212E Human Rights Law and Practice

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ELECTIVE COURSE
212 HUMAN RIGHT LAW & PRACTICE
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Refer (not in any particular order) :
Bare acts are a good source, in any subject of law.
Google ---> india law notes human rights filetype:pdf
http://www.hrln.org/hrln/images/stories/pdf/SHRHumanRightsTrainingModule.pdf
http://archive.mu.ac.in/myweb_test/SYBA%20Study%20Material/fc.pdf

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CONTENTS
212 Human Right Law & Practice
Module-1) Human Rights : General.
Module-2) UN and Human Rights :
Module-3) Human Rights under the Constitution and different Legislation :
Module-4) Enforcement of Human Rights and machinery thereof :
Module-1) HUMAN RIGHTS : GENERAL.
1.1) Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights :

1.1.1) Meaning, Basic Concept and Origin of Human Rights,
1.1.2) Sources and significance of Human Rights
1.1.3) Different definitions of Human Rights, First Official Use of the
term Human Right' at UN Meeting, Classification of Human
Rights
1.1.4) Theories of Human Rights
1.2) Historical development of the concept of Human Rights :
1.2.1) Human rights in Indian tradition : ancient, medieval and modern.
1.2.2) Human rights in Western tradition
1.2.3) Concept of natural Law, Concept of natural rights
1.2.4) Human rights in legal tradition, international Law and National
Law
GO TO CONTENTS.
MODULE-1 QUESTIONS :
What is meant by Human Rights ? Explain the historical development, nature,

and importance of Human Rights. (Apr-2014)
Discuss in detail : Different definitions of Human Rights, First Official Use of the
term Human Right' at UN Meeting, Classification of Human Rights.
Explain in detail the meaning and concept of Human Right and its importance. (Apr-
2012, Apr-2013)
Discuss in detail : historical development of the concept of Human Rights in
Indian tradition. (Apr-2013, Apr-2016)
Discuss in detail, "Reflection of Human Rights in Indian Tradition. (Mar-2015)
Discuss : Human rights in Western tradition.
Explain in detail, Sources and Significance of Human Rights. (Mar-2015)
Write shortnote : sources of Human Rights. (Apr-2013, Apr-2014)
Explain in detail : various theories of Human Rights. (Apr-2012, Apr-2013, Apr-2014,
Mar-2015)
Discuss in detail : Concept of natural Law, Concept of natural rights.
Discuss in detail : Human rights in legal tradition, international Law and National Law.
GO TO CONTENTS.
MODULE-1 ANSWERS :
What is meant by Human Rights ? Explain the historical development, nature,

and importance of Human Rights. (Apr-2014)
Discuss in detail : Different definitions of Human Rights, First Official Use of the
term Human Right' at UN Meeting, Classification of Human Rights.
Explain in detail the meaning and concept of Human Right and its importance. (Apr-
2012, Apr-2013)
Answer :
Refer :
Part copied from notes of 205 Public International Law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_human_rights_law
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/law-india/Human-Rights-law-in-India.htm
page-155 of "101743038-Public-International-Law-Guide.pdf"
http://www.ijrcenter.org/ihr-reading-room/overview-of-the-human-rights-
framework/
http://download.nos.org/srsec317newE/317EL25.pdf
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/About%20Us/Directorates%20and
%20Program%20Offices/RAIO/International%20Human%20Rights%20Law%20LP
%20(RAIO).pdf
Intro :
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
Preamble : Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice
and peace in the world
Article 1 : All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
The rise and rise of human rights is probably the most startling development in
international law since the Second World War. In placing the protection of
individuals at the heart of international law the old state-centric international law
has been changed forever. Perhaps the most remarkable effect of this has been on
the fundamental concept of sovereignty. In the twenty-first century no state would

argue that the question of its treatment of its own nationals is a matter of only
domestic concern. And here the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
has also been unprecedented.
International human rights law is the body of customary international law
designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels.
As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up
of treaties, agreements between states intended to have binding legal effect
between the parties that have agreed to them; and customary international law,
rules of law derived from the consistent conduct of states acting out of the belief
that the law required them to act that way. Other international human rights
instruments while not legally binding contribute to the implementation,
understanding and development of international human rights law and have been
recognized as a source of political obligation.
Enforcement of international human rights law can occur on either a domestic, a
regional or an international level. States that ratify human rights treaties commit
themselves to respecting those rights and ensuring that their domestic law is
compatible with international legislation. When domestic law fails to provide a
remedy for human rights abuses, parties may be able to resort to regional or
international mechanisms for enforcing human rights.
What are Human Rights ?
The precise meaning of the term right is a subject of continued philosophical
debate;
while there is consensus that human rights encompasses a wide variety of rights
such as the right to a fair trial, protection against enslavement, prohibition of
genocide, free speech, or a right to education, there is disagreement about
which of these particular rights should be included within the general framework
of human rights;
some thinkers suggest that human rights should be a minimum requirement to
avoid the worst-case abuses, while others see it as a higher standard.
Most acceptable definition of Human Rights : Human rights are those activities,
conditions, and freedoms that all human beings are entitled to enjoy, by virtue of
their humanity. They include civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Human rights are inherent, inalienable, interdependent, and indivisible, meaning
they cannot be granted or taken away, the enjoyment of one right affects the
enjoyment of others, and they must all be respected.
Human rights are moral principles or norms, which describe certain standards of
human behaviour, and are regularly protected as legal 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, etc.
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.
Although certain international instruments permit derogation of these rights in
time of public emergency threatening the life of the nation (ICCPR, Art 4(1)), all
human rights are universal, indivisible, interrelated, interdependent and mutually
reinforcing, and . . . all human rights must be treated in a fair and equal manner,
on the same footing and with the same emphasis
What is International human rights law ?
International human rights law is, essentially, a set of rules governing State
behavior vis-a-vis individuals and, at its most basic, requires States to ensure that
people can enjoy their fundamental freedoms.
Like national constitutions, which are covenants between governments and their
citizens, international human rights treaties are covenants between States and the
international community, whereby States agree to guarantee certain rights within
their own territories.
When States ratify human rights treaties, they agree to both refrain from violating
specific rights and to guarantee enjoyment of those rights by individuals and
groups within their jurisdictions.
Regional and international oversight bodies contribute to State compliance and
provide opportunities for redress and accountability that may be non-existent or
ineffective at the national level.
However, becoming party to a treaty or agreeing to oversight by a supranational
body generally remains voluntary. The level of participation in the international
human rights framework varies among States.
Need/ importance of Human Rights :
Human rights are fundamental to the stability and development of countries all
around the world.
Great emphasis has been placed on international conventions and their
implementation in order to ensure adherence to a universal standard of
acceptability.
Protection of Human Right are an important cause for birth of UN.
In modern context the importance of human rights on the global stage can be
traced to the importance of human rights within the United Nations framework
and the UN Charter.
Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in
the aftermath of the Second World War.
Gory incidents such as the Holocaust paved way for the awareness of the need
for a strong Human Rights regime, which in turn resulted in the grant of
recognition of the individual as a subject of International Law.
This can be seen as the starting point for the development of a broad array of
declarations, treaties, implementation and enforcement mechanisms, UN organs,
committees and reports on the protection of human rights.
In response to the experience of the Second World War resulting from a
totalitarian and racist Nazi regime and the desire to prevent a recurrence of such
a phenomenon, International Bill of Human Rights comprising, (i) Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, (ii) the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and (iii) the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December
1948 at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris.
As a result, every year on Dec. 10, we celebrate Human Rights Day in honor of
the date of passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enacted by the
United Nations in 1948. The protections granted by the declaration affect all
aspects of our private and public life
With the advent of globalization and the introduction of new technology, these
principles gain importance not only in protecting human beings from the ill-effects
of change but also in ensuring that all are allowed a share of the benefits.
Human rights in science and technology : The impact of several changes in the
world today on human rights has been both negative and positive. In particular, the
risks posed by advancements in science and technology may severely hinder the
implementation of human rights if not handled carefully. eg
In the field of biotechnology and medicine especially there is strong need for
human rights to be absorbed into ethical codes and for all professionals to
ensure that basic human dignity is protected under all circumstances.
For instance, with the possibility of transplanting organs from both the living and
dead, a number of issues arise such as consent to donation, the definition of
death to prevent premature harvesting, an equal chance at transplantation etc.
Genetic engineering also brings with it the dangers of gene mutation and all the
problems associated with cloning.
In order to deal with these issues, the Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with Regard to the Application and
Medicine puts the welfare of the human being above society or science.
Right to Clean Environment: A basic Human Right : At present, all of us all over the
globe face grave environmental problems. The continuing deterioration of earths
ecological reserves poses a serious threat to the pollution free environment. One of
the most complex challenges facing our generation is to maintain a workable
synergy between sustainable economic development and pollution free
environment
National governments as the guarantors, or violators, of HR :
The concept of human rights has close links with natural law the theory that
argues that beyond the laws created by people there are natural or divine laws
with which created laws must conform.
However, only governments are in a position to put in place the laws and policies
necessary for protection of human rights and to regulate private and public
practices that impact individuals enjoyment of those rights. Therefore, we think
of national governments (States) as the guarantors, or violators, of human
rights.
Nature of Human Rights : Six Features of Human Rights : There are certain common
features of all the categories of human rights. We can identify at least six features
which are basic to the concept of human rights.
People have rights simply because they are human : All people have the right to
lead a dignified and human life, and work towards achieving this for all people.
These rights cannot be denied on the basis of caste, colour, religion and gender.
Human rights are universal : They take no account of nation, race, sex or colour.
People of all nations, colour, race, religion have same rights everywhere. The
developed and developing countries in all continents of the world must guarantee
same rights to all their citizens.
Human rights treat all people as equal : This follows the idea that all human
beings are born free and equal in rights and dignity and therefore deserve the
same opportunities and treatment, whilst simultaneously respecting their different
cultures and traditions, political persuasion, sexuality, social origin, status etc.
Governments must therefore work to create the same opportunities for all the
people in the country and this may involve extra work to make those opportunities
the same for certain sections in society e.g. women, children, and the disabled.
These rights belong primarily to individuals : Often, Human Rights are concerned
with the relationship between an individual and the state. Consequently, it is for the
government to create a society where each individual can enjoy and freely exercise
his or her rights to the full.
Human rights encompass the fundamental principles of humanity : These rights are
considered to be basic for the development of human personality and for the sake
of human dignity. Examples of such rights are the right to life, freedom from
slavery and freedom from torture.

The promotion and protection of human rights is not limited to national boundaries
but rather stipulates certain ideals that apply the world over. Human rights hold
nations accountable for meeting the conditions which satisfy the promotion,
protection and respect for these rights.
Classification of Human Rights :
Human rights can be classified and organized in several different ways. At an
international level the most common categorization of human rights has been to
split them into (i) civil and political rights, and (ii) economic, social and cultural
rights.
(i) Civil and political rights are enshrined in articles 3 to 21 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and in the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR).
(ii) Economic, social and cultural rights are enshrined in articles 22 to 28 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and in the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Yet another categorization of Human Rights is as follows,
Fundamental and Basic Rights :
With the recent increase in the number of human rights, a concern has arisen
that some rights will become watered down.
Consequently, the term fundamental rights tends to be used to indicate more
importance of certain rights.
Some rights are so important that they must always be given precedence in
national and international policy.
They include all the rights pertaining to individual dignity as well as to their
material needs.
Collective and Individual Rights :
In general, most human rights relate to the individual. It will, however,
become apparent that some of them can only be exercised by groups. This is
especially so when the ability to exercise rights is linked to membership of a
particular group.
First, Second and Third Generation Rights :
Classification follows the historical development of rights.
First are the civil and political rights, and
second are the social, economic and cultural ones.
In recent years, academics have started to talk about the existence of a third
generation of rights which are solidarity rights,
for example the right to peace, the right to development, the right to food
and to a clean environment.
Classification of Human Rights in Indian Constitution :
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7839/12/12_chapter
%202.pdf
A perusal of Indian Constitution shows that human rights have been classified
under Indian Constitution into the following categories :-
a) Fundamental Rights and Rights to freedom (Fundamental Freedoms)
b) Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
c) Human Rights for all and Human Rights for Citizens only.
d) Justiciable Human Rights and Non-Justice able Human Rights
e) Enumerated Human Rights and un-enumerated Human Rights.

Conclusions :
The rise and rise of human rights is probably the most startling development in
international law since the Second World War. In placing the protection of
individuals at the heart of international law the old state-centric international law
has been changed forever. Perhaps the most remarkable effect of this has been on
the fundamental concept of sovereignty. In the twenty-first century no state would
argue that the question of its treatment of its own nationals is a matter of only
domestic concern. And here the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
has also been unprecedented.
GO TO MODULE-1 QUESTIONS.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss in detail : historical development of the concept of Human Rights in

