Human Rights, International

Origin

Theoretical conceptions of human rights have been present in many historical and geographical contexts. Modern theories of human rights, however, stem from natural rights theories elaborated in the seventeenth century. Human rights were originally protected at the national level as fundamental rights or civil liberties. In the twentieth century, human rights have become central to the practice of law at the international level. Their relevance in the contemporary world is increasing. Many economic, social, political, and cultural issues make reference to their diffusion, elaboration, and implementation. In this sense, they have become a paradigm of legal discourse, providing a framework for discussion about conflicting views. They are also one of the main forces behind global legal evolution. Many different actors are participating in human rights development, including states, international organizations, nonstate entities such as nongovernmental organizations, and, more broadly, so-called civil society. Notwithstanding the philosophical and practical conflicts related to their diffusion and enforcement, they are at the center of a dynamic process that is truly international, even if it is not homogeneous.

The debate about human rights encompasses, on one hand, the philosophical ideas on which they were founded and, on the other hand, the evolution of instruments for ensuring their legal protection.

The radical claim that some rights must be granted to individuals as human beings has been developed in modern times from philosophies of natural rights, that is, rights that exist independent of the will of a sovereign and, therefore, can limit political power. The most prominent thinkers within this tradition were Hugo Grotius (1583–1645), John Locke (1632–1704), and Samuel von Pufendorf (1632–1694). The cultural elaboration of fundamental rights was manifested as a concrete political and institutional matter in the American Revolution (1776), the French Revolution (1789), and the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution (1791). The idea that all human beings are equal in dignity and have some inalienable rights is inherently universalistic, but was at first elaborated within the practice of law at national levels. Nevertheless, the underlying intuition of the unity of humankind increasingly led to the internationalization of human rights movements. The question of the universality of human rights, that is, whether the same rights inherently belong to all people, [Page 721]is challenged by cultural relativism. Relativists and essentialists argue in depth in modern times using strategies ranging from contemporary natural law philosophies to postmodern theories.

Legal Protection of Human Rights

Human rights are entitlements that should be protected. Therefore, the cultural elaboration of ethical standards, which are the basis of human rights, must be institutionalized in legal practice. The history of the concrete protection of human rights relates to political and legal developments that either facilitated their implementation or, on the contrary, resulted in their irrelevance in practice, even when formally declared as matters of principle.

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