Rethinking Third Generation Human Rights

Jaymangal Prasad and Vijay Jayshwal Vijay Prasad Jayshwal, 2013

Classifying human rights according to "generations" is a form of their characterization. This approach considers civil and political rights as first generation; economic, social and cultural rights as second; and a new category named "collective rights" or "rights of peoples" as third generation. The subject matter of this article is simply an attempt to reconsider the last generation. In this context, having revealed the arguments in the field of those rights, in brief, this paper discusses whether or not the approach of "generations of rights" can contribute to the protection of human rights in general, and whether it is a natural product of evolution of the theory of human rights. Human rights are not a recent invention - discussion of rights and responsibilities has been an important part of all societies throughout history. Rights are related to the values that societies lived by. These values have their origins in the world's great religions and philosophies. Since the end of the World War II, there has been a concerted attempt by the nations of the world to work together to identify what human rights exist and how they can best be promoted and protected.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

In 1977, the UNESCO Courier published a slender essay by Karel Vasak, a Czech-born, French jurist and director of UNESCO's Division of Human Rights and Peace. Entitled 'A 30-year struggle', Vasak's essay characterised human rights in international law in terms of 'three generations'. 1 The first generation, he wrote, concerns civil and political rights, specifically, those enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, such as freedom of expression and the right to vote. The second generation, concerns economic, social and cultural rights, specifically, those enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, such as rights to housing and to form a trade union. The third generation, which Vasak characterised as one that 'the international community is now embarking on', refers to what he called 'solidarity rights', which include the right to development, the right of self-determination, minority rights, the right to a healthy environment, the right to peace, and the right to ownership of the common heritage of mankind. 2 Vasak's metaphorical generations have come to assume an intellectual prominence far greater than the journal in which they first appeared. Classifications that comprehend

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A glance at history shows that the progressive development of human rights has been considerably conditioned by the evolution of social relations, and the forms in which these relations were institutionalized. It was not in abstract that newly recognised human rights came to be defined, but in the context of the modern state and that of an industrial and technological civilization; in the context of the bitter experience of two World Wars and the social and political evolution after 1945. This evolution has been characterized by a process of decolonialisation, by a growing sense of solidarity among mankind, and by a widespread awareness of the delicate ecological balance of our one and only Earth which is limited in its natural resources. The remarkable thing about the evolution of human rights is that it appears to have followed in a given direction. In fact, we notice the widening of the concept of human rights which had originated in the eighteenth century. Throughout the whole d...

The rights to which an individual is entitled by virtue of his status as a human being are called human rights. These rights constitute the very source of all rights of human beings.The scope of these rights is very wide. They set the standards for the provision and expansion of civil, political and socioeconomic rights. Even when the ordinary rights are reinterpreted in the light of human rights, they enter the ever-expanding domain of human welfare. In every age the voice of protest has been heardand the human liberation has been glimpsed. In modern times this vision of human liberation has been developed into the concept of human rights. In the above perspective the present article gives chronological evolution of human rights.

In the beginning of the century, global processes produced numerous challenges to theorists because theory no longer reflected reality. Population movements, organized civil society, transnational companies changed the status of sovereignty. Rights no longer stemmed from private attributes of nationality, people have been seeking in human rights legislation, universal principles and international instruments to guarantee their well-being. Every human being is born with a framework of inalienable rights. Moreover, that means that we agreed that principles such as dignity were worth preserving, which was not always the case. During this article, it is aimed to show how society and the Human Rights framework aggregated values that moved us closer to the idea of society we want to become. In addition, it is shown how Institutions and nongovernmental actors were a big part of this culture change. The sovereign acts of states increasingly became privileges from which derived rights and duties. From the time that states began to join international organizations, ratify human rights treaties, they become willingly parts of a framework of legal protection to ensure legitimacy. However, this legal framework provides standards that must be followed in order to maintain stability in the international system. The 60s and 70s are known as times of great turbulence in the economic and political sphere. After this period, non-state actors emerge with strength, and relevant role to be considered and understand in the new world dynamics. The term globalization is now commonly used to refer to the intensification of transnational interactions and cross-border. The multiplicity of actors and the emergence of transnational civil society organizations are important factors to explain the change in the structure, through the strengthening of human rights culture and the transformation of the identity of the actors as more moral. Most of the information transmission and awareness of rules and policies focusing on protection of the individual is made by civil society.