Indian tradition. (Apr-2013, Apr-2016)
Discuss in detail, "Reflection of Human Rights in Indian Tradition. (Mar-2015)
Discuss : Human rights in Western tradition.
Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_human_rights
https://www.academia.edu/10421419/HISTORICAL_EVOLUTION_OF_HUMAN_RIGH
TS_WORLD_WIDE_AND_IN_INDIA
The answer is divided in to 3 separate units :
1. Historical development of the concept of Human Rights
2. Human Rights in Indian tradition
3. Human Rights in Western tradition
1. Historical development of the concept of Human Rights :
Intro :
The European wars of religion and the civil wars of seventeenth-century England
gave rise to the philosophy of liberalism and belief in human rights became a
central concern of European intellectual culture during the eighteenth-century
Age of Enlightenment.
These ideas of human rights lay at the core of the American and French
Revolutions which occurred toward the end of that century.
Modern human rights arguments emerged only over the latter half of the
twentieth century, possibly as a reaction to slavery, torture, genocide, and war
crimes, as a realization of inherent human vulnerability and as being a
precondition for the possibility of a just society.
Roots of international human rights law go deep into history. For the sake
convenience, the discussion may be broken down in to following evolutionary
stages in the history of Human Rights,
1. Ancient age
2. Early Islamic Caliphate
3. Middle Ages
4. Modern human rights movement
1. Ancient age :
Ancient peoples did not have the same modern-day conception of universal
human rights. However, notions of righteousness/ natural rights present in
ancient law and religion do get retrospectively included under the term "human
rights".
While belief in the sanctity of human life has ancient precedents in many
religions of the world, the idea of human rights, that is, the notion that a human
being has a set of inviolable rights simply on grounds of being human, began
during the era of renaissance humanism in the early modern period.
Concept of citizenship was there in ancient Greece, where all free citizens had
the right to speak and vote in the political assembly.
2. Early Islamic Caliphate :
Historians generally agree that Muhammad preached against what he saw as the
social evils of his day,[15] and that Islamic social reforms in areas such as social
security, family structure, slavery, and the rights of women and ethnic minorities
were intended to improve on what was present in existing Arab society at the
time.
The Constitution of Medina, also known as the Charter of Medina, was drafted by
Muhammad in 622. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and
all of the significant tribes including Muslims, Jews, and pagans.
The document was drawn up with the explicit concern of bringing to an end the
bitter inter-tribal fighting within Medina. To this effect it instituted a number of
rights and responsibilities for the Muslim, Jewish and pagan communities of
Medina bringing them within the fold of one community - the Ummah.
The Constitution established the security of the community, freedom of religion,
the role of Medina as a haram or sacred place (barring all violence and
weapons), the security of women, stable tribal relations within Medina.
Sociologist Robert Bellah (Beyond belief) argues that Islam in its 7th-century
origins was, for its time and place, "remarkably modern...in the high degree of
commitment, involvement, and participation expected from the rank-and-file
members of the community."
3. Middle Ages :
Magna Carta is an English charter originally issued in 1215 which influenced the
development of the common law and many later constitutional documents, such
as the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights
Magna Carta required the King to renounce certain rights, respect certain legal
procedures and accept that his will could be bound by the law.
For modern times, the most enduring legacy of Magna Carta is considered the
right of habeas corpus. Magna Carta explicitly protected certain rights of the
King's subjects, whether free or fetteredmost notably the writ of habeas
corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment,
The Magna Carta also included the right to due process
4. Development of modern concept of Human Rights :
Several 17th- and 18th-century European philosophers, most notably John
Locke, developed the concept of natural rights, the notion that people are
naturally free and equal. Though Locke believed natural rights were derived from
divinity since humans were creations of God, his ideas were important in the
development of the modern notion of rights.
Lockean natural rights did not rely on citizenship nor any law of the state, nor
were they necessarily limited to one particular ethnic, cultural or religious group.
Around the same time, in 1689, the English Bill of Rights was created which
asserted some basic human rights, most famously freedom from cruel and
unusual punishment.
Two major revolutions occurred during the 18th century in the United States
(1776) and in France (1789).
The Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776 set up a number of fundamental
rights and freedoms. The later United States Declaration of Independence
included concepts of natural rights and famously stated
"that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness".
Similarly, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen defines a set
of individual and collective rights of the people. These are, in the document,
held to be universalnot only to French citizens but to all men without
exception.
After World War I :
Many groups and movements managed to achieve profound social changes
over the course of the 20th century in the name of human rights.
In Western Europe and North America, labour unions brought about laws
granting workers the right to strike, establishing minimum work conditions
and forbidding or regulating child labour.
The women's rights movement succeeded in gaining for many women the
right to vote,
The League of Nations was established in 1919 at the negotiations over the
Treaty of Versailles following the end of World War I. League's goals included
disarmament, preventing war through collective security, settling disputes
between countries through negotiation, diplomacy and improving global
welfare. Enshrined in its Charter was a mandate to promote many of the
rights which were later included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
After World War II :
The tremendous atrocities of the Second World War can be said to mark the
start of the current era of human rights, for they ended the view that it was
up to the individual state to determine how to treat its citizens.
The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations reaffirms faith in
fundamental human rights.......
Article 1 of the UN Charter states that promoting and encouraging respect
for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as
to race, sex, language, or religion is one of the purposes of the United
Nations.
Thus, human rights are a legitimate concern of the international
community.
Signatories to the UN Charter undertake the responsibility of promoting
human rights individually and collectively.
In 1946, the UN Commission on Human Rights was established and in less
than two years it had drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which
was adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 1948.
In 1966 (i) the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and (ii) the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
After the Second World War there has developed a body of international
human rights code reaffirming the morally appealing idea of adherence to
shared standards of justice to qualify for membership of the international
community.
These standards of civilized behaviour link national and international political
legitimacy.
Conclusion :
The visible rise of universal human rights culture depicts moral progress and is
an effective response to major threats to human dignity posed by modern
political and economic trends.
Viewing development with the rights perspective for sustainable development
appears to be gaining ground.
That we are all equally human seems to be more acceptable now, with the
current slogans: All human rights for all and The world is one family.
2. Human Rights in Indian tradition :
Introduction :
Since the days of the lndus Valley Civilization, Indian culture has been the
product of a synthesis of diverse cultures and religions that came into contact
with the enormous Indian sub continent over a very long stretch of time.
The Indian concept perceives the individual, the society and the universe as an
organic whole. Everyone is a child of God and all fellow beings are related to one
another and belong to a universal family.
Origin and Development of Human Rights in India.
The Buddhist doctrine of non-violence in deed and thought is a humanitarian
doctrine par excellence, dating back to the third century B.C.
Jainism too contained similar doctrines.
According to the Gita, "he who has no ill will to any being, who is friendly and
compassionate, who is free from egoism and self sense and who is even-minded
in pain and pleasure and patient" is dear to God.
The historical account of ancient Bharat proves beyond doubt that human rights
were much more manifest in the ancient Hindu civilizations as in the European
Christian civilizations. Ashoka, cannot be excluded from the geneology of human
rights.
Ancient Hindu Law of Human Rights.
Scholars who have spent long time in study on the Hindu "Dharmasastras" and
the "Arthasastras" and other legal treatises of the past have discovered an
amazing system, which, interalia, regulates the duties of Kings, judges, subjects
and judicial as well as legal procedures.
The central concept is Dharma, the functional focus of which is social order. The
message is "Dharma" as the supreme value, which binds kings and citizens, men
and women. Human rights gain meaning only when there is an independent
judiciary to enforce rights.
There are many references in the Vedas, which throw light on the existence of
human rights in ancient India. The Vedas proclaim liberty of body (Tan),
dwelling house (Skridhi), and life (Jibase).
In 1367 B.C. Bahmani and Vijayanayar Kings are stated to have entered into an
agreement for the humane treatment of prisoners of war and the sparing of lives
of the enemy's unarmed subjects.
Human rights have always occupied a place of paramount importance in India's
rich legacy because India believed in the principle, "Vashudhaiva-kutumbakam,
i.e. welfare of all.
Human Rights in Post-Vedic period :
In the Post-Vedic period, the rise of Buddhism and Jainism were certainly a
reaction against the deterioration of the moral order as against the rights of the
privileged class. Life was more human and liberal in the Post-Vedic era.
After Buddha, Emperor Ashoka protected and secured the most precious of
human rights, particularly the right to equality, fraternity, liberty and Happiness.
Ashoka successfully established a welfare State and made provisions for securing
basic freedoms.
Ashoka, the champion of civil liberties, allowed even the forest folk in his domain
to enjoy security of life, peace of mind and enjoy their life on par with other
people in the society.
A declaration for religious tolerance on an egalitarian basis can be found in the
Edicts of Ashoka, which emphasize the importance of tolerance in public policy
by the government. The slaughter or capture of prisoners of war was also
condemned by Ashoka.
Human Rights in the Islamic Era
The Muslim invasion of India created a new situation wherein the Muslim rulers
or Sultans followed a policy of discrimination against the Hindus. So the
significance of Muslim rule in India was counter- productive to harmony, justice
and equality.
There was one law for the Muslims (the faithful) and another for the Hindus (the
Kafirs or the infidels) and as a result the principle of equality was not given much
importance.
Human Rights in British India
The modern version of human rights jurisprudence may be said to have taken
birth in India at tile time of the British rule.
When the British ruled India, resistance to foreign rule manifested itself in the
form of demand for fundamental freedoms and the civil and political rights of the
people; Indians were humiliated and discriminated against by the British. The
freedom movement and the harsh repressive measures of the British rulers
encouraged the fight for civil liberties and fundamental freedoms.
Under the British rule, human rights and democracy was suspect and socialism
was an anathema. In the Indian cultural history, the British colonial period
remains the Indian equivalent of the 'Dark Ages'. Lord Macaulay rejected the
ancient Indian legal political system as 'dotages of brahminical superstition.
In 1925 the Indian National Congress finalized the draft of Common Wealth of
India Bill adopting a 'Declaration of Rights.' The Madras Session of the Congress
held in the year 1927 demanded incorporation of a 'Declaration of
Fundamental Rights' in any future constitutional framework. The rights
emphasised by the Motilal Nehru Committee were:1
a) Personal liberty, inviolability of dwelling place and property
b) Freedom of conscience, and of profession and practice of religion
c) Expression of opinion and the right to assemble peaceably without arms
and to form associations
d) Free elementary education
e) Equality for all before the law and rights
f) Right to the writ f Habeas Corpus
g) Protection from punishment under ex-post facto laws
h) Non-discrimination against any person on grounds of religion, caste or
creed in the matter of public employment
i) Equality of right in the matter of access to and use of public roads, wells
etc.
j) Freedom of combination and association for the maintenance and
implementation of labour and economic factors
k) Right to keep and bear arms
l) Equality of rights to man and woman
Constituent Assembly and Human Rights
The Indian Constitution was framed by the Constituent Assembly of India, which
met for the first time on December 9, 1946. The Constitution of India gave
primary importance to human rights.
The Constituent Assembly incorporated in the Constitution of India the substance
of the right proclaimed and adopted by the General Assembly in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
The constitution of India is known as one of the most right-based constitutions in
the world. It was drafted around the same time when the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights by the United Nations came into force (1948). Indian
constitution provides the spirit of human rights in its preamble and the sections
on Fundamental rights and Directive Principle of State Policy.
Framers of the constitution provided some fundamental rights to the citizens
which are enshrined in the part III of the constitution.
These fundamental rights are defined as basic human freedom for a proper and
harmonious development of personality of every Indian citizen.
These fundamental rights apply to all Indian citizens, irrespective of caste,
creed, color, sex, race or place of birth.
They are enforceable by the courts, subject to certain restrictions.
3. Human Rights in Western tradition : Major Landmarks in the Development of
Human Rights :
Incorporation of a Bill of Rights in some early national charters and constitutions in
Europe indicates that the concept is not of recent origin.
Early European charters supporting the idea of certain fundamental freedoms were
the Magna Carta of 1215, the Union of Utrecht in 1579 (Netherlands), and the
British Bill of Rights in 1689.
These charters specified certain freedoms that one could claim if one held a
particular status and were not all-encompassing, but rather conferred upon an
individual.
Over the next few centuries, the idea of liberty gradually separated from status and
was viewed as a right pertaining to all human beings.
This was also the time when the British colonies in North America strove for
independence and drew up their own Declaration of Independence in 1776, based

on the idea of universal equality, and the existence of certain inalienable rights.
These documents were eventually incorporated into the American Bill of Rights
which is a part of the U.S. Constitution.

The international growth of the concept can be demonstrated by the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.
The rights of the 18th and 19th centuries can be termed as classic rights, relating
to the freedom of the individual and were incorporated in many national
constitutions.
Today, governments provide new category of rights in the fields of employment,
education, health and welfare. These are termed as social rights. The social rights
were first embodied in international regulations for example, the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) was founded in 1919 and was the originator of various
labour regulations.
Important Dates for Human Rights in Western Tradition :
1215 Magna Carta
1776 American Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights
1787 Constitution of the United States
1789 French Declaration of the Rights of man
1946 UN Commission on Human Rights
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1949 Geneva Conventions
1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms
1961 European Social Charter
1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR);
1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); and the
1966 (First) Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT)
1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World
Conference on Human Rights.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain in detail, Sources and Significance of Human Rights. (Mar-2015)

Write shortnote : sources of Human Rights. (Apr-2013, Apr-2014)
Answer :
Refer :
http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/udhr/preamble_section_1/discussion.ht
ml
Intro :
International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to
promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic
levels.
International human rights law primarily consists of treaties and customary
international law.
Other international human rights instruments, while not legally binding, contribute
to the implementation, understanding, and development of international human
rights law.
Sources of Human Rights :
There are two theories of sources of Human Rights,
1. First theory : IF the question is Sources of human rights
Religion
Natural Law
Natural Rights
Legal Positivism
Marxism/ Socialism
2. Second theory : IF the question is Sources of human rights laws
State Laws (Constitutional Laws, acts of legislatures),
International Laws (Treaties / Customary Law)
Judicial Decisions / precedents
Here the first theory will be discussed because the question is Sources of
human rights.
Where Do Human Rights Come From ?
While the language of the Universal Declaration may echo earlier articulations of
Human Rights, it does not expressly invoke natural rights, a Supreme Being,
human nature, or any other philosophical basis for human rights.
This raises the old and vexed question - the very same question that confronted
the drafters of the Declaration in June 1947 of the theoretical or philosophical
basis of universal Human Rights.
The very term human rights points to a source: humanity, human nature,
being a person or human being.
Legal rights have law as their source, contractual rights arise from
contracts, and thus human rights have humanity or human nature as
their source (Donnelly, 16).
But how does human nature - how can being a human being - give rise to
rights? With law we can point to statute or custom. With contracts there is the
act of contracting. How does being human give one rights?
The scholar Jerome Shestack has suggested that the most pertinent theories to
the evolution of the human rights idea are religion, natural law, natural rights,
legal positivism, and Marxism (Shestack, 75).

Religion :
According to Henkin, religion is not a single or simple idea, and its relation to
the idea of rights is neither single nor simple.
The major religions can fairly claim ancestry to values central to human rights :
right and wrong, good and evil; justice and injustice; legality and illegality;
the essential equality of men; the equal protection of the laws.
But the major religions have ancient roots and their theology and ideology were
largely formed before the idea of rights was conceived.
To ancient Judaism, Christianity, Islam - to the older Eastern religions and to
other traditional cultures - the idea of rights, surely of rights against society, was
unknown.
The Bible, for example, knew not rights but duties, and duties were to God;
Of course, ancient languages did not have a word for rights, and even our later
English word suggests its derivation from what is "right" from a theory of good,
or justice, without connotations of individual entitlements.
The idea of human rights, moreover, is a political idea, addressing man's relation
to political society, and ancient religions and other traditional cultures did not
have a modern kind of political society to which an individual might have a
modern-style relationships, and upon which he and she might make claims
(Henkin, Age of Rights, 183-4).
Equality and Non-Discrimination : For the contemporary Human Rights ideology,
human dignity requires equality and non-discrimination, including non-
discrimination on grounds of religion or non-religion;

Natural Law :
The scientific and intellectual achievements of the 17th century encouraged a
belief in natural law and universal order. The theory of natural law is the belief
that
people, as creatures of nature and God, should live their lives and organize
society on the basis of rules and precepts laid down by nature or God.
The concept of natural law originated with the Greeks and received its most
important formulation in Stoicism. The Stoics believed that
the fundamental moral principles that underlie all the legal systems of
different nations were reducible to the dictates of natural law.
The Stoics, Cicero and their jurists successor did not perceive natural law as a
higher law invalidating and justifying disobedience to man-made laws that did
not measure up, but as a standard for making, developing and interpreting
law : law should be made and developed so that it correspond to nature.
Later the church rooted natural law in divine authority, and gave it the quality of
highest law.
Christian philosophers such as St. Thomas Aquinas perpetuated this idea,
asserting that natural law was common to all peoples, Christian and non-
Christian alike, while adding that revealed law gave Christians an additional
guide for their actions.
Natural Rights :
Natural law theory emphasized duties imposed by God on every human
society in an orderly cosmos.
In time, society's duties came to be seen as natural rights for the
individual.
By violating a natural right, one wrongs the subject whose right it is. These
subjects of natural rights are viewed as sources of moral claims and thereby
recognized as having a certain moral standing and value.
The natural law idiom contains no such idea: It need not involve constraints on
ones conduct toward other subjects at all and, even if it does, need not involve
the idea that by violating such constraints one has wronged these subjects one
may have wronged God, for example, or have disturbed the harmonious order of
the cosmos.
During the 18th century, the so called Age of Enlightenment, natural law and
universal order came to be comprehensively explained. Particularly to be noted
are the writings of the 17th century English philosopher John Locke arguably
the most important natural law theorist of modern times and the works of the
18th century Philosophes centered mainly in Paris, including Montesquieu,

Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Locke argued in detail,
that certain rights self-evidently pertain to individuals as human beings
(because they existed in the state of nature before humankind entered civil
society;) and
that the chief among them are the rights to life, liberty (freedom from
arbitrary rule,) and property;
that, upon entering civil society (pursuant to a social contract,) human kind
surrendered to the state only the rights to enforce these natural rights, not
the rights themselves; and
that the states failure to secure these reserved natural rights. (the state itself
being under contract to safeguard the interests of its members ) gives rise to
responsible, popular revolution.
The American and French Revolutions, and the declarations that expressed the
principles that inspired them, took "natural rights" and made them secular,
rational, universal, individual, democratic, and radical.
For divine foundations for the rights of man they substituted (or perhaps only
added) a social-contractual base.
The rights of man are not divinely ordained, not divinely conceived : but they
are God's gift in that they result from his creation.
They are natural in the sense that nature (and nature's God) created and
inspired man's reason and judgment.
They are natural also in a different sense, in that they are man's in the "state
of nature," and he brings them with him into society.
The individual was autonomous, sovereign, before government was established,
and he, and other individuals taken together -
"the people" - remain sovereign under any government. Peoples sovereignty
is inalienable, and government is only by consent of the governed.
The people gave up some of their authority to government for limited
purposes, retaining the rest as rights and freedoms under government.
Rights originate with and are retained by the people; they are not
granted to them.
Man retains rights against government in principle by virtue of his social
contract, though we know that such a contract is a hypothetical construct, not a
historical fact;
Legal Positivism :
Legal positivism is a theory about the nature of law, commonly thought to be

characterized by two major tenets :
first, that there is no necessary connection between law and morality; and
second, that legal validity is determined ultimately by reference to certain
basic social facts, e.g., the command of the sovereign (John Austin) the
Grundnorm (Hans Kelsen) or the rule of recognition (Hart).
These different descriptions of the basic law-determining facts lead to different
claims about the normative character of law, with classical positivists (e.g. John
Austin) insisting that law is essentially coercive, and modern positivists (e.g.
Hans Kelsen) maintaining that it is normative.
The traditional opponent of the legal positivist is the natural law theorist, who
holds that no sharp distinction can be drawn between law and morality, thus
challenging positivism's first tenet.
The greatest opponent of natural rights was the 19th century positivist
philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Bentham considered "natural rights [to be] simple
nonsense" and "natural and imprescriptable rights, rhetorical nonsense, -
nonsense upon stilts.
Jurisprudence was the elucidation of terms like right and 'duty' in the context
of positive law.
As they stood, 'right' and 'duty' were fictitious terms for Bentham, whereas
terms like 'law,' 'sanction' and 'sovereign' were not. The former did not stand
for anything tangible, but the latter picked out identifiable things that we
could hear, see and experience. eg things like commands, commanders and
the deliberate infliction of pain.
Bentham viewed talk of natural rights as devoid of meaning. But, if
propositions about right and duty could somehow be translated into
propositions about laws and sanction, they could be given a sense.
Marxism/ Socialism :
A political ideology to which individual rights are basic is sometimes contrasted
with socialism. According to Karl Marx, in an industrialized society, the worker is
inherently and inevitable exploited and alienated and individual rights are an
illusion and a deception.
Today, socialist societies exist in socialist states, although perhaps, in theory and
in principle, they see themselves as on the road to a pure, stateless socialist
society.
Although contemporary Communist ideology has adopted the language of rights
and has moved towards the human rights consensus, it has not yet accepted and
assimilated some basic implications of the idea.
It does not take seriously enough the separateness of the individual; it

sometimes forgets that its own raison d'etre is the enrichment of individual
life.
In the ideology of socialism, the individual has begun to count, but he does
not yet count enough.
How is human dignity a source of rights in UDHR ?
The language of Universal Declaration of Human Rights bears not only a striking
resemblance to the French Declaration, {which recognizes and proclaims
natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man"} but also to several key
Enlightenment Bills of Rights.
The philosophy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was linked to the
French Declaration of 1789, but that 18th century rationalism has been replaced
by 20th century secular humanism.
We are not told what theory justifies "human dignity" as the source of rights in
UDHR, or how human dignity is defined or its needs determined or how
preserving human rights will promote peace in the world".
Henkin explains the apparent void of an agreed human rights theory in the
Declaration by the fact that
"international human rights are not the work of philosophers, but of politicians
and citizens, and philosophers have only begun to try build conceptual
justifications for them.
To have a right is to have a claim against someone whose recognition as valid
is called for by some set of governing rules or moral principles.
To have a claim in turn, is to have a case meriting consideration, that is, to
have reasons or grounds that put one in a position to engage in claiming.
The activity of claiming, finally as much as any other thing, makes for self-
respect and respect for others, and gives a sense to the notion of personal
dignity.
Conclusion :
Human Rights are an inherent part of human dignity. One should "treat
humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end
and never as a means only."
Since human dignity of an individual is dependent on the morality of others,
humans shall "always judge their actions by such maxims as they themselves
could will to serve universal laws."
In this sense then, the idea and ideology of human rights reflects a
contemporary political morality.
Significance/ importance of Human Rights :
<read importance of human rights from elsewhere in this doc>
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain in detail : various theories of Human Rights. (Apr-2012, Apr-2013, Apr-2014,

Mar-2015)
Answer :
Refer :
http://www.alameenlaw.in/modelpapers-dec2016.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_human_rights
https://www.slideshare.net/sadishp/theories-of-human-rights-full-paper?
from_action=save
INTRODUCTION :
Human rights are one of the significant features of our political reality. It is the
moral rights of highest order.
Human Rights are evolved out of self-respect.
It is inherent to all humans without any discrimination of race, sex, nationality,
ethnicity, language, religion and colour etc.
It received new shape when human beings began to think themselves.
Each and every human beings are entitled to these rights without any
discrimination.

WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS ? : In short, it is the basic rights and freedom of all
human, it include the right to life, liberty, freedom of thought, expression and
equality before the law. It is interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.
There are several theories which are relevant to the concept of human rights.
These theories are,
1. NATURAL LAW THEORY OF RIGHTS
2. SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORIES OF RIGHTS
3. UTILITARIAN THEORY OF RIGHTS OR LEGAL RIGHTS THEORY
4. SOCIAL WELFARE THEORY OF RIGHTS
5. POSITIVIST THEORY OF RIGHTS
6. MARXIST THEORY OF RIGHTS
7. MORALITY OF LAW THEORY OF RIGHTS
8. THEORIES OF RIGHTS BASED ON JUSTICE

9. IDEALISTIC THEORY OF RIGHTS.
1. NATURAL LAW THEORY OF RIGHTS :
The credit of giving birth to natural law goes to Greeks. It engaged the attention of
eminent Greek Scholars such as Socrates and Aristotle. After the Greeks it was
further developed and elaborated by the Romans.
The early and original law of Romans was called Jus Civil. Later on the Romans
developed another legal system called Jus gentium.
In the republican era of Rome, Jus gentium was reinforced by jus natural
( Natural law).
By Jus natural the Romans meant the sum of those principles which ought to
control human conduct because founded in the very nature of man as a rational
and social being.
According to Romans, natural law embodies the elementary principles of justice
which were the dictates of right reason.
John Locke was the chief exponent of natural rights theory, according to him
certain rights are natural to individuals as human beings, having existed even in
the state of nature before the development of societies and emergence of the
state.
2. SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORIES OF RIGHTS :
The social Contract Theory became popular through the writings of Thomas
Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau.
They propagated that a superior power, either manual or legal was established in
pursuance of the social contract under which,
the people collectively undertook to obey the commands of such superior power
so long as it governed them in their common interest and kept itself the terms of
contract.
According to Hobbes, man existed in a state of nature within which he would be
preoccupied exclusively by matters of self-interest.
According to John Locke, Human beings existed in a state of nature where men and
women were in a state of freedom able to determine their actions and also in a
state of equality.
Rousseau states what man loses by the social contract is his natural liberty and an
unlimited right to everything he tried to get and succeeds in getting what he gains
is civil liberty and the proprietorship of all he possesses.
The social contract theory clearly reflects the fundamental premise of most human
rights movement that governments are constituted to protect rights and serve
community goals.
3. UTILITARIAN THEORY OF RIGHTS OR LEGAL RIGHTS THEORY :
Jermy Bentham has advocated legal rights theory based on utilitarianism. The
utilitarian principle requires governments to maximize the total net sum of the
happiness of all their subjects.
Bentham established the principle of greatest happiness of the greatest number
and made it for the measure of utility.
Bentham postulated that all human actions ought to be governed by the pleasure-
causing and pain-causing consequences for the human beings in question.
According this theory the rights are the creation of state, they are neither absolute
nor inherent in the nature of man. These rights such as right to life, liberty or
property are artificially created by the law of the land.
Hence, the recognition of a right by state is necessary for its enforcement.
4. SOCIAL WELFARE THEORY OF RIGHTS :
Roscoe Pound and Prof Chaffee supported this theory.
They believed that law, custom and natural rights all are conditioned by social
expediency.
For instance, right to freedom of speech is not absolute but rather regulated in
accordance with the requirements of social expediency.
They have advocated for the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
This theory has played an important role in development of economic and social
rights and incorporate them in Universal Declaration of Human Rights and then in
the international convention on Economic, Social and Cultural rights.
5. POSITIVIST THEORY OF RIGHTS : Theory of legal rights :
Positivists believed that people would be bound to obey law, if it was created by
appropriate legislative authority or sovereign irrespective of its being reasonable or
unreasonable.
The positivists called this laws Law Positivism i.e. law which is in fact as
contrasted with law which ought to be.
Bentham, Austin & Hons Kelsen are famous proponent of legal positivism.
According to the positivists, the source of human rights lies in the enactment of a
system of with sanctions attached to it. They emphasized the distinction between
is and ought and criticize natural law theorists for undue emphasis on morals.
6. MARXIST THEORY OF RIGHTS : Theory of economic rights :
Karl Marx rejects the concept of Natural Law Theory. According to him only be
achieving the upliftment of the society or community the higher freedoms of
individuals can be achieved;

The contents of notion and ideas change in accordance with the changes that take
place in the lives of people living in a society.
For Marx, liberal rights and ideas of justice are premised on the idea that each of
us needs protection from other human beings.
Therefore, liberal rights are rights of separation, designed to protect us from such
perceived threats. Freedom on such a view, is freedom from interference.
What this view denies is the possibility according to Marx, the fact that real
freedom is to be found positively in our relations with other people. It is to be
found in human community, not in isolation.
Marx on capitalism :
He challenges the ideas of human rights based on the freedom and equality of
human beings.
There is no equality in capitalist society, the law is the expression of the ruling
class, interest in the preservation of the social structure. Dogmas of equality
before the law and other fundamental rights of the people are only a cloak of
inequality, i.e. slavery.
In order to guarantee conformity with the system common regulations are
established and maintained by the state.
The state in order to operate effectively has to create the illusion of
representing the interest of the whole of society.
But in fact, it does only represent the economic interest of the ruling class
maintaining the actual social structure.
Karl Marx believes that rights can exist and flourish only in a classless society
where all are equal and no one is to be an exploiter.
7. MORALITY OF LAW THEORY OF RIGHTS :
Lon.L.Fuller, professor of law at Harvard and a noted legal philosopher, criticized
legal positivism and defended a secular and procedural form of natural law theory.
According to him, there is an inner morality to the law that enforces the minimal
acceptable standards of human conduct
In the same manner law confers rights that those rights will not go beyond the
sphere of activity.
He states that the role of Law in human society is the dichotomy (repeated
branching) between the moralities of duty and aspiration.
The morality of aspiration refers to the struggle for excellence and full realization of
mans faculties is any human society.
The morality of duty regulates and enforces the minimum standards required within
an ordered society.
8. THEORIES OF RIGHTS BASED ON JUSTICE :
According to John Rawl, the role of justice is crucial to the understanding of
human rights.
Indeed human rights are an end of justice.
The principles of justice provide a way of assigning rights and duties is the basic
institutions of society and also define the appropriate distribution of the benefits
and burdens of social co-operation.
The general conception of justice behind the principles of justice is one of fairness.
The concept of justice and fairness help to determine all social primary goals such
as liberty and opportunity and wealth
9. IDEALISTIC THEORY OF RIGHTS :
it insist on the inner development of man, on the development of his full
potentiality which is a supreme right.
All natural rights, are derived from this fundamental right of personality, which is
the only absolute rights.
CONCLUSION :
The description of theories of rights express the fact that rights are originated
inherently in human beings.
Human rights are not just a product of morality but protect the basic freedom and
well-being necessary for human agency.
Human rights represent a social 6choice of a particular moral vision of human
potentiality, which rests on a particular substantive account of the minimum
requirements of a life of dignity
The distinctive focus of each theory results in significant variations in their lists of
specific human rights or the kind of activities humans may indulge in.
Human rights based on subsistence would not include the range of democratic
rights that most liberals argue that an essential element of human rights based on
dignity.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss in detail : Concept of natural Law, Concept of natural rights.

Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_and_legal_rights
http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=2245&context=facpub
http://users.ugent.be/~frvandun/Texts/Logica/NaturalLaw2.htm
http://www.constitution.org/cmt/jad/natural_law_rights.htm
<work on this>
What is natural law ? Natural law is the basis of positive law. Natural law is the way
the laws ought to be.
What is meant by natural rights ? Natural rights are derived from natural law. Natural
rights are usually said to be life, liberty, property, and security. Natural rights are
those that belong to individuals by virtue of their humanity

"Natural rights" - a.k.a. "man's rights," "the rights of man," "human rights,"
"individual rights," "Lockean rights" or "moral rights -
are rights that people are supposed to possess simply because they are human
beings.
Or, to put it another way, natural rights are rights that people supposedly possess
simply by virtue of their human nature.
Since natural rights are supposedly possessed simply because one is human, such
rights are therefore considered to be universal: possessed by all people.
Furthermore, they are considered to be inalienable: not subject to being taken away.
And, all people have the same, or equal, natural rights.

Natural rights are offspring of "natural law" which is a moral law which prescribes how
people ought to act.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss in detail : Human rights in legal tradition, international Law and National Law.
Answer :
Refer :
Copied from notes on 205 Public International Law.
framework/
The discussion is in 3 parts :
1. Human rights in legal tradition :
2. Human rights in international Law :
3. Human rights in Indian National Law :
1. Human rights in legal tradition :
<what does this phrase mean ???>, <work on this>
2. Human rights in international Law :
<Answered in module 2 question ---> Write a brief essay on international
developments relating to Human Rights (Apr-2013)>
3. Human rights in Indian National Law :
<Answered in Module-3 question : Explain the constitutional provisions for the
protection of Human Right in India. (Oct-2012)>
GO TO CONTENTS.
Module-2) UN and Human Rights :
2.1) International Documents relating to Human Rights

2.1.1) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) : Individual and
group rights, its significance and limitations
2.1.2) International Covenant on Human Rights :
International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, 1966
International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural
Rights, 1966
2.1.3) I.L.O. and other Conventions and Protocols dealing with human
rights
2.1.4) Importance and binding effect of above documents on the
member countries of UN
2.2) Impact and implementation of international human rights norms in
India :
2.2.1) Human rights norms reflected in fundamental rights under the
Constitution of India
2.2.2) Directive Principles legislative and administrative implementation
of international human rights norms.
2.2.3) Implementation of international human rights norms through
judicial process. (also refer to para 4.2)
GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss about International Documents relating to Human Rights. (Mar-2015)

Discuss in detail : Importance and binding effect of international documents on
the member countries of UN.
Write a brief essay on international developments relating to Human Rights (Apr-
2013)
Explain in detail the main provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) 1948. (Apr-2012, Oct-2012, Apr-2014, Apr-2016)
Write shortnote : Universal Declaration of Human Rights : its significance and
limitations. (Apr-2013, Mar-2015)
Explain the Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, 1966 (Oct-2012)
Explain in detail the provisions of International Covenent for Economic Social and
Cultural Rights 1966. (Apr-2012, Apr-2014, Apr-2016)
Explain in detail : International Labour Organization and its functions. (Apr-2012,
Apr-2013)
Write notes : I.L.O. and its function. (Apr-2016)
Explain : Disarmament threat to Human Rights. (Oct-2012)
Discuss about Human Rights reflected in Fundamental Rights under the
Constitution of India. (Apr-2013, Apr-2016)
Discuss in detail : Directive Principles legislative and administrative
implementation of international human rights norms.
Explain in detail, Implementation of International Human Rights norms through
Judicial process in India. (Mar-2015)
GO TO CONTENTS.
MODULE-2 ANSWERS :
Discuss about International Documents relating to Human Rights. (Mar-2015)

Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bill_of_Human_Rights
%20(RAIO).pdf
The International Bill of Rights :
When a State becomes a party to an international human rights treaty, it assumes
obligations and duties under international law to respect and protect human rights
and to refrain from certain acts.
The International Bill of Human Rights is the collective name given to UN General
Assembly Resolution 217 A (III) and two international treaties established by the
United Nations. It consists of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (adopted in 1948),
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966) with its
two Optional Protocols and
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
(1966).
The two covenants ICCPR & ICESCR entered into force in 1976, after a sufficient
number of countries had ratified them.
There are differences among States in how categories of rights are weighed, based
on the domestic balance between state, community, and individual rights.
Culture and religion also affect States view of these categories of rights.
However, the international community has agreed that there are certain human
rights and freedoms so fundamental to human dignity that States have entered into
agreements to ensure non-derogation of those rights.
The specific rights enumerated in various human rights instruments can be divided
into several categories :
Individual security rights : protects individuals against crimes such as murder,
massacre, torture, and rape
Due process rights (Art-21+natural justice in Indian Constitution / 5th and 14th
Amendment to the United States Constitution) : protects individuals against
abuse of the legal system, such as imprisonment without trial, trial with a jury,
and excessive punishment
Liberty rights (Fundamental Rights in India / 1st and 4th Amendment to the
United States Constitution) : protects freedom of belief, freedom of religion,
freedom of movement, freedom to assemble, and freedom of association
Political rights : protects an individuals liberty to participate in politics, including
activities such as communicating, protesting, voting, and serving in political
office
Equality rights : protects equal citizenship, equality before the law, and non-
discrimination
Social rights : protects the right to access education for all citizens and prevents
severe poverty or starvation
Subsequent international human rights treaties have expanded upon the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Some States have adopted instruments at the
regional level reflecting human rights concerns specific to that region.
Many States have also adopted constitutions and other laws which formally protect
basic human rights and incorporate some of the categories listed above.
In the International Human Rights Matrix, below, further examples are provided
that correlate to the International Bill of Rights.
Documents Of Core International Human Rights :
International Bill of Rights :
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) : Are these Core Rights ???
<discussed elsewhere in this doc>
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) : Are these Non-
Derogable Rights ???
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) :
Other Human Rights Instruments : In addition to the International Bill of Rights,
there are other human rights treaties and universal instruments, including regional
treaties. Listed below are some examples of these instruments.
UN Treaties :
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD)
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment (CAT)
Regional Treaties :
American Convention on Human Rights
African [Banjul] Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms
Summary of International Human Rights Matrix :
Right Category & reference
Core Rights
1 The right to seek asylum Due process, Article 14,

from persecution Universal
Declaration
2 The right to have access to Due process Article 10,

the courts and legal system Universal
Declaration
3 Freedom from Equality Article 7, Universal

discrimination on account Declaration
of, inter alia, sex, race,
religion, or ethnicity
4 The right to cultural Liberty Article 27, Universal

expression Declaration
Non-Derogable Rights
5 The right not to be Individual Article 6, ICCPR

arbitrarily deprived of life
6 The right not to be Individual Article 7, ICCPR

subjected to torture or cruel,
inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, or
to be subjected, without
free consent, to medical or
scientific experimentation
7 The right not to be held in Individual Art 8, paras 1&2,

servitude or slavery ICCPR
8 The right not to be Due process Art 11, ICCPR

imprisoned merely on the
ground of inability to fulfill a contractual
obligation
The right not to be Due process Art 15, ICCPR

convicted of an offense on
account of an act or
omission which did not
constitute a criminal
offense, under national or
international law, at the
time it was committed
The right to the recognition Equality Art 6, ICCPR

as a person before the law
The right to freedom of Liberty Art 18, ICCPR

thought, conscience, and
religion including :
The right to have or adopt a religion of

ones choice and freedom, either
individually or in community with
others and in public or private, to
manifest a religious belief in worship
observance, practice and teaching;
The right not to be subject to coercion
that would impair freedom to have or
adopt a religion or belief of ones
choice.
Note : Above list is not exhaustive. Refer to

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/About%20Us/Directorates
%20and%20Program%20Offices/RAIO/International%20Human%20Rights
%20Law%20LP%20(RAIO).pdf for further list of following
Rights Related to Arrest and/or Detention
Rights Related to Custody
Rights Related to Trial
Economic Rights
Social Rights
Cultural Rights
Other rights
GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss in detail : Importance and binding effect of international documents on

the member countries of UN.
Answer :
Refer :
Discussion is in 2 parts :
1. Importance international documents on Human Rights
2. Binding effect of international documents on the member countries of UN
1. Importance international documents on Human Rights :

---> Discussed elsewhere in this document.
2. Binding effect of international documents on the member countries of UN :
What is "International human rights law" ?
their humanity.
They include civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
International human rights documents are a body of customary international law
International Human Rights documents are,
International Bill of Rights :
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) : Are these Core Rights ???
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) : Are these Non-
Derogable Rights ???
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) :
Other Human Rights Instruments : including UN / regional treaties.
Binding effect :
In international law there is of course no supreme legislature which can
promulgate binding international laws. There is no international law-making body
and no equivalent of a domestic legislature.
As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made
up of treaties, agreements between states intended to have binding legal effect
understanding and development of international human rights law and have
been recognized as a source of political obligation.
The international legal regime is overwhelmingly, but not exclusively, one which
requires the consent of those whom it would govern. It can rarely coerce those
state subjects who would not be bound.
International law regime is best understood as a horizontal system of
organisation rather than vertical. This means that whereas in domestic law, laws
are passed down to the subjects from the law making body, in international law
it is the parties themselves who make the law for themselves.
Similarly there is no international court before which states in breach of
international law may consistently be forced to appear. There is an International
Court of Justice but this concerns itself only with disputes between parties who
have standing before the Court.
THUS, at the heart of international law is the crucial principle of pacta sunt
servanda (Every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be
performed by them in good faith)
ie International Documents on Human Rights are binding only on those states
who are signatories to the same or have voluntarily accepted their force with
ratification of the same.
There is no direct sanction, the act of breaking a treaty obligations will rarely be
cost free, though it may be nothing more than a level of opprobrium from other
states, or a hesitancy upon their part to enter into future international legal
relations.
Stalin, Hitler, Kim Il Sung, Gadhafi and Saddam Hussein all either denied the
allegations against them, pretended that their acts of flagrant international
aggression were really in self-defence to a prior attack by their victims, or
proffered some other legal basis for their conduct.
Not one of them asserted that treaties were not binding, because they
realised that no country would accept such a patently spurious assertion.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Write a brief essay on international developments relating to Human Rights (Apr-

2013)
Answer :
Refer :
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7839/12/12_chapter%202.pdf
Intro : What is "International human rights law" ?

