
● Example: Australian enacting the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) in compliance with the UDHR (1948)
● Fortunately, this process of enacting human rights from international instruments into domestic law is common across most nation states as they aim to look like good international citizens and desire reciprocity where other states treat them the same way.
● In this manner, whilst the role of state sovereignty largely hinders the effective promotion and enforcement of human rights, it is a fundamental and necessary principle to effectively to protect state’s freedoms
Name two tribunals. What did they do?
International tribunals are specialized legal bodies, often established by the UN Security Council, designed to prosecute individuals for serious international crimes like genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. They provide justice when domestic systems cannot, establish historical records of atrocities, and create legal precedents for humanitarian law
3 arguments for and 3 arguments against a charter of rights....
Arguments for
Arguments AGAINST a Charter of Rights