Its a discussion of categories of three kinds of generation of rights i.e. 1) First Generation Rights; 2) Second Generation Rights 3) Third Generation Rights; and difference of each from that of other generation of rights; and secondly that how these second and third generation rights could or couldn’t be expanded universally. Instigation and legislation of renowned first generation having its history back more than eight hundred years ago i.e. Magna Carta 1215, The Petition of Rights 1628, United States Bill of Rights 1791 and The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen 1789 etc. These were recognition of rights and these were legislated nationally, however afterwards alongwith other rights (Afterwards known as Second Generation Rights) these rights were legislated internationally in International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966 and Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. Nowadays it looks very easy and uncomplicated to legislate such kind of rights i.e. First Generation Rights (Civil and Political rights), as they are already codified by legislator of different countries. But afterwards these rights expanded and discussion started of new rights known as Second and Third Generation Rights.

2006 Annual Survey of International & Comparative …, 2006

Human rights are universal. Not in the sense of being the same positive laws, at all times and places, but rather as being aspirational goals, at all times and places, and also as containing core values which are indeed universal, such as the right to life (no irrational deprivation of life). Histories of human rights usually propose that the concept has evolved through at least three separate historical waves. This historical account, while roughly accurate, must be clarified as a theoretical construction which corresponds only partially to the historical reality: the rights of women and of non-white persons, in fact, arose relatively late in history. With that qualification, however, the historical description is roughly accurate, and also explains why we can speak of human rights as "universal" in a meaningful sense. While human rights are a possible, and not necessary, consequence of economic development, there is nothing uniquely "western" about human rights. Indeed, all cultures aspire to what Aristotle described as "the good life." At least in this sense, human rights are universal as all humans are rational animals gifted with speech.

Human rights are moral principles or norms, that describe certain standards of human behavior, and are regularly protected aslegal rights in municipal and international law. They are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights "to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being," and which are "inherent in all human beings" regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any other status. They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal, and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone. They require empathy and the rule of law and impose an obligation on persons to respect the human rights of others. Yet, we often are debating on the issues of the existence of these rights. The society has reduced its standard and has lowered down in underestimating the existence of fellow humans. the article analyses the emergence and the existence of human rights being bestowed on humans by the virtue of their existence.

IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2013

As human civilization grew, a need arose to develop certain institutions & organizations, the most important & latest of which was the state itself. Primarily this institution was concerned with administration of Justice & defence. Now for this administration of justice & defence, the state needed to empower certain people so as to legitimize their work. However more often than not the power conferred came to be abused proving the dictum right that power corrupts & absolute power corrupts absolutely. The State instead of being a protector became an oppressor. The dominating philosophy of Positive Law furthered the dictatorship, which came to be practiced by the regimes like the Nazi in Germany. Such regimes thriving on the philosophy that law is what is made, irrespective of its goodness or badness & completely ignoring the concept of what law "ought" to be, made things worse for the ruled. In this way self-styled autocratic rules came to be formed & promulgated, not for the benefit of the governed but the vested interests of the governing. The failure of these machinations led people to look for an alternative but found no options & started to look to heavens for help & this led to the revival of Natural Law Philosophy. As per this philosophy the Natural law being the supreme law wants every positive law to be subservient to the Cosmic order. Rousseau, a Naturalist in his treatise On the Social Contract in 1762, had observed & very rightly so, "The man is born free but everywhere he is in chains" The Natural law philosophy aimed at preservation of peace & establishment of order solely by relying on morals, ethics & reasoning. This was an immediate cure to the tyrannical enactments & draconian laws of the autocrats. But even the Natural Law failed as well beyond a certain point. The chief argument about its insufficiency was that it was an abstract idea & at times favored the ruler & at times the ruled. As a result a need was felt to have some other device to rescue the abuse & misuse of power by the state. The development gave birth to what we call Human Rights Jurisprudence. The Human Rights Jurisprudence has helped the establishment of legal regimes at the International, National as well as State levels. The need necessitated mankind to make endeavors in this direction so that the sacred humanness is preserved & protected much to the stability of world order.