What are Human Rights ? Human rights are those activities, conditions, and
freedoms that all human beings are entitled to enjoy, by virtue of their humanity.
They include civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Human rights are
inherent, inalienable, interdependent, and indivisible, meaning they cannot be
granted or taken away, the enjoyment of one right affects the enjoyment of others,
and they must all be respected.
What is International human rights law ? International human rights law is the
body of customary international law designed to promote human rights on
social, regional, and domestic levels.
International human rights law is, essentially, a set of rules governing State
behavior vis-a-vis individuals and, at its most basic, requires States to ensure
that people can enjoy their fundamental freedoms.
Like national constitutions, which are covenants between governments and their
citizens, international human rights treaties are covenants between States and the
international community, whereby States agree to guarantee certain rights within
their own territories.
When States ratify human rights treaties, they agree to both refrain from
violating specific rights and to guarantee enjoyment of those rights by
individuals and groups within their jurisdictions.
Human Rights Consciousness :
The first and the most important role which the United Nations has played is that it
has made the people and the States conscious about the human rights and
fundamental freedoms.
It has set a pace in establishing minimum standards of acceptable behavior by
States. The proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights containing
the universal code of human rights may be regarded as the first step towards the
promotion and protection of human rights.
Codification of the Law of Human Rights :
The United Nations has codified the different rights and freedoms by making
treaties for all sections of the people such as women, child, migrant workers,
refugees and stateless persons.
In addition to the above, the prohibition on the commission of inhuman acts such
as genocide, apartheid, racial discrimination and torture have been brought within
the ambit of international law.
Monitoring & enforcement of Human Rights :
regional or an international level.
The enforcement of international human rights law is the responsibility of the

nation state; it is the primary responsibility of the State to make the human rights
of its citizens a reality.
However, in practice, many human rights are difficult to enforce legally, due to the
absence of consensus on the application of certain rights, the lack of relevant
national legislation or of bodies empowered to take legal action to enforce them.
In over 110 countries, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have been set up
to protect, promote or monitor human rights. Although not all NHRIs are compliant
with the Paris Principles (1991), the number and effect of these institutions is
increasing. The Paris Principles list a number of responsibilities for national
institutions.
Special Rapporteurs (record keeper) and Working Groups of the Commission on
Human Rights have procedure and mechanism to monitor compliance with
conventions and investigate allegations of human rights abuses.
A number of expert committees have been established under particular treaties.
Note that, these are not subsidiary organs of the United Nations, but are
autonomous. These committees are termed U.N. Treaty Organs. The resolutions on
specific cases carry a moral weight.
States that ratify human rights treaties commit themselves to respecting those
rights and ensuring that their domestic law is compatible with international
legislation. When domestic law fails to provide a remedy for human rights abuses,
parties may be able to resort to regional or international mechanisms for enforcing
human rights.
Regional and international oversight bodies contribute to State compliance and
provide opportunities for redress and accountability that may be non-existent or
ineffective at the national level.
However, becoming party to a treaty or agreeing to oversight by a supranational
body generally remains voluntary. The level of participation in the international
human rights framework varies among States.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights supports and coordinates the UNs
human rights activities, in addition to independently addressing issues of concern
through country visits, dialogue with stakeholders, and public statements, much as
rapporteurs do.
Procedure for Individuals complaints :
A number of human rights treaties permit individuals to make petition before the
appropriate international bodies. For instance, the Optional Protocol to,
the ICCPR 1966,
the International Convention on the Elimination of all Form of Racial
Discrimination (1965), and

Convention against Torture (1984),
have permitted individuals to make petitions against their States that have
accepted relevant international legal procedures.
Also, under procedures established by the commission on Human Rights, the
commission, its Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
and their Working Groups, hear numerous complaints annually submitted by
individuals as well as by non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The Commission on Human Rights is authorized to discuss human rights situations
anywhere in the World and examine information from individuals, NGOs and other
sources.
The Economic and Social Council in 1970, adopted Resolution, commonly known as
1503 Resolution, regarding Procedure for Dealing with Communications Relating to
Violations of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Accordingly, individuals
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were allowed to make a
communication to the Commission concerning situations which appear to reveal a
consistent pattern of gross and reliable attested violations of human rights.
A communication i.e., a complaint is sent to the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
The Commission has focused the 1503 procedure mainly on civil and political
rights using Rapporteurs and working Groups in specific countries and specific
problems.
It is to be noted that individual petitions help to provide some check on
governmental violations of human rights by giving international organizations a
source of information.
Examination of Human Rights Situations :
The Commission on Human Rights may ask the Secretary-General to intervene or
send an expert to examine a Human rights violation.
Assistance may be given to draft a constitution, to improve electoral laws, establish
or upgrade human rights institutions, prepare new criminal codes or overhaul the
judiciary.
UN has promoted global culture of human rights through education and awareness.
Human rights which was regarded as a matter of domestic jurisdiction of the
States, has acquired the international character, vis--vis, international human
rights.
Conclusions :
Thus United Nation has been performing a variety of functions successfully to
promote and protect human rights. It has promoted global culture of human rights.
Human rights are increasingly a well established area of international politics.

States are increasingly obligated to respect Human rights norms, and individuals
have increasingly obtained legal personality, with regard to human rights matters.
However, it has to be conceded that the impact of the U.N. activities on
international human rights issues has been indirect and it has long term effect.
All of its promotion efforts and most of its protection attempts entail considerable
time to be widely recognized and respected around the globe.
Fundamental rights of individuals life, liberty and physical security, right to health,
housing and work as well as cultural rights continue to be threatened by the forces
of repression, ethnic hatred and exploitation.
In the face of these challenges, the United Nations has to be more active. It has to
intervene in cases of massive human rights violations.
It has to work with the cooperation of the member States to strengthen the
commitments of promoting and protecting Human rights.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain in detail the main provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) 1948. (Apr-2012, Oct-2012, Apr-2014, Apr-2016)
Write shortnote : Universal Declation of Human Rights : its significance and
limitations. (Apr-2013, Mar-2015)
Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights
%20(RAIO).pdf
framework/
What is "International human rights law" ?
their humanity. They include civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

International human rights law is the body of customary international law
As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up
of treaties, agreements between states intended to have binding legal effect
understanding and development of international human rights law and have been
recognized as a source of political obligation.
The concept of human rights makes sense only if they are granted to all individuals
regardless of culture and because only of their membership of the human race.
human rights must be clearly definable and define both the holders of the rights
and those having reciprocal duties to provide them.
Need for International Human Rights Law :
In response to the experience of the Second World War resulting from a totalitarian
and racist Nazi regime and the desire to prevent a recurrence of such a
phenomenon, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by
the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de
Chaillot, Paris.
In the post-World War II period, international consensus crystallized around the
need to identify the individual rights and liberties which all governments should
respect, and to establish mechanisms for both promoting States adherence to their
human rights obligations and for addressing serious breaches.
National governments as the guarantors, or violators, of HR :
The concept of human rights has close links with natural law the theory that
argues that beyond the laws created by people there are natural or divine laws
with which created laws must conform.
However, only governments are in a position to put in place the laws and policies
necessary for protection of human rights and to regulate private and public
practices that impact individuals enjoyment of those rights. Therefore, we think

of national governments (States) as the guarantors, or violators, of human
rights.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 :
Background :
In the aftermath of World War II, Eleanor Roosevelt spearheaded the U.S.
involvement in the creation of the United Nations, as well as the drafting of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Eleanor Roosevelts diplomatic efforts with the Soviet Bloc countries in particular
assisted greatly in the final acceptance of the UDHR.
On December 10, 1948 the United States voted in favor of the resolution to
adopt the Declaration before the United Nations General Assembly.
As the cornerstone of the international human rights movement, the UDHR was
drafted as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and nations.
It was the first time in history that one document designated the basic civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights to which all humans are entitled.
It has since been widely accepted by the international community as the
fundamental standard of human rights that all States should respect and protect.
Legal Force :
Many scholars assert that all of the rights enumerated in the UDHR have become
customary international law.
Unlike other non-binding international human rights declarations, the UDHR is so
broadly accepted around the world that it established common human rights
norms.
Virtually every international human rights instrument references the UDHR, as do
many declarations adopted unanimously or by consensus by the U.N. General
Assembly.
The UDHR was explicitly not intended to be a legal document. However, the UDHR
remains a remarkable document and nearly all states would now argue that it is
almost entirely consistent with their aims and aspirations.
In retrospect what perhaps seems most surprising is not that the communist
states merely abstained from, rather than voting against, a Declaration that
included many civil and political rights that they obviously had no intention of
accepting;
but rather that the radical economic, social and cultural rights were acceptable to
the United States in particular.
Such has been the widespread acceptance of the Declaration that many of its
provisions are regarded as having the status of customary rules, although this was
never the intention.
Summary of UDHR : The UN Centre for Human Rights usefully summarizes the
provisions of the UDHR as follows :
Article 1 All human beings are born free and equal.
Article 2 Everyone is entitled to the same rights without discrimination of any kind.
Article 3 Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security.
Article 4 No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.
Article 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel or degrading treatment or
punishment.
Article 6 Everyone has the right to be recognized everywhere as a person before
the law.
Article 7 Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection of
the law.
Article 8 Everyone has the right to justice.
Article 9 No one shall be arrested, detained, or exiled arbitrarily.
Article 10 Everyone has the right to a fair trial.
Article 11 Everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Article 12 Everyone has the right to privacy.
Article 13 Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and to leave and return
to ones country.
Article 14 Everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution.
Article 15 Everyone has the right to a nationality.
Article 16 All adults have the right to marry and found a family. Women and men
have equal rights to marry, within marriage, and at its dissolution.
Article 17 Everyone has the right to own property.
Article 18 Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Article 19 Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Article 20 Everyone has the right to peaceful assembly and association.
Article 21 Everyone has the right to take part in government of ones country.
Article 22 Everyone has the right to social security and to the realization of the
economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for dignity.
Article 23 Everyone has the right to work, to just conditions of work, to protection
against unemployment, to equal pay for equal work, to sufficient pay to ensure a
dignified existence for ones self and ones family, and the right to join a trade
union.
Article 24 Everyone has the right to rest and leisure.
Article 25 Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and
well- being, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social
services.
Article 26 Everyone has the right to education.
Article 27 Everyone has the right to participate freely in the cultural life of the
community.
Article 28 Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which these
rights can be realized fully.
Article 29 Everyone has duties to the community.
Article 30 No person, group or government has the right to destroy any of these
rights.
Conclusion : While such summaries are superfluous, it is important in order to
appreciate the range of lofty ideals expressed and the limitations upon the protections
that have been afforded since 1948. The economic, social and cultural rights seem to
the governments of many Western states to be entirely anachronistic, while many of
the civil and political rights are regularly abused by most states.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain the Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, 1966 (Oct-2012)

Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rights

Intro :
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral
treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966, and
in force from 23 March 1976.
It commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including
the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly,
electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial.
As of February 2017, the Covenant has 169 parties and six more signatories
without ratification.
The ICCPR is part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The ICCPR is monitored by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (a
separate body to the United Nations Human Rights Council), which reviews regular
reports of States parties on how the rights are being implemented. States must
report initially one year after acceding to the Covenant and then whenever the
Committee requests (usually every four years).
The Committee normally meets in Geneva and normally holds three sessions per
year.
The ICCPR has its roots in the same process that led to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. A "Declaration on the Essential Rights of Man" had been proposed at
the 1945 San Francisco Conference which led to the founding of the United Nations,
and the Economic and Social Council was given the task of drafting it.
Summary of provisions : The Covenant follows the structure of the UDHR and
ICESCR, with a preamble and fifty-three articles, divided into six parts.
Part 1 (Article 1)
recognizes the right of all peoples to self-determination, including the right to
"freely determine their political status",[9] pursue their economic, social and
cultural goals, and manage and dispose of their own resources. It recognises a
negative right of a people not to be deprived of its means of subsistence,[10]
and imposes an obligation on those parties still responsible for non-self
governing and trust territories (colonies) to encourage and respect their self-
determination.[11]
Part 2 (Articles 2 5)
obliges parties to legislate where necessary to give effect to the rights
recognised in the Covenant, and to provide an effective legal remedy for any
violation of those rights.[12] It also requires the rights be recognised "without
distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status,"[13] and
to ensure that they are enjoyed equally by women.[14] The rights can only be
limited "in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation,"[15]
and even then no derogation is permitted from the rights to life, freedom from
torture and slavery, the freedom from retrospective law, the right to personhood,
and freedom of thought, conscience and religion.[16]
Part 3 (Articles 6 27) : Core provisions :
lists the rights themselves. These include rights to :
physical integrity, in the form of the right to life and freedom from torture and
slavery (Articles 6, 7, and 8);
liberty and security of the person, in the form of freedom from arbitrary arrest
and detention and the right to habeas corpus (Articles 9 11);
procedural fairness in law, in the form of rights to due process, a fair and
impartial trial, the presumption of innocence, and recognition as a person
before the law (Articles 14, 15, and 16);
individual liberty, in the form of the freedoms of movement, thought,
conscience and religion, speech, association and assembly, family rights, the
right to a nationality, and the right to privacy (Articles 12, 13, 17 24);
prohibition of any propaganda for war as well as any advocacy of national or
religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or
violence by law (Article 20);
political participation, including the right to the right to vote (Article 25);
Non-discrimination, minority rights and equality before the law (Articles 26
and 27).
Many of these rights include specific actions which must be undertaken to realise
them.
governs the establishment and operation of the Human Rights Committee and
the reporting and monitoring of the Covenant. It also allows parties to recognise
the competence of the Committee to resolve disputes between parties on the
implementation of the Covenant (Articles 41 and 42).
clarifies that the Covenant shall not be interpreted as interfering with the
operation of the United Nations or "the inherent right of all peoples to enjoy and
utilize fully and freely their natural wealth and resources".[17]
governs ratification, entry into force, and amendment of the Covenant.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain in detail the provisions of International Covenant for Economic Social and
Cultural Rights 1966. (Apr-2012, Apr-2014, Apr-2016)
Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Economic,_Social_and_C
ultural_Rights

Intro :
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is a
multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16
December 1966, and in force from 3 January 1976.[1] It commits its parties to
work toward the granting of economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) to the
Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories and individuals, including labour rights
and the right to health, the right to education, and the right to an adequate
standard of living. As of 2015, the Covenant has 164 parties.[3] A further six
countries, including the United States, have signed but not ratified the Covenant.
The ICESCR is part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), including the latter's first and second Optional
Protocols.[4]
The Covenant is monitored by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights
The ICESCR has its roots in the same process that led to the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.[6] A "Declaration on the Essential Rights of Man" had been
proposed at the 1945 San Francisco Conference which led to the founding of the
United Nations, and the Economic and Social Council was given the task of drafting
it.
Summary : The Covenant follows the structure of the UDHR and the ICCPR, with a
preamble and thirty-one articles, divided into five parts.
Part 1 (Article 1)
recognises the right of all peoples to self-determination, including the right to
"freely determine their political status", pursue their economic, social and
cultural goals, and manage and dispose of their own resources. It recognises a
negative right of a people not to be deprived of its means of subsistence, and
imposes an obligation on those parties still responsible for non-self governing
and trust territories (colonies) to encourage and respect their self-determination.
Part 2 (Articles 25)
establishes the principle of "progressive realisation". It also requires the rights
be recognised "without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status".
The rights can only be limited by law, in a manner compatible with the nature of
the rights, and only for the purpose of "promoting the general welfare in a
democratic society".
Part 3 (Articles 615)
lists the rights themselves. These include rights to
work, under "just and favourable conditions", with the right to form and join
trade unions (Articles 6, 7, and 8);
social security, including social insurance (Article 9);
family life, including paid parental leave and the protection of children (Article
10);
an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing,
and the "continuous improvement of living conditions" (Article 11);
health, specifically "the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health" (Article 12);
education, including free universal primary education, generally available
secondary education and equally accessible higher education. This should be
directed to "the full development of the human personality and the sense of
its dignity",[19] and enable all persons to participate effectively in society
(Articles 13 and 14);
participation in cultural life (Article 15).
Many of these rights include specific actions which must be undertaken to realise
them.
Part 4 (Articles 1625) governs reporting and monitoring of the Covenant and the
steps taken by the parties to implement it. It also allows the monitoring body
originally the United Nations Economic and Social Council now the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights see below to make general
recommendations to the UN General Assembly on appropriate measures to realise
the rights (Article 21)
Part 5 (Articles 2631) governs ratification, entry into force, and amendment of the
Covenant.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain in detail : International Labour Organization and its functions. (Apr-2012,

Apr-2013)
Write notes : I.L.O. and its function. (Apr-2016)
Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Labour_Organization
Intro :
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency dealing
with labour issues, particularly international labour standards, social protection,
and work opportunities for all.
The ILO has 187 member states : 186 of the 193 UN member states plus the Cook
Islands are members of the ILO.
In 1969, the organization received the Nobel Peace Prize for improving peace
among classes, pursuing decent work and justice for workers, and providing
technical assistance to other developing nations.
The ILO registers complaints against entities that are violating international rules;
however, it does not impose sanctions on governments.
Governance, organization, and membership :
Unlike other United Nations specialized agencies, the International Labour
Organization has a tripartite governing structure representing (i) governments,
(ii) employers, and (iii) workers (usually with a ratio of 2:1:1).
The rationale behind the tripartite structure is the creation of free and open debate
among governments and social partners.
The ILO secretariat (staff) is referred to as the International Labour Office.
Governing Body :
The Governing Body decides,
the agenda of the International Labour Conference,
adopts the draft programme and budget of the organization for submission to
the conference,
elects the director-general,
requests information from member states concerning labour matters,
appoints commissions of inquiry and
supervises the work of the International Labour Office.
This governing body is composed of 28 government representatives, 14 workers'
representatives, and 14 employers' representatives.
Ten of the government seats are held by member states that are nations of "chief
industrial importance," as first considered by an "impartial committee."
These nations are Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the
Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The terms of office are three years.[6][7]

