Jump to content

Drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TheUniversal Declaration of Human Rightswas drafted between early 1947 and late 1948 by a committee formed by theUnited Nations Commission on Human Rights.Further discussion and amendments were made by the Commission on Human Rights, theEconomic and Social Counciland theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations.Representatives of the UNCommission on the Status of Womenparticipated in the meetings of the UN Commission on Human Rights, debating for a gender inclusive language in the Declaration.[1]

Cassin compared the Declaration to the portico of a Greek temple, with a foundation, steps, four columns, and a pediment. Members of the Commission who contributed significantly to the creation of the Declaration includedCanadianJohn Peters Humphreyof theUnited Nations Secretariat,Eleanor Rooseveltof theUnited States(who chaired the Drafting Committee),René CassinofFrance,Charles MalikofLebanon,P. C. ChangofRepublic of China,[a]andHansa Jivraj MehtaofIndiaamong others. While not a member of the drafting committee, the French philosopherJacques Maritainwas influential in the lead up to the drafting of the Universal Declaration, advocacy for it within UNESCO in 1947–1948, and in its subsequent advancement.

Membership of the Drafting Committee

[edit]

The Drafting Committee[2]included

The drafting process

[edit]

John Peters Humphreywas newly appointed as Director of the Division of Human Rights within the United Nations Secretariat.[3]In this role, he produced the first draft of a list of rights that were to form the basis of the Declaration.

A portico with four columns, whichRené Cassinsaw as a metaphor for the format of his draft

The underlying structure of the Universal Declaration was introduced in its second draft which was prepared byRené Cassinworking from the Humphrey draft. The structure was influenced by theCode Napoleon,including a preamble and introductory general principles.[4] In Cassin's model, the last three articles of the Declaration provide the pediment which binds the structure together. These articles are concerned with the duty of the individual to society and the prohibition of use of rights in contravention of the purposes of the United Nations.[5] Cassin compared the Declaration to the portico of a Greek temple, with a foundation, steps, four columns and a pediment.

The Cassin draft was submitted to the Commission on Human Rights and was to undergo editing in the commission, then in further drafts considered by the Third Committee of the United Nations, and finally in a draft before the General Assembly of the United Nations, which ultimately adopted the Declaration on 10 December 1948. The vote for the declaration was 48 to 0, with eightabstentions:theByelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic,Czechoslovakia,thePeople's Republic of Poland,theKingdom of Saudi Arabia,theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic,theUnion of South Africa,theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics,and theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[6]

Controversies

[edit]

The first controversy to resolve was related to the very origin of the human rights, basically the discussion between the supporters of the concepts ofnatural rights(which humans are endowed byGodorNature) andpositive rights(which humans acquire as a result of a rational agreement).[7]

The second controversy was basically between the positions of theMarxist theoryof theSoviet Blocand theliberal theoryof theWestern World.In philosophical terms, the Soviet Bloc criticized theindividualiststance of the issue, arguing in favor of thecollectivismapproach, where the rights of the collective dominate that of an individual. In political terms, theSoviet Unionand its satellites, facing mounting accusations of human rights violations, argued that the declaration is a mere formality if it would not consider guarantees of economic and social rights. However these objections were of surprisingly little consequence, because the Soviet Bloc was not very active during the seating of the commission, perhaps indicating a preestablished decision not to sign the Declaration.[7]

Another issue is the legal status of the declaration. The majority considered the document to be mainly of moral character. At the same time some participants argued in favor of adding certain legal aspects in terms ofinternational law.[7]

Britishrepresentatives in particular were extremely frustrated that the proposal had moral but no legal obligation. (It was not until 1976 that theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rightscame into force, giving a legal status to most of the Declaration)[8]

UDHR timeline

[edit]

Source: United Nations Year Book 1948–1949, pp. 524 et seq

1945

[edit]
  • United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco

1946

[edit]
  • 15 February, Establishment of "Nuclear Committee" of Commission on Human Rights.
  • 29 April - 20 May 1946 - First Meeting of the Nuclear Committee.
  • 21 June 1946 - TheUN Economic and Social Counciladopts terms of reference of permanent Commission on Human Rights

1947

[edit]
  • 27 January - 10 February - First Meeting of the Commission on Human Rights,Lake Success, New York.Drafting Committee established.
  • 9 June - 25 June - First Meeting of the Drafting Committee, Lake Success, New York. Draft outline of an International Bill of Human Rights prepared by the UN Secretariat ( "the Humphrey Draft" ). Drafting Committee splits work into two documents: preparation of a declaration of human rights and a working paper on a draft international convention on human rights.
  • 2 December - 17 December - Second Session of the Commission on Human Rights, Geneva. Commission begins to consider work on three projects: a declaration on human rights, and international convention on human rights and measures for implementation and enforcement

1948

[edit]
  • 3 May - 21 May, Second Session of the Drafting Committee, Lake Success, New York.
  • 24 May - 18 June, Third Session of the Commission on Human Rights, Lake Success, New York. Commission adopts a draft Declaration and transmits it to the Economic and Social Council.
  • 26 August, Economic and Social Council transmits draft to the General Assembly.
  • 21 September –Third session of the United Nations General Assemblybegins
  • 30 September - 7 December, Third Committee of General Assembly spends 81 meetings considering the Declaration. 168 resolutions for amendments to the draft, submitted and considered.
  • 1–4 December, Sub-committee of Third Committee charged with cross checking 5 official language versions.
  • 10 December, Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^The Declaration was drafted during theChinese Civil War.P.C. Chang was appointed as a representative by theRepublic of China,which was recognised as the government of China at the time.

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Human Rights Day - Women who shaped the Universal Declaration".
  2. ^Drafting Committee,Dag Hammarskjöld Library Research Guides
  3. ^Johannes Morsink, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, University of Pennsylvania Press, p 5
  4. ^Glendon, pp 62-64
  5. ^Mary Ann Glendon,A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,Chapter 10
  6. ^"default".ccnmtl.columbia.edu.Retrieved2019-07-09.
  7. ^abc"РАЗРАБОТКА ВСЕОБЩЕЙ ДЕКЛАРАЦИИ ПРАВ ЧЕЛОВЕКА (1946–1948 ГГ.)",Глен Джонсон (Glen Johnson ),Развитие личностиno. 3, 2014
  8. ^Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Final authorized text.The British Library. September 1952. Archived fromthe originalon 10 September 2015.Retrieved16 August2015.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Audio-visual materials
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Drafting_of_the_Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights&oldid=1243798066"