International Labour Conference
The ILO organizes the International Labour Conference in Geneva every year in
June, where conventions and recommendations are crafted and adopted.
Also known as the "parliament of labour", the conference also makes decisions
about the ILO's general policy, work programme and budget.
Each member state has four representatives at the conference: two government
delegates, an employer delegate and a worker delegate. All of them have individual
voting rights, and all votes are equal, regardless of the population of the delegate's
member state.
The employer and worker delegates are normally chosen in agreement with the
"most representative" national organizations of employers and workers. Usually,
the workers' delegates coordinate their voting, as do the employers' delegates.
All delegate have the same rights, and are not required to vote in blocs.
Conventions :
Until July 2011, the ILO has adopted 189 conventions.
If these conventions are ratified by enough governments, they become in force.
However, ILO conventions are considered international labour standards
regardless of ratifications. When a convention comes into force, it creates a legal
obligation for ratifying nations to apply its provisions.
Conventions that have not been ratified by member states have the same legal
force as do recommendations.
Example :
In 1998, the 86th International Labour Conference adopted the Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. This declaration contains four
fundamental policies :
The right of workers to associate freely and bargain collectively;
The end of forced and compulsory labour;
The end of child labour; and
The end of unfair discrimination among workers.
Recommendations :
Recommendations do not have the binding force of conventions and are not subject
to ratification.
Recommendations may be adopted at the same time as conventions to supplement
the latter with additional or more detailed provisions.
Membership
As of April 2016, the ILO has 187 state members. 186 of the 193 member states of
the United Nations plus the Cook Islands are members of the ILO.
The UN member states which are not members of the ILO are Andorra, Bhutan,
Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, Nauru, and North Korea.
The ILO constitution permits any member of the UN to become a member of the
ILO. To gain membership, a nation must inform the Director-General that it accepts
all the obligations of the ILO constitution.
Other states can be admitted by a two-thirds vote of all delegates, including a two-
thirds vote of government delegates, at any ILO General Conference. The Cook
Islands, a non-UN state, joined in June 2015.
Note that, the Members of the ILO under the League of Nations automatically
became members when the organization's new constitution came into effect after
World War II.
Position of ILO within the UN :
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United
Nations (UN).
As with other UN specialized agencies (or programmes) working on international
development, the ILO is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.
ILO Programmes and Issues :
Labour statistics : The ILO is a major provider of labour statistics. Labour statistics
are an important tool for its member states to monitor their progress toward
improving labour standards. As part of their statistical work, ILO maintains several
databases.
This database covers 11 major data series for over 200 countries. In addition,
ILO publishes a number of compilations of labour statistics, such as the Key
Indicators of Labour Markets (KILM) which covers 20 main indicators on labour
participation rates, employment, unemployment, educational attainment, labour
cost, and economic performance.
Child labour and ILOs response to the same :
The term child labour is often defined as work that deprives children of their
childhood, potential, dignity, and is harmful to their physical and mental
development. Child labour refers to work that :
is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children;
and
interferes with their schooling by:
depriving them of the opportunity to attend school;
obliging them to leave school prematurely; or
requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long

and heavy work.
In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved,
separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or
left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities often at a very early
age.
The ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)
was created in 1992 with the overall goal of the progressive elimination of child
labour, which was to be achieved through strengthening the capacity of countries
to deal with the problem and promoting a worldwide movement to combat child
labour.
IPEC currently has operations in 88 countries, with an annual expenditure on
technical cooperation projects that reached over US$74 million, 50 million in
2006.
It is the largest programme of its kind globally and the biggest single operational
programme of the ILO.
Forced labour :
The ILO has considered the fight against forced labour to be one of its main
priorities.
During the interwar years, the issue was mainly considered a colonial
phenomenon, and the ILO's concern was to establish minimum standards
protecting the inhabitants of colonies from the worst abuses committed by
economic interests.
In June 1998 the International Labour Conference adopted a Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up that obligates
member States to respect, promote and realize freedom of association and the
right to collective bargaining, the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory
labour, the effective abolition of child labour, and the elimination of
discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
In November 2001, the ILO Governing Body created a Special Action Programme
to Combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL), as part of broader efforts to promote the
1998 Declaration.
Since its inception, SAP-FL has focused on raising global awareness of forced
labour in its different forms, and mobilizing action against its manifestation.
Several thematic and country-specific studies and surveys have since been
undertaken, on such diverse aspects of forced labour as bonded labour, human
trafficking, forced domestic work, rural servitude, and forced prison labour.
Minimum wage law :
To protect the right of labours for fixing minimum wage, ILO has created
Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928, Minimum Wage Fixing
Machinery (Agriculture) Convention, 1951 and Minimum Wage Fixing
Convention, 1970 as minimum wage law.
Conclusion :
ILO is a major organ of UN and plays pivotal role in establishment of standards of
labor practices through out the world, there by promoting the cause of Human
Rights of work force.
ILO also seeks to curb unfair practices in relation to the employment of workers.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain : Disarmament threat to Human Rights. (Oct-2012)

Answer :
Refer :

GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss about Human Rights reflected in Fundamental Rights under the

Constitution of India. (Apr-2013, Apr-2016)
Answer :
Refer :
<Answered in Module-3 question : Explain the constitutional provisions for the
protection of Human Right in India. (Oct-2012)>
GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss in detail : Directive Principles legislative and administrative

implementation of international human rights norms.
Answer :
Refer :
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain in detail, Implementation of International Human Rights norms through

Judicial process in India. (Mar-2015)
Answer :
Refer :
<Read this from Explain the role of Supreme Court of India for the protection of
Human Rights elsewhere in this doc>
GO TO CONTENTS.
Module-3) Human Rights under the Constitution and different Legislation in

India :
3.1) Provisions for enshrining human rights to Women and Children

3.2) Human Rights granted to Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribes and other
socially and economically backward communities
3.3) Human Rights of prisoners and arrestees
3.4) Human Rights of victims and development of compensatory
jurisprudence.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain the constitutional provisions for the protection of Human Right in India.
(Oct-2012)
Discuss the Human Rights of women and children with reference to decided cases.
(Apr-2012, Apr-2013)
Disuss in detail the Human Rights of women. (Apr-2014, Mar-2015)
Write Explanatory Notes : Human Rights to Children (Mar-2015)
Discuss the Human Rights relating to Women and Minorities. (Apr-2016)
Discuss the Human Rights of Women and Miorities. (Oct-2012)
Write shortnote : Human Rights granted to Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribe. (Apr-
2013)
Write shortnote : Human Rights granted to socially and economically backward
communities.
Explain : Human Rights of disabled persons. (Oct-2012)
State the police and prison organization and discuss the rights of defiance (arrestee)
accused and prisoners. (Oct-2012)
Discuss with decided cases Human Rights of accused persons and arrestees. (Apr-
2012, Apr-2016)
Discuss the Human Rights of prosioners and arrestees. (Apr-2013, Apr-2014)
Write shortnote : Custodial violance. (Apr-2014, Apr-2016)
Explain about Human Rights of victims and development of Compensatory
Jurisprudence. (Mar-2015)
GO TO CONTENTS.
MODULE-3 ANSWERS :
Explain the constitutional provisions for the protection of Human Right in India.
(Oct-2012)
Answer :
<work on this ---> page-25-30 of
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7839/12/12_chapter%202.pdf >
Refer :
page-25-30 of
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/art222.htm
Brief outline of HR provisions in Constitution of India :
Preamble of constitution is a strong statement in importance of HR.
Part III of Constitution of India : The Constitution of India duly recognizes the
importance of human rights and guarantees certain Fundamental Rights in Part-III
which include,
right of equality,
right to freedom,
right against exploitation,
right to freedom of religion,
cultural and educational rights and
right to constitutional remedies. Article 32 gives the right to constitutional
remedy in the form of original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India for the
enforcement of these Fundamental Rights. This is the protection of individuals
against invasion of their human rights.
Part IV of Constitution of India :
Part-IV of the Indian Constitution contains Directive Principles of State Policy
which are the principles fundamental in governance, to be observed by the State
in the formulation of its policies.
These include the duty of the State to secure a social order for the promotion of
the
welfare of the people,

social justice,
right to work,
right to education
right to social security,
provision for just and humane conditions of work,
promotion of interests of the weaker sections,
duty to raise the level of nutrition
duty to raise the standards of living
improve public health,
protection and improvement of environment, ecology and wild life etc.
Other constitutional provisions for advancement of Human Rights :
In addition, the Fundamental Duties of every citizen covering a wide range to
strengthen the guarantee of Fundamental Rights are in Article 51A (Part IVA of
the Constitution).
In addition to Article 32 empowering the Supreme Court to enforce the
Fundamental Rights, the High Court is empowered by Article 226 for the same
purpose to exercise its powers. The primary duty of the higher judiciary to
protect and enforce human rights is the constitutional mandate.
<Detailed discussion follows>
Intro :
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not define the term Human
Rights. It refers them as the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the
human family.
Phrase Human Rights is mentioned no where in the supreme law of India, viz
Constitution of India.
However, protection of Human Rights is spread all over the Constitution of India.
In fact India is an original member of the U.N. and member State which voted for
the adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December, 1948.
In Golak Nath v. State of Punjab REF 94 , the Supreme Court observed :
Fundamental rights are the modern name for what have been traditionally known
as natural rights.
The Supreme Court has also recognized the interpretative value of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Impact of UDHR :
The framers of the Indian constitution were influenced by the concept of human
rights and guaranteed most of human rights contained in the Universal Declaration.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights contained civil and political as well as
economic, social and cultural rights.
While Civil and Political rights have been incorporated in part III of Indian
constitution, economic, social and cultural rights have been incorporated in Part IV
of the Constitution.
Preamble :-
Preamble to our Constitution is the key to understand Constitution.
According to the Preamble of Indian Constitution, India is a Sovereign, Socialist,
Secular and Democratic Republic. Preamble begins with the words
We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a
Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic....
The opening words of the preamble are identical with the opening words of the
Charter of the United Nations viz,
We the people of the United Nations... which represents a new trend in the
International field and which might have inspired the framers of our Constitution
to emulate the example.
Speaking about the said words of the preamble of Indian Constitution, Bhagwati, J.,
while delivering the judgment in Dr. Pradeep Jain v. Union of India observed that
they embody the hopes and aspirations of the people.
It is significant to note that the preamble emphasizes that the people who have
given to themselves the glorious document are the people of the India and it gives
expression to resolve the people to constitute India into a sovereign, socialist,
secular decorate republic, and to promote among all its citizens fraternity assuring
the dignity of all the individual and unity and integrity of the nation.
In exercise of their sovereign will, expressed in the Preamble, people of India have
adopted the democratic model.
Following the American model, while they have delegated to the Legislature,
Executive and the Judiciary their respective powers, they have reserved for
themselves certain fundamental rights.
Through the Preamble, the people of India have constituted India into a Sovereign,
Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic.
The term Sovereign, Democratic Republic (The words Socialist and Secular were
added later on) is of utmost importance, rather sacrosanct for it forms the basic
structure of the Constitution.
The Preamble, however, does not make it clear as to what type of democratic
republic has to be established. A perusal of the provisions of the Constitution
makes it crystal clear that parliamentary democracy similar to the federal

constitution of Canada and Australia has been established.
Preamble attaches a great importance to the concept of democracy. The Supreme
Court has rightly declared that democracy (along with federalism) is an essential
feature of our Constitution and is part of its basis structure.
In order to appreciate the concept of human rights under Indian Constitution, it is
also pertinent to look to the aims and objects of the preamble, which are indeed
the aims and objects of Indian Constitution.
The preamble reflects the high purposes and noble objectives of the framers of the
Constitution.
The words of the preamble embody the hopes and aspirations of the people and
capture and seek to reproduce the social, economic and political philosophy
underlying the Constitution and running through the entire fabric.
Through the preamble the people of India has resolved to secure to all citizens the
following four objectives
Justice, Social, economic and political;
Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
Equality of status and opportunity, and to promote among them all;
Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the
Nation.
Human Rights which are specifically enumerated in the Constitution :-
Universal Declaration of Human Rights . . . . . . . . . . Indian Constitution
Right to Life, liberty and security of person (Art. 3) ...........Article 21
Prohibition of Slavery, slavery trade etc. (Art. 4) ............Article 23
Equality before law and non-discrimination (Art. 7) Article14 and 15 (1)
Right to effective remedy (Art. 8) ........... Article 32
Right against arbitrary arrest, detention etc. (Art. 9) ............ Article 22
Right against ex-post factor Laws [Art. 11(2)] ............ Article 20 (1)
Right to freedom of movement [Art. 13(1)] .............. Article10(1)-(d)
Right to own property and not to be deprived of property (Art. 17)
............Article19 (1) (f) ---> But it was omitted by the constitution (42
Amendment) Act, 1978
Right to freedom of thought, conscience and Religion (Art. 18) .........Article 25 (1)
Right to freedom of opinion and expression (Art. 19) .......... Article19(1)(a)
Right to freedom of peaceful assembly and Association [Art. 20 (1)] ......... Article
19(1)(b)
Right to equal access to public service .......... Article 16 (1) [Art. 21(2)]
Right to social security (Art. 22) ...........Article 29 (1)
Right to form and to join trade unions ........... Article (19(1)(c) [Art. 23 (4)]
Human Rights not specifically Enumerated or other Rights :-
It would not be correct to contend that the above rights are the only rights
incorporated in Indian Constitution. Though, some rights which do not find express
mention in the Constitution do exist.
These are either subdued under the existing fundamental rights or have been held
to emanate from the existing rights under the theory of emanation. Supreme court
of India elaborating the meaning of expression; religion, dharma,religious
education religious instruction and religious plularism has highlighted the need of
religion in Aruna Roy 109
For example, it has been held that right to life and personal liberty enshrined in
Article 21 of Constitution is of widest amplitude and several un-enumerated rights
fall within Art. 21. These right are :
a) Right to go abroad 110;
b) Right to Privacy 111 ;
c) Right Again Solitary Confinement 112 ;
d) Right Against Bar Fetters 113 ;
e) Right to free legal Aid in criminal trial 114
f) Right to Speedy Trial 115 ;
g) Right against Handcuffing;
h) Right Against delayed execution 116 ;
i) Right Against custodial violence 117 ;
j) Right Against Public Hanging 118
k) Right to Health care or Doctors assistance 119 ;
l) Right to shelter;
Other Rights which have been held to emanate from Article 21 120 are following :
a) Right to know;
b) Right to compensation;
c) Right to Release and Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour;
d) Right Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment;
e) Right of Inmates of Protective Homes.
Besides, the declaration of above rights within the expanding ambit of Article 21,
this article has been applied in various fields such as Drugs; Environment
Hazardous Chemicals; Insane Persons; Passports; Atomic Energy Radiation; Forests
etc.
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights :-
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Indian . . . . . . . . Constitution
1. Right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of
work etc. [Art. 23 (1)] ................Article 41
2. Right to equal pay for equal work [Art. 23(2)] .............Article 39(d)
3. Right to just and favourable remuneration [Art. 23 (3)] ..............Article 43
4. Right to rest and leisure (Art. 24) .............Article 43
5. Right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for his and him family
[Art.25(1) and Article 47 .............Article 39(a)
6. Right of education and free education in the elementary And fundamental stages
[Art. 26(1)] ...........Article 41&45
7. Right to a proper social order (Art-28) .........Article 38
Conclusion :
It is clear from the above discussion that the scope of human rights in the form of
fundamental rights is far greater than that of Universal Declaration of Human
Rights while doubts are expressed about the binding nature of rights proclaimed.
Unlike the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Fundamental Rights enshrined in
Part III of the Constitution are not only binding, they are also enforceable through
the Courts of law. They serve as limitations on the legislative and executive powers
of the State.
Article 13 (1) of the Constitution provides that all laws in force in the territory of
India immediately before the commencement of this Constitution, in so for as
they are inconsistent with Part III, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be
void.
Further Article 13 (2) provides that the State shall not make any law which takes
away or abridges the rights conferred by Part III and any law made in
contravention of this clause shall to the extent of the contravention, be void.
The impact of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the drafting
(Parts III and IV ) of the Indian Constitution is felt throughout. India has acceded
to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as to both the Covenants with
certain reservations.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss the Human Rights of women and children with reference to decided cases.
(Apr-2012, Apr-2013)
Disuss in detail the Human Rights of women. (Apr-2014, Mar-2015)
Write Explanatory Notes : Human Rights to Children (Mar-2015)
Answer :
Refer :
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/children-rights-under-the-
constitution-285-1.html
V Good --->
<Include general intro to Hrs>
Human Rights of Women :
<Read this from National Commission for Women elsewhere in this doc>
Human Rights of Children :
Intro :
Children on account of their tender age and immature mind need special care
and protection. They have certain special rights and legal entitlements that are
being acknowledged nationally and internationally.
The constitution of India recognized the rights of children for the first time and
included several articles dealing with their
liberty,
livelihood, and development,
non-discrimination in educational spheres,
compulsory and free education and
prohibition of their employment in factories, mines and hazardous industries.
Socially and physically, children are the weakest element of the society. They
have no say in any of the matters of evils like war or external debt. It has been
rightly stated in the 1924 declaration of rights of the child (declaration of
Geneva) that,
mankind owes to the childs the best it has to give.
Children are the future. By investing in them societies will have a bright future.
Provisions in the Constitution of India for rights of children : The Constitution of India
guarantees all children certain rights, which have been specially included for them.
These include :
Article 21A :-
"21A. The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of
the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law,
determine.".
Article 45 :
"45. The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for
all children until they complete the age of six years."
Article 51A :
It shall be the duty of every citizen of India,
(k) who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his
child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen
years.".
Article 24 :-
Right to be protected from any hazardous employment till the age of 14 years
Article 39(e) :-
Right to be protected from being abused and forced by economic necessity to
enter occupations unsuited to their age or strength.
Article 39(f) :
Right to equal opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in
conditions of freedom and dignity and guaranteed protection of childhood and
youth against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment
Besides these, Children also have rights as equal citizens of India, just as any other
adult male or female. Namely :
Right to equality (Article 14).
Right against discrimination (Article 15).
Right to personal liberty and due process of law (Article 21).
Right to being protected from being trafficked and forced into bonded labour
(Article 23).
Right of weaker sections of the people to be protected from social injustice and
all forms of exploitation (Article 46).
Rights of the Child guaranteed under the UN convention on the rights of the child :
This convention was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 November. 1989. This
convention is an elaboration of human rights standards in respect of the child. The
convention is a binding treaty to which 176 nations have become states parties.
The Convention has 54 articles and is divided into 3 parts. The general provisions
of the conventions are :
Article 1:-
Child means every human being below the age of 18 years unless, under the
law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.
Rights of the child : A number of rights have been stipulated in the convention
which includes the following :
Right to life (Article 6)
Right to acquire nationality (Article 7)
Right to freedom of expression (Article 13)
Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 14)
Right to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly (Article
15)
Right to privacy (Article 16)
Right to family environment (Article 20)
Right to education (Article 28)
Right to benefit from social security (Article 26)
Right to a standard of living adequate for the childs physical, mental, spiritual
and social development (Article 27)
Right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to
facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. (Article 24,
Para 1)
Right to the protection of the law against arbitrary or unlawful interference
with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence. (Article 16 Para 1)
Right against exploitation of child labour (Article 32)
Right against sexual exploitation(Article 34)
Right against abduction, sale or traffic(Article 35)
Right against other forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspect of the
childs welfare. (Article 20)
Right to education under Constitution of India :
Article 21-A of the constitution states that
right to education-the state shall provide free and compulsory education to all
children of the age of six to fourteen years in such a manner as the state may,
by law determine.
The Supreme Court in its liberal interpretation of life and liberty as under Article 21
held that,
the term liberty not only includes liberty but also includes livelihood but also the
right of human beings to live with dignity and that also includes the right to
education, and therefore, right to education is a fundamental right under the
constitution.
The case of Mohini Jain case came to be fortified by the supreme courts
subsequent constitution bench of Unnikrishnans case, which held that right to
education can be restricted to primary educational level and not to higher
secondary level.
The Constitution (eighty-sixth amendment) act, 2002 :
Article 45 was substituted by amendment as follows,
Article 45 Provision for early childhood care and education to children below
the age of six years-
The State shall endeavor to provide early childhood care and education for
all children until they complete the age of six years.
A new Article 21-A providing for right to education has also been inserted. This is
in keeping with the hope expressed in the Supreme Court in Unnikrishnan and
Mohini Jain that conversion of the States obligation under Article 45 into a
fundamental right would help achieve the goal at a faster speed.
It is now also a fundamental duty of parents and guardians to educate such
children as provided in clause (k) of Article 51-A.
Failures in childrens education :
Article 45 states the provision for free and compulsory education for children-
the State shall endeavor to provide, within a period of ten years from the
commencement of the Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all
children until they complete the age of fourteen years.
However this goal has not been achieved even after fifty years of the
commencement of the Constitution.
It was held that there was nothing to prevent the State from discharging that
solemn obligation through the government and aided the schools, and Article
45 does not require the obligation to be discharged at the expense of minority
communities.
It was held in the case of Mohini Jain v. state of Karnataka and others, AIR1992 SC
1858
The directive principles which are fundamental in the governance of the country
cannot be isolated from the fundamental rights guaranteed under part III.
These principles, have to be read into the fundamental rights. Both are
supplementary to each other.
The state is under the constitutional mandate to create conditions in which the
fundamental rights guaranteed to the individuals under part III could be enjoyed
by all.
Without making right to education under Art.41 of the constitution a reality the
fundamental rights under Chapter III shall remain beyond the reach of large
majority which is illiterate.
Right to life is the compendious expression for all those rights which the courts
must enforce because they are basic to the dignified enjoyment of life. It
extends to the full range of conduct which the individual is free to pursue. The
right to education flows directly from right to life.
Unnikrishnan, J.P and other v. State of Andhra Pradesh and others AIR 1993 S.C.
2178
The first question is whether the right to life guaranteed by Article 21 does not
take in the right to or not. It is then that the second question arises whether the
State is taking away the right as at present does not mean that right to
education is not included in right to life. The content of right of life is not to be
determined on the basis of existence or absence of threat of deprivation.
The right to education further means that a citizen has a right to call upon the
State to provide educational facilities to him within the limits of its economic
capacity and development.
By saying so it does not mean the transferring Article 41 from Part IV to Part III.
The judges stated that they were merely relying upon Article 41 to illustrate the
content of the right to education with the right to life.
The judges further stated that it is improper to believe that the State would not
provide education to its people even within the limits of its economic capacity
and development.
Thus the court in the case of Unnikrishnan overruled the judgment of Mohini Jain
on the basis that right to education covers only the primary level education and
not the secondary level.
Rights against exploitation :
Article 23 states that prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour :-
(1)Traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced labour
are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence
punishable in accordance with law.
(2)Nothing in this Article shall prevent the state from imposing compulsory
service for public purposes, and in imposing such service the State shall not
make any discrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class or any
of them.
Traffic in human beings means to deal in men and women like goods, such as or to
sell or let or otherwise dispose them of. It would include traffic in women and
children for immoral or other purposes. The immoral traffic (prevention) Act, 1956
is a law made by parliament under Article 35 of the constitution for the purpose of
punishing acts which result in traffic in human beings.
In pursuance of Article 23 the bonded labour system has also been abolished and
declared illegal by the bonded labour system (abolition) act, 1976. To ask a person
to work against his will and not provide him remuneration can be a breach under
Article 23 of the Constitution. In no circumstances can a man be required to work
against is will.
The Indian penal code and the criminal procedure code have separate provisions
prohibiting traffic in human beings. According to the penal code, selling, letting for
hire or otherwise disposing of, or buying, or hiring or otherwise obtaining
possession of any girl under the age of 18 years for the purpose of prostitution or
for any unlawful or immoral purposes is also an offence.
In 1958, by a central enactment organized prostitution as a profession has been
abolished all over the country and the running of brothels has been made an
offence.
Article 24 : prohibition of employment of children in factories,etc-
No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or be engaged in any hazardous employment
The court in M.C.Mehta v. State of T.N noted that
menace of child labour was widespread. Therefore, it issued wide ranging
directions in the context of employment and exploitation of children in Sivakasi
prohibiting employment of children below the age of 14 and making
arrangements for their education by creating a fund and providing employment
to the parents or abled bodied adults in the family.
These directions were reiterated in Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India,
concerning the employment of children in carpet weaving industry in India.
The apex court took note of the sociological angle and possible resistance from
parents and society to the total elimination of child labour and in fact, allowed the
continuance of child labour in the case of Salal hydro project v. state of J&K.
That is why Article 24 limits the prohibition to only factories, mines and other
hazardous employment. The court had clearly lost an opportunity of interpreting
Article 24 as a charter for total elimination of child labour, and making it
compulsory for children to be found in school upto primary.
Even after 10 years after the child labour (prohibition and abolition acts, 1986,
the act once again continues permitting child labour where it is not prohibited.
The apex court are not however willing to reconsider its decision and continued
to give sops to employers so that in some way or the other child labour is
permitted even in industries which are hazardous to the health of the children.
In the case of M.C.Mehta, justice M.M.Punchi expressed his thoughts on child
labour. He stated that
I see in this scheme (child labour) varied kind of benefits accruing depending
upon the social strata in which such schemes are introduced.
It would be an ideal transition to adulthood; it will provide a sence of
responsibility and instill confidence and pride in the work of the child; very
importedly the child will understand the concept of dignity and labour, it will be
an extremely constructive use of time by the child, and it will also be a welcome
source of income in the family..
The judge was also quoted saying that the elimination of child labour altogether
would be harsh.
Child labour : The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 :
Articles 23 and 24 of the constitutions determine the term child labour.
This act was enacted on 23rd December 1986 by the parliament and was enforced
on 26th may 1993 by the central government. The act was ineffective for over 8
years due to the inactiveness of the state and central government. The object of
the act is
(i) ban on the employment of children i.e., those who havent completed their
fourteenth year, in specified occupations;
(ii) lay down a procedure to decide modifications to the schedule of banned
occupation and processes;
(iii) regulate the conditions of work of children in employment where they are
not prohibited from working;
(iv) lay down enhanced penalties for employment of children in violation of the
provisions of this act, and other acts which forbid the employment of the
children;
(v) to obtain uniformity in the definition of child in the related laws
The intention of this act was to ban the engagements of child labour in certain
employments and to regulate in areas where it has not been prohibited. It provides
power to the government to make rules with reference to health and safety
wherever the employments of children are permitted. Night work for children is
prohibited. The hours of work for the children are also to be considered by the
state and the central governments.
The act enables the governments to appoint inspectors to enforce the provisions of
the act and it has also provided stringent penalties including imprisonment for
violations of the provisions of the act.
Any occupation which may be connected with transport of passengers, goods and
mails, cinder packing, construction of railways, selling of fire crackers etc.may be
included as child labour activities. Process may include bidi-making, carpet
weaving, cement manufacture, cloth printing, weaving, dyeing, manufacture of
matches, explosives etc.. will fall under the category of child labour.
Juvenile justice act :
Juvenile delinquents have been looked upon differently by persons.
To a lawyer, they are minors who are accused of offences from which they are
immune to the punishments that are usually administered to adults.
To psychologists they are youngsters whose social behavior patterns show
deviations from acceptable norms.
Judges take a different view by stating that they are neglected children who
have been brought into the world by parents who have turned their back on their
offsprings and let them shift for themselves.
Juvenile delinquency is indeed a social problem. Economic insecurity, under
nourishment, inadequate clothing and lack of necessary medi care may lead to
delinquency. The state has to give these children better care and make them good
citizens.
In India the first legislation concerning children was enacted in 1850 when the
apprentices act was passed.
The criminal procedure code, 1973 contained some provisions dealing with juvenile
delinquency. Section 27 of the code reads
any offence not punishable with death or imprisonment for life, committed by
any person who at the date when he appears or is bought before the court is
under the age of sixteen years, may be tried by the court of a chief judicial
magistrate, or by any court specially powered under the children act 1960 or any
other law for the time being in force providing for the treatment, training and
rehabilitation of youthful offenders.
Thus the state has the duty of according proper care and protection to children at
all times, as it is on their physical and mental well being that the future of the
nation depends
A child produced before the court charged with bailable or non bailable offence, be
released on bail with or without sureties.
However, the court shall not release him, if the release is likely to bring him into
association with any ill-reputed criminal or may expose him to moral danger.
Such a child must be committed to a remand home. The officer in charge should
inform the pants or the guardian to be present when the child is produced before
the juvenile court. The officer in charge should also inform the probation officer.
Aims of juvenile justice : The juvenile justice system shall emphasize the well being
of the juvenile offender must be in proportion to the circumstances of both the
offender and the offence. There are two major objectives of juvenile justice. They
are
1. the well being of the juvenile
2. the principle of proportionality, which is intended to curb punitive sanctions
expressed in just deserts in relation to the gravity of the offence, and to ensure
that the response to the younger offender be based on the consideration not
only of the gravity of the offence but also of the personal circumstances.
3. while the reaction must aim to ensure the welfare of the young offender, it
must no go beyond necessity and, therefore infringe upon the rights of a young
individual
The rights of a delinquent child :
There is to be a sharp and basic focus on the procedural safeguards that
guarantee a fair and just trial of every juvenile before a competent authority.
Basic procedural safeguards such as the presumption of innocence, the right to
be notified of the charges, the right to remain silent, the right to council. The
right to the presence of parents, etc.. shall be guaranteed at all stages.
The principle of non age :
A juvenile of below a particular age is not responsible for any criminal act
commited by him because of his emotional, mental and intellectual immaturity
and sufficient incapacity to distinguish between right and wrong.
International efforts to prevent delinquency may be traced to the year 1924.
It was in that year the Geneva declaration of the rights of the child was adopted
by the league of nations. The United Nations elaborately deals with the rights of
the child. There are 10 principles in the declaration of the rights of children.
Conclusion
As justice Bhagwati has rightly quoted
the child is a soul with a being, a nature and capacities of its own, who must be
helped to find them, to grow into the maturity, into fullness on physical and vital
energy and most breadth, depth and height of its emotional, intellectual and
spiritual being.
Children require guidance and support. They do not know the technicalities of life.
It is for citizens like us to take their hand and show them the right way.
The social workers play an important role in eradicating social evils and thus they is
need for stricter analysis on their qualification and professional capacity.
Although there is much legislation by the government to curb many social evils
against children, the governments are not taking any enough steps to ensure that
children, the future citizens of our country are protected. These are the children
that would lead our country to a healthy and prosperous nation.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss the Human Rights relating to Women and Minorities. (Apr-2016)

Discuss the Human Rights of Women and Miorities. (Oct-2012)
Answer :
Refer :
Human Rights of women :
<Read this from National Commission for Women elsewhere in this doc>
Human Rights of minorities :
<Read this from National Commission for Minority elsewhere in this doc>
GO TO CONTENTS.
Write shortnote : Human Rights granted to Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribe. (Apr-
2013)
Answer :
Refer :
<discussed elswhere in this doc National Commission for Schedule Castes and
Schedule Tribes>
GO TO CONTENTS.
Write shortnote : Human Rights granted to socially and economically backward

communities.
Answer :
Refer :

GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain : Human Rights of disabled persons. (Oct-2012)

Answer :
Refer :

GO TO CONTENTS.
State the police and prison organization and discuss the rights of defiance (arrestee)
accused and prisoners. (Oct-2012)
Discuss with decided cases Human Rights of accused persons and arrestees. (Apr-
2012, Apr-2016)
Discuss the Human Rights of prosioners and arrestees. (Apr-2013, Apr-2014)
Write shortnote : Custodial violance. (Apr-2014, Apr-2016)
Answer :
Refer :
V Good --->
<first give intro to human rights>
Expansive interpretation of Art 21 :
The Supreme Court of India in the recent past has been very vigilant against
encroachments upon the Human Rights of the prisoners.
In this area an attempt is made to explain the some of the provisions of the rights
of prisoners under the International and National arenas and also as interpreted by
the Supreme Court of India by invoking the Fundamental Rights.
Article 21 of the Constitution of India provides that
No person shall be deprived of his life and Personal Liberty except according to
procedure established by law.
The rights to life and Personal Liberty is the back bone of the Human Rights in
India. Through its positive approach and Activism, the Indian judiciary has served
as an institution for providing effective remedy against the violations of Human
Rights.
In the cases of Maneka Gandhi, Sunil Batra, M.H. Hoskot and Hussainara Khatoon,
the Supreme Court has taken the view that the provisions of part III should be
given widest possible interpretation. Every activity which facilitates the exercise of
the named Fundamental Right may be considered integrated part of the Article 21
of the Constitution.
It has been held that following rights, though specifically not mentioned in part III
of the constitution, are Fundamental Rights under Article 21 of the Constitution,
right to legal aid,
speedy trial,
right to have interview with friend, relative and lawyer,
protection to prisoners in jail from degrading, inhuman, and barbarous
treatment,
right to travel abroad,
right live with human dignity,
right to livelihood,
Public Interest Litigation :
One of the most powerful dimensions that arose through Public Interest Litigation is
the Human Rights of the prisoners.
The Supreme Court of India has considerably widened the scope of Article 21 and
has held that its protection will be available for safeguarding the fundamental rights
of the prisoners and for effecting prison reforms.
The Supreme Court by its progressive interpretation made Article 21, which
guarantees the Right to Life and personal liberty, the reservoir of prisoner s rights.
Under the seventh schedule of the Constitution of the India, the prison
administration, police and law and order are to be administered by the respective
states. The states have generally given low priority to prison administration. In
fact, some of the decisions of the Supreme Court on prison administration have
served as eye-openers for the administrators and directed the states to modernize
prison administration.
The Human Rights saviour Supreme Court has protected the prisoners from all
types of torture.
Judiciary has taken a lead to widen the ambit of Right to Life and personal liberty.
The host of decisions of the Supreme Court on Article 21 of the Constitution after
Maneka Gandhis case, through Public Interest Litigation have unfolded the true
nature and scope of Article 21.
Totally new dimensions is given by the Supreme Court to Article 21 through Public
Interest Litigation to safeguard the fundamental freedom of the individuals who are
indigent, illiterate and ignorant.

Public Interest Litigation became a focal point to set Judicial conscience recognized
that Human Rights of the prisoners because of its reformistic approach and belief
that convicts are also human beings and that the purpose of imprisonment is to
reform them rather than to make them hardened criminals.
Regarding the treatment of prisoners, Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, 1948 says No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel treatment,
in human or degrading treatment or punishment.
Rights against Solitary Confinement and Bar Fetters :
The courts have strong view against solitary confinement and held that imposition
of solitary confinement is highly degrading and dehumanizing effect on the
prisoners. The courts have taken the view that it could be imposed only in
exceptional cases where the convict was of such a dangerous character that he
must be segregated from the other prisoners.
In the case of Sunil Batra, the Supreme Court considered the validity of solitary
confinement. The Supreme Court while approving section 30(2) of the Prisons Act,
1894 declared that
the imposition of solitary confinement on Sunil Batra was illegal on the ground
under sentence of death refers to a finally executable death sentence, which
means that the sentence of death has become final and conclusive, and cannot
be annulled by any judicial or Constitutional authority.
Sunil Batra was not considered as a prisoner under sentence of death, since his
appeal against the death penalty was pending before the Supreme Court
On the question of the validity of the use of bar fetters, the court in Sunil Batra
observed that subjecting a prisoner to bar fetters for an unusually long period,
without due regard to the safety of the prisoner and the security of the prisoner
would violate basic Human Dignity and is hence impermissible under the
Constitution of India.
The court while approving section 56 of the Prisons Act and declared that bar
fetters can be used subject to the following procedural safeguards :
a. It must be absolutely necessary to use fetters;
b. The reasons for doing so must be recorded;
c. The basic condition of dangerousness must be wellgrounded;
d. Principles of natural justice must be observed;
e. The fetters must be removed at the earliest opportunity;
f. There must a daily review of the absolute need for bar fetters;
g. Continuance of bar fetters beyond a day is subject to the direction of a
District Magistrate or sessions judge

Rights against Hand Cuffing :
In Prem Shanker vs. Delhi Administration 28 the Supreme Court added yet another
projectile in its armoury to be used against the war for prison reform and prisoners
rights. In the instant case the question raised was whether handcuffing is
Constitutionally valid or not? The Supreme Court discussed in depth the hand
cuffing jurisprudence.
While deciding the Constitutional validity of hand cuffing, the Supreme Court
specifically referred to Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
and Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and held
that
hand cuffing is impermissible torture and is violate of Article 21.
In the instant case justice Krishna Iyer rightly emphasized hand cuffs should not
be used in routine and they were to be used in extreme circumstances only,
when the prisoner is a security risk, desperate, rowdy or involved in nonbailable
offences. But in even such circumstances, the escorting authority must record
the reasons for doing so. Otherwise, the court pointed out, under Article 21 of
the Constitution the procedure will be unfair and bad in law.
Wherever any police official acts contrary to the clear directions against hand
cuffing as laid down by the Supreme Court and thus violates the basic Human Right
to human dignity, he should be made personally liable to pay the compensation and
this fact is clearly established in state of Maharashtra vs. Ravikanth S.Patil.
Rights against Inhuman Treatment of Prisoners :
Human Rights are part and parcel of Human Dignity. The Supreme Court of India in
various cases has taken a serious note of the inhuman treatment on prisoners and
has issued appropriate directions to prison and police authorities for safeguarding
the rights of the prisoners and persons in police lockup.
The Supreme Court read the right against torture into Articles 14 and 19 of the
Constitution. The court observed that
the treatment of a human being which offends human dignity, imposes
avoidable torture and reduces the man to the level of a beast would certainly be
arbitrary and can be questioned under Article 14.
In the Raghubir Singh v. State of Bihar, the Supreme Court expressed its anguish
over police torture by upholding the life sentence awarded to a police officer
responsible for the death of a suspect due to torture in a police lockup.
In Kishore Singh VS. State of Rajasthan the Supreme Court held that
the use of third degree method by police is violative of Article 21.
The court also directed the Government to take necessary steps to educate the
police so as to inculcate a respect for the human person.

In the instant case the Supreme Court brought home the deep concern for
Human Rights by observing against police cruelty in the following words :
Nothing is more cowardly and unconscionable than a person in police custody
being beaten up and nothing inflicts a deeper wound on our Constitutional
culture that a state official running berserk regardless of Human Rights.
It is pertinent to mention that the custodial death is perhaps one of the worst
crimes in civilized society governed by the rule of law.
The court promptly ruled that the inhuman treatment meted to the accused in
police custody is the gross and blatant violation of Human Rights.
Rights of arrestee and custodial violance : The decision of the Supreme Court in
the case of D.K. Basu is note worthy.
While dealing the case, the court specifically concentrated on the problem of
custodial torture and issued a number of directions to eradicate this evil, for better
protection and promotion of Human Rights.
In the instant case the Supreme Court defined torture and analyzed its
implications.
With a view to curbing this menace, the Supreme Court laid down detailed
guidelines as preventive measures as follows :
a. The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of
the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags
with their designations. The particulars of all such police personnel who handle
interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in a register.
b. That the police officer carrying out the arrest of the arrestee shall prepare a
memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least
one witness, who may either be a member of the family of arrestee or a
respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. It shall also be
countersigned by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest.
c. A person who has been arrested or detained and is being held in custody in a
police station or interrogation centre or other lock up shall be entitled to have
one friend or relative or other person known to him or having interest in his
welfare being informed as soon as practicable that he has been arrested and is
being detained at the particular place unless the attesting witness of the memo
of arrest is himself such a friend or relative of the arrestee.
d. The time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must be notified
by the police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee lives outside the
district or town through legal aid organizations in the district and the police
station of the area concerned telegraphically within a period of 8 to 12 hours
after the arrest.

e. The person arrested must be aware of this right to have someone informed of
his arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained.
f. An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the
arrest of the person which shall also disclose the name of the next friend of the
person who has been informed of the arrest and the names and particulars of
the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.
g. The arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examined at the time of
his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present on his/her body, must be
recorded at that time. Inspection Memo must be signed both by the arrestee
and the police officer affecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee.
h. The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by a trained doctor
every 48 hours during his detention in custody by a doctor on the panel of
approved doctors appointed by Director, Health Services of the State or Union
Territory concerned. Director, Health Services should prepare such a panel for all
tehsils and districts as well.
i. Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above
should be sent to the area Magistrate for his/her record.
j. The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation though
not throughout the interrogation.
k. A police control room should be provided at all district and state head
quarters, where information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the
arrestee shall be communicated by the officer causing the arrest within 12 hours
of effecting the arrest and at the police control room it should be displayed on a
conspicuous notice board.
In the instant case, the Apex Court made it clear that, custodial violence, including
torture and death in the police lockup, strikes a blow at the rule of law, which
demands that the powers of the executive should not only be deprived from the law
but also that the same should be limited by the law.
The court also made it clear that failure to comply with guidelines should, apart
from rendering the official concerned liable for departmental action and also render
him liable to contempt of court.
The Supreme Court has made it clear beyond doubt that any form of torture of
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is offensive to Human Dignity and is
violative of Article 21 of the Constitution.
Right to have Interview with Friends, Relatives and Lawyers :
The horizon of Human Rights is expanding. Prisoner's rights have been recognized
not only to protect them from physical discomfort or torture in person, but also to
save them from mental torture.

The Right to Life and Personal Liberty enshrined in Article 21 cannot be restricted
to mere animal existence. It means something much more than just physical
survival.
The right to have interview with the members of ones family and friends is clearly
part of the Personal Liberty embodied in Article 21. Article 22 (I) of the Constitution
directs that no person who is arrested shall be denied the right to consult and to be
defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.
This legal right is also available in the code of criminal procedure under section
304.
The court has held that from the time of arrest, this right accrues to the arrested
person and he has the right of choice of a lawyer.
Right to Legal Aid :
The main object of the Free Legal Aid scheme is to provide means by which the
principle of equality before law on which the edifice of our legal system is based.
It also means financial Aid provided to a person in matter of legal disputes.
In the absence of Free Legal Aid to the poor and needy, Fundamental Rights and
Human Freedoms guaranteed by the respective Constitution and International
Human Rights covenants have no value.
Due process of law : Maneka Gandhi vs. Union of India 51 case was a catalyst
which laid down a foundation for interpreting Articles 39-A and 21, widely to cover
the whole panorama of Free Legal Aid.
In the instant case the Supreme Court held that procedure established by law in
Article 21 means fair, just and reasonable procedure
Right to Speedy Trial :
The speedy trial of offences is one of the basic objectives of the criminal justice
delivery system.
Once the cognizance of the accusation is taken by the court then the trial has to be
conducted expeditiously so as to punish the guilty and to absolve the innocent.
Everyone is presumed to be innocent until the guilty is proved.
So, the quality or innocence of the accused has to be determined as quickly as
possible. It is therefore, incumbent on the court to see that no guilty person
escapes.
It is still more its duty to see that justice is not delayed and the accused persons
are not indefinitely harassed. It is pertinent to mention that delay in trial by itself
constitute denial of justice
Conclusion :
A close examination of the judicial action reveals that the Supreme Court has
devised new strategies and tools to ensure the protection of Human Rights to the
people.
The courts are innovating new methods for the purpose of providing access to
justice to large masses of people who were denied their basic Human Rights.
The Supreme Court has enlarged the ambit and scope of the Right to Life and
Personal Liberty in Article 21 in very wide and comprehensive terms.
The crucial right in Article 21 is greatly enlarged in magnitude and dimension to
include the rights of arrestees and prisoners.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain about Human Rights of victims and development of Compensatory

Jurisprudence. (Mar-2015)
Answer :
Refer :
V Good --->
Intro :
A significant contribution of judicial activism in the post Maneka Gandhi period has
been the development of compensatory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the
High Courts under Articles 32 and 226 of the Constitution.
The scope of writ jurisdiction has also been expanded to uphold the Human Dignity
and other Fundamental Human Rights.
Consequent upon the expansion of writ jurisdiction, the Compensation as a mode
of redressel of violation of Human Rights gained importance. The Supreme Court
made a departure from the ordinary civil law, where the right to claim
compensation is only through a civil suit instituted by the aggrieved party before
the court of first instance.
Currently, the writ jurisdiction of higher judiciary and the original jurisdiction of the
civil court regarding the award of compensation invoked upon infraction of Human
Rights are based upon distinct Constitutional and legal principles.
Judicially, it is well established that doctrine of sovereign immunity is not applicable
against the Constitutional remedy under Articles 32 and 226 of the Constitution
Monetary Compensation in enforcement of HRs :
It is internationally recognized principle that right to compensation is not alien to
the concept of enforcement of guaranteed right.

The development of the remedy of monetary compensation for the enforcement of
Human Rights may be discussed with reference to writ jurisdiction of the higher
judiciary and the ordinary original jurisdiction of the civil court.
Compensation through writs is a recent development and an extension of the
prerogatives of the Supreme Court and High Courts in the field of Constitutional
remedies.
It is noteworthy that, there was much criticism on the payment of compensation
under Article 32 of the Constitution, because of this Article as such itself does
not expressly empowers the courts to award such relief.
Veena Sethi vs. State of Bihar and Khatri vs. State of Bihar : It is also important to
mention here that the seed of compensation for the violation of the rights implicit
in Article 21 is first sowed in both these cases, one of the questions raised was if
the state deprives a person of his life or Personal Liberty on violation of the right
guaranteed by Article 21, is the court helpless to grant relief to the persons who
has suffered such deprivation?
To this question, Bhaghawathi, J in Veena Sethi case observed that
the question would still remain to be considered whether these prisoners are
entitled to compensation from state Government for their illegal detention in
contravention of Article 21 of the Constitution."
the court can certainly inject the state for depriving a person of his life or
Personal Liberty except in accordance with the procedure established by law but,
if life or Personal Liberty is violated otherwise than in accordance with such
procedure,
Is the court helpless to grant relief to the person who has suffered such
deprivation? Why should the court not be prepared to forge new and devise
new remedies for the purpose of vindicating the most precious Fundamental
Right to life and Personal Liberty? Otherwise Article 21 would be reduced to a
nullity, a mere rope of sand.
Rudul Shah VS. State of Bihar : Here also The jurisdiction to award compensation
for deprivation of Fundamental Rights of a person through writs was recognised by
the Supreme Court, wherein the petitioner was detained illegally in the prison for
over fourteen years after his acquittal in full dressed trial.
The Supreme Court in this case explained the jurisdiction to award compensation
under Article 32 of the Constitution by observing;
It is true that Article 32 cannot be used as a substitute for enforcement of
rights and obligations which can be enforced efficaciously through the
ordinary process of courts, civil and criminal.
A money claim has therefore, to be agitated in and adjudicated upon the suit
instituted in a court of lowest grade competent to try it.
In the exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 32, the Supreme Court can pass
an order for the payment of money in the nature of compensation
consequential upon the deprivation of a Fundamental Right to Life and Liberty
of the petitioner.
Bhim Singh vs. state of Jammu & Kashmir : Here the Apex Court followed Rudul
Shah and Sebastian cases, by observing that
when a person comes to the Supreme Court with the complaint that he has
been arrested and imprisoned with mischievous or malicious intent and that his
Constitutional legal rights were invaded, the mischief or malice and invasion may
not be washed away or wished away by his being set free.
In appropriate cases, the court has the jurisdiction to compensate the victim by
awarding suitable monetary compensation.
In this case, the illegal detention of the petitioner was held to constitute violation
of rights under Articles 21 and 22 (2) of the Constitution by the Supreme Court.
Police officers who are the custodians of law and order should have the greater
respect for the Personal Liberty of citizens and should not flout the laws by
stooping to the bizarre acts of lawlessness.
Custodians of law and order should not become depredators of civil liberties. The
duty of the police officers is only to protect and not to abduct.
Exercising its power to award compensation under Article 32, the court directed
the state to pay monetary compensation of Rs. 50,000/- to the petitioner for
violation of his Constitutional right by way of exemplary costs.
Nilabeti Behara vs. state of Orissa and others : In this case, the Supreme
Court struck down the doctrine of sovereign immunity in the arena of public law.
This is the case of the custodial death of a person. In the instant case one youth
by name Suman Behara was taken into police custody in connection with the
investigation of a theft on 1st December, 1987, and on the next day, his dead
body was found on the railway track. There were multiple injuries on the body of
Suman Behara.
The petitioner Nilabati Behara, addressed a letter to the Supreme Court under
Article 32 of the Constitution of India.
The Supreme Court ordered enquiry by the District Judge of Sundergarh, Orissa.
The report of the District Judge revealed that there was torture of the deceased
with eleven external injuries and as a result of these injuries inflicted by the
police, the report confirmed that the death is in the nature of custodial death.
The Supreme Court awarded Rs. 1,50,000/- as compensation to the mother of
the deceased.
The award of compensation in proceedings for the enforcement of Fundamental
Rights under Article 32 and 226 of the Constitution is a remedy available in
public law. It was rightly observed :
the court is not helpless and wide powers given to the Supreme Court by
Article 32, which itself is a Fundamental Rights, imposes a Constitutional
obligation on the court to invent such new tools, which may be necessary.
To support the above observation, the court rightly referred to Article 9 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 and held that the state
is liable to pay compensation for police atrocities.
Note : It is doubtful whether it was right on the part of the court to reach such a
conclusion without ensuring authority of such covenants and leaving it for the
decisions of a later forum. It is also to be noted that the covenant on civil and
political rights, 1966 was ratified by India with a reservation that Article 9 (5) of
the said covenant is not applicable in India. Hence it is submitted that reading of
the covenant into the Indian law is not correct.
Conclusion :
On the basis of the above discussion it can be inferred that the development of
Constitutional remedy affords an effective remedy in the form of monetary
compensation on infraction of Human Rights. However this remedy is a distinct
remedy and not a substitute of the remedy under civil law.
The Constitutional remedy is only an additional remedy and an aggrieved person
avail other remedy available to him under law.
In Nilabetis case, a distinction is made between the remedy of compensation
available under the public law i.e., Constitution and the private law, i.e. civil law of
Tort. In this case Anand J, in his concurring judgment further explained the
distinction by observing that
the payment of compensation in such cases not to be understood, as it is
generally understood in a civil action for damage under the private law, but in
the broader sense of providing relief by an order of making monetary amends,
under public law for the wrong done due to breach of public duty of not
protecting the Fundamental Rights of the citizen.
The compensation is in the nature of exemplary damages awarded against the
wrongdoer for the breach of its public law duty and it is independent of the
rights available to the aggrieved party to claim compensation under the private
law in action based on tort through a suit instituted in a court of competent
jurisdiction or to prosecute the offender under the penal law.
Constitutional remedy is not in the nature of damages, for the loss suffered,
Constitutional remedy suggests that it is subject to certain inherent limitations viz.,

precise amount of compensation to make good the loss and Personal Liberty of the
concerned officials are the issues which can only be properly adjudicated in a civil
suit.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Module-4) Enforcement of Human Rights and machinery thereof :
4.1) International Commission of Human Rights, Amnesty International

4.2) Role of Courts : the Supreme Court, High Courts and other courts (also
refer to para 2.2.3)
4.3) Statutory commissions -
4.3.1) National Commission for Women
4.3.2) National Commission for Minority
4.3.3) National Commission for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes
4.4) Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 :
National Human Rights Commission
State Human Rights Commission
Human Right Courts
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 : adequacy of the
legislation
4.5) Role of various NGOs in the protection of Human Rights
GO TO CONTENTS.
Write shortnote : International Commission of Human Rights (should this be

United Nations Human Rights Council).
Write shortnote : Amnesty International. (Apr-2013)
Explain in detail : Clean environment : an inevitable Human Right. (Apr-2012)
Explain the role of Supreme Court of India for the protection of Human Rights. (Apr-
2014)
"Indian Judiciary is reading Human Rights Charter under the Constitution of India.
Discuss this statement in detail. (Oct-2012, Apr-2013)
Explain the role of High Courts for the protection of Human Rights.
Explain in detail the provisions for protection of impoverished masses under the
Constitution of India and contribution of the Supreme Court in protecting the same by
its various decisions. (Apr-2012)
Explain in detail : National Commission for Women and its jurisdiction. (Apr-2012,
Oct-2012)
Write notes : National Commission for Women. (Apr-2016)

Write shortnote : National Commission for Minority. (Apr-2014)
Write Explanatory Notes : National Commission for Minority (Mar-2015)
Discuss : National Commission for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes .
State the purpose of enacting the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 and explain
the provisions made there in to protect the Human Rights. (Apr-2012)
Explain the arrangements for the protection of Human Rights under the
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. (Oct-2012)
Explain : Violation of Human Rights and remedies available in such cases. (Oct-
2012, Apr-2016)
Discuss the salient features of the Human Rights Protection Act 1993. (Apr-2014)
Explain with decided cases the role and functions of National Human Rights
Commission. (Oct-2012)
Explain about constitution and functions of National Human Rights Commission. (Mar-
2015)
Write shortnote : State Human Rights Commission. (Apr-2014)
Explain the role and function of State Human Rights Commission with special
reference to Gujarat state. (Apr-2013, Apr-2016)
Write shortnote : Human Right courts. (Apr-2013)
Explain the role of various NGOs (Non Government Organization) in the protection
and promotion of Human Rights. (Apr-2013, Mar-2015, Apr-2016)
GO TO CONTENTS.
MODULE-4 ANSWERS :
Write shortnote : International Commission of Human Rights (should this be

United Nations Human Rights Council).
Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Commission_on_Human_Rights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Human_Rights_Council
Intro to UNCHR :
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional
commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it
was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006.

It was a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and
was also assisted in its work by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights (UNHCHR).
It was the UN's principal mechanism and international forum concerned with the
promotion and protection of human rights.
On 15 March 2006, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to replace
UNCHR with the UN Human Rights Council.
Intro to UNHRC :
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations System
inter-governmental body responsible for promoting and protecting human rights
around the world. Its 47 seats are filled by member states elected for three-year
terms.
The UNHRC is the successor to the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR,
herein CHR), and is a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly. The council
works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
and engages the United Nations' special procedures.
The General Assembly established the UNHRC by adopting a resolution
(A/RES/60/251) on 15 March 2006, in order to replace the previous CHR, which
had been heavily criticised for allowing countries with poor human rights records to
be members.
The UNHRC addresses human rights-related situations in all UN member states.
The UNHRC also addresses important thematic human rights issues such as
freedom of association and assembly,
freedom of expression,
freedom of belief and religion,
women's rights,
LGBT rights, and
the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.
Structure of UNHRC :
The members of the General Assembly elect the members who occupy the UNHRC's
47 seats. The term of each seat is three years, and no member may occupy a seat
for more than two consecutive terms.
The seats are distributed among the UN's regional groups as follows :
13 for Africa, 13 for Asia, six for Eastern Europe, eight for Latin America and the
Caribbean (GRULAC), and seven for the Western European and Others Group
(WEOG).
The General Assembly can suspend the rights and privileges of any Council
member that it decides has persistently committed gross and systematic violations
of human rights during its term of membership. The suspension process requires a
two-thirds majority vote by the General Assembly.
Complaints procedure :
On 18 June 2007, the UNHRC adopted Resolution 5/1 by which a new complaint
procedure was established to address consistent patterns of gross and reliably
attested violations of all human rights and all fundamental freedoms occurring in
any part of the world and under any circumstances.
Two working groups make up the Complaint Procedure :
the Working Group on Communications (WGC) and
the Working Group on Situations (WGS).
The WGC consists of five independent and highly qualified experts, and is
geographically representative of the five regions represented by the Human Rights
Council (Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and
Western Europe and Others). The Advisory Committee designates the WGC's
experts from among its members. The experts serve for three years with the
possibility of one renewal. The experts determine whether a complaint deserves
investigation. If a complaint deserves investigation, the WGC passes the complaint
to the WGS.
The WGS has five members, appointed by the regional groups from among the
States members of the Council for the period of one year (mandate renewable
once). It meets twice a year for a period of five working days in order to examine
the communications transferred to it by the WGC, including the replies of States
thereon, as well as the situations which the Council is already seized of under the
complaint procedure. The WGS, on the basis of the information and
recommendations provided by the WGC, presents the Council with a report on
consistent patterns of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights and
makes recommendations to the Council on the course of actions to take.
Note that :
The procedure is not in place for single victim complaints of a single incident that
violates their human rights. The complaint procedure is in place to address
communications submitted by individuals, groups or non-governmental
organizations that claim to be victims of humans rights violations or that have
direct, reliable knowledge of such violations
Filing a Complaint :
Complaints can be regarding any state, regardless of whether it has ratified a
particular treaty. The procedure is confidential and the council will only
communicate with the person or group. Until the council decides that the
complaint will be addressed publicly.

The complaint must be in writing, and it is recommended that a complaint is no
more than fifteen pages. There is a template on the UNHRC website. Complaints
cannot be made anonymously, and should include a description of the relevant
facts in as much detail as possible, providing names of alleged victims, dates,
location and other evidence. It should also include the purpose of the complaint
and the rights allegedly violated.
There is an initial screening where a decision on the admissibility of a complaint
by the WGC will be made. All communications found to be manifestly ill-founded
or anonymous would be discarded; the Chairman of the WGC at that initial
screen decides this.
Following the initial screening a request for information will be sent to the State
concerned, which shall reply no later than three months after the request has
been made. A report will then be created, addressed to the UNHRC, by WGS.
The report will usually be in the form of a draft resolution or decision on the
situation referred to in the complaint.
As a general rule, the period of time between the transmission of the complaint
to the State concerned and consideration by the Council shall not exceed 24
months. Those individuals or groups who make a complaint should not publicly
state the fact that they have submitted a complaint.
The UNHRC has provided examples on the types of complaints that would be
admissible under the complaint procedure. A complaint must meet the following
criteria :
It must be in writing and has to be submitted in one of the six UN official
languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish);
It must contain a description of the relevant facts (including names of alleged
victims, dates, location and other evidence), with as much detail as possible,
and shall not exceed 15 pages;
It must not be manifestly politically motivated;
It must not be exclusively based on reports disseminated by mass media;
It is not being already dealt with by a special procedure, a treaty body or
other United Nations or similar regional complaints procedure in the field of
human rights;
Domestic remedies have been exhausted, unless it appears that such
remedies would be ineffective or unreasonably prolonged;
It must not use a language that is abusive or insulting;
The complaint procedure is not mandated to seek remedies in individual cases
or to provide compensation to alleged victims
Due to the confidential manner of the procedure, it is almost impossible to find out
what complaints have passed through the procedure and also how effective the
procedure is.
History shows that the procedure works almost in a petition like way; if enough
complaints are received then the UNHRC is very likely to assign a special
rapporteur to the state or to the issue at hand.
It has been said that an advantage of the procedure is the confidential manner,
which offers the ability to engage with the state concerned through a more
[diplomatic] process, which can produce better results than a more adversarial
process of public accusation.
The procedure is a useful tool to have at the disposal on the international
community for situations where naming and shaming has proved ineffective
Specific issues taken up by UNHRC :
Israel :
As of 2015, Israel has been condemned in 62 resolutions by the Council since its
creation in 2006the Council has resolved more resolutions condemning Israel
than the rest of the world combined.[64] By April 2007, the Council had passed
eleven resolutions condemning Israel, the only country which it had specifically
condemned.
In 2006, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan argued that the Commission should
not have a "disproportionate focus on violations by Israel. Not that Israel should
be given a free pass. Absolutely not. But the Council should give the same
attention to grave violations committed by other states as well".
On 20 June 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement that read:
"The Secretary-General is disappointed at the council's decision to single out
only one specific regional item given the range and scope of allegations of
human rights violations throughout the world."
The U.S. State Department said on 5 March 2007 that, for the second year in a
row, the United States has decided not to seek a seat on the Human Rights
Council, asserting the body had lost its credibility with repeated attacks on Israel
and a failure to confront other rights abusers. Spokesman Sean McCormack said
the council has had a singular focus on Israel, while countries such as Cuba,
Myanmar and North Korea have been spared scrutiny.
"Defamation of religion"
The UNHRC adopted resolutions in opposition to the "defamation of religion".
Climate change :
The Human Rights Council has adopted the Resolution 10/4 about human rights
and climate change.
Eritrea report :
In June 2015, a 500-page UNHRC report accused Eritrea's government of
widespread human rights violations. These were alleged to include extrajudicial
executions, torture, indefinitely prolonged national service and forced labour, and
the report also indicated that sexual harassment, rape and sexual servitude by
state officials are widespread.
The Eritrean Foreign Ministry responded by describing the Commission's report
as "wild allegations" which were "totally unfounded and devoid of all merit" and
countercharged the UNHRC with "vile slanders and false accusations".
The vice chairperson of the subcommittee on human rights at the European
parliament said the report detailed 'very serious human rights violations', and
said that EU funding for development would not continue as at present without
change in Eritrea.
Candidacy of Syria, Sudan and Ethiopia :
Syria, Sudan and Ethiopia, at different times, sought a seat each on the United
Nations Human Rights Council.
This was while there were serious evidence (provided by numerous human rights
organizations including the UN itself) that these states had authorised and funded
the slaughtering of thousands of civilians
It was widely perceived that candidacies of Syria, Sudan and Ethiopia would be
virtually assured of victory due to the prevailing system of elections. And
accordingly these blatant HR violator states would themselves be responsible for
promoting human rights if elected.
In response, the United States and European Union drafted resolutions to oppose
Syrias candidacy. And a joint letter of 18 African and international civil society
organizations urged foreign ministers of the African Union to reverse its
endorsement of Ethiopia and Sudan for a seat, accusing them of serious human
rights violations and listing examples of such violations, and stating that they
shouldn't be rewarded with a seat.
Ultimately, Syria and Sudan were not on the ballot elections to the UNHRC, but
Ethiopia was elected to the Council.
Conclusion :
As is apparent from above discussion, though the UNHRC was established for noble
cause to remedy HR violations around the world, its consistent focus on HR
violations by Israel and neglact of HR violation elsewhere in the world, has resulted
in a situation where UNHRC is not in a position to commend the respect it could
have.
Neverthless, it must be noted that UNHRC (International Commission on HR) is an
important organ of the UN.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Write shortnote : Amnesty International. (Apr-2013)

Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International
Intro :
Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty and AI) is a non-
governmental organisation focused on human rights that claims to have over 7
million members and supporters around the world. The stated objective of the
organisation is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave
abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been
violated."
Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961, following the publication of
the article "The Forgotten Prisoners" in The Observer on 28 May 1961, by the
lawyer Peter Benenson.
Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance
with international laws and standards. It works to mobilise public opinion to put
pressure on governments that let abuse take place.
Amnesty considers capital punishment to be "the ultimate, irreversible denial of
human rights". The organisation was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its
"campaign against torture," and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human
Rights in 1978.
In the field of international human rights organisations, Amnesty has the third
longest history, after the International Federation for Human Rights and broadest
name recognition, and is believed by many to set standards for the movement as a
whole.
Objectives :
Amnesty International primarily targets governments, but also reports on non-
governmental bodies and private individuals ("non-state actors").
There are six key areas which Amnesty deals with :
Women's, children's, minorities' and indigenous rights
Ending torture
Abolition of the death penalty

Rights of refugees
Rights of prisoners of conscience
Protection of human dignity.
Some specific aims of AI are to :
abolish the death penalty, end extra judicial executions and "disappearances,"
ensure prison conditions meet international human rights standards, ensure
prompt and fair trial for all political prisoners, ensure free education to all
children worldwide, decriminalise abortion, fight impunity from systems of
justice, end the recruitment and use of child soldiers, free all prisoners of
conscience, promote economic, social and cultural rights for marginalised
communities, protect human rights defenders, promote religious tolerance,
protect LGBT rights, stop torture and ill-treatment, stop unlawful killings in
armed conflict, uphold the rights of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers, and
protect human dignity.
Structure of AI :
Amnesty International is largely made up of voluntary members, but retains a
small number of paid professionals.
In countries in which Amnesty International has a strong presence, members are
organised as "sections".
Sections co-ordinate basic Amnesty International activities normally with a
significant number of members, some of whom will form into "groups", and a
professional staff. Each have a board of directors.
In 2005 there were 52 sections worldwide. "Structures" are aspiring sections. They
also co-ordinate basic activities but have a smaller membership and a limited staff.
In countries where no section or structure exists, people can become "international
members". Two other organisational models exist :
"international networks", which promote specific themes or have a specific
identity, and
"affiliated groups", which do the same work as section groups, but in isolation.
The organisations outlined above are represented by the International Council (IC)
which is led by the IC Chairperson. Members of sections and structures have the
right to appoint one or more representatives to the Council according to the size of
their membership.
Principles of AI :
The core principle of Amnesty International is a focus on prisoners of conscience,
those persons imprisoned or prevented from expressing any opinion other than
violence.
Along with this commitment to opposing repression of freedom of expression,
Amnesty International's founding principles included non-intervention on political
questions and a robust commitment to gathering facts about the various cases.
One key issue in the principles is in regards to those individuals who may advocate
or tacitly support resorting to violence in struggles against repression. AI does not
judge whether recourse to violence is justified or not.
However, AI does not oppose the political use of violence in itself since The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in its preamble, foresees situations in
which people could "be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion
against tyranny and oppression".
If a prisoner is serving a sentence imposed, after a fair trial, for activities involving
violence, AI will not ask the government to release the prisoner.
AI neither supports nor condemns the resort to violence by political opposition
groups in itself, just as AI neither supports nor condemns a government policy of
using military force in fighting against armed opposition movements.
However, AI supports minimum humane standards that should be respected by
governments and armed opposition groups alike.
When an opposition group tortures or kills its captives, takes hostages, or
commits deliberate and arbitrary killings, AI condemns these abuses.
Amnesty International opposes capital punishment in all cases, regardless of the
crime committed, the circumstances surrounding the individual or the method of
execution.
Funding of AI :
Amnesty International is financed largely by fees and donations from its worldwide
membership.
It says that it does not accept donations from governments or governmental
organisations.
According to the AI website,
"these personal and unaffiliated donations allow AI to maintain full independence
from any and all governments, political ideologies, economic interests or
religions. We neither seek nor accept any funds for human rights research from
governments or political parties and we accept support only from businesses that
have been carefully vetted. By way of ethical fundraising leading to donations
from individuals, we are able to stand firm and unwavering in our defence of
universal and indivisible human rights."
Criticism and controversies :
Criticism of Amnesty International includes
claims of excessive pay for management,

underprotection of overseas staff,
associating with organisations with a dubious record on human rights protection,
selection bias,
ideological/foreign policy bias against either non-Western countries or Western-
supported countries, and
criticism of Amnesty's policies relating to abortion.
Governments and their supporters have criticised Amnesty's criticism of their
policies, including those of Australia, Czech Republic, China, Democratic Republic of
the Congo, India, Iran, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Russia and the United
States, for what they assert is one-sided reporting or a failure to treat threats to
security as a mitigating factor.
The actions of these governments and of other governments critical of Amnesty
International have been the subject of human rights concerns voiced by
Amnesty.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain in detail : Clean environment : an inevitable Human Right. (Apr-2012)

Answer :
Refer :
V Good --->
Intro :
The Apex judiciary in India has been demonstrating its commitment for the
protection of environment from time to time and it has given prime importance to
the environmental promotion and protection through a serious of trend setting
judgments.
The Supreme Court is also trying to bring an awareness of the massive problems of
pollution and filling the gap between the legislation and its implementation by using
its extraordinary powers.
The higher Judiciary in India delivered many environmental conscious judgments.
By constructive interpretation of various provisions of the law, the Supreme Court
in particular has supplemented and strengthened the environmental law.
Judicial activism and environment :
The Supreme Court has played an activist and creative role in protecting the
environment.
Most of the actions in the environmental cases are brought under Articles 32 and
226 of the Constitution. The environmental litigations are generally based on the
notions of violation of Fundamental Rights. The Supreme Court widened the
horizons of environmental protection.
It is a new innovation of Indian judiciary was of Judicial Activism.
The Apex judiciary made it clear that Public Interest Litigation is maintainable for
ensuring pollution free water and air which is involved in right to live under the
Article 21 of the Constitution.
The higher judiciary has always endeavoured to strike a balance between
conservation of environment on one hand and the economic development on the
other hand.
The adverse effect of industrialisation on human life has caught the attention of
Indian judiciary and it is perhaps with this view, in mind it has shown deep concern
for prevention of pollution of environment and asked the authorities concerned to
take immediate necessary steps to safeguard the society against the ill-effects of
industrialization.
According to many environmentalists and jurists The latest and most encouraging
of all developments in India is the Right to a clean and wholesome environment
and the Right to clean air and water. These rights have been included in the Right
to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
In Ratlam Municipality vs. Vardhichand 77 case, the Supreme Court for the first
time treated an environmental problem differently from and ordinary Tort or public
nuisance.
In the instant cases the Apex Court compelled the M.P. Municipality to provide
sanitation and drainage despite the budgetary constraints, there by enabling the
poor to live with dignity.
The Court not only complemented petitioners who filed environment protection
litigation but also awarded money to the petitioners.
This development has paved the way for Social Interest Litigation, Class Action
Litigation and Common Cause Litigation and so on.
Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra, Deharadun vs. State of UP.
In the instant case, the representatives of the rural litigation and entitlement
Kendra, Dehradun wrote a letter to the Supreme Court alleging that heat illegal
limestone quarries in the Mussorrie Dehraddun region was devastating the
fragile ecosystem in the area.
The court treated the letter as a writ petition under Article 32 of the
Constitution.
The court ordered the closure of certain lime stone quarries on the ground as
that there were serious deficiencies regarding safety and hazards in them. The
court stated
the right of the people to live in healthy environment with minimum
disturbance of ecological balance and without avoidable hazard to them and to
their cattle, house and agriculture, land and pollution of air, water and
environment.
In M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court observed
The Precautionary Principle and polluter pays Principle have been accepted as
part of the law of the land.
In this case, a Public Interest Litigation was filed alleging that due to
environmental pollution, there is degradation of the Taj Mahal, a monument of
International reputation.
According to the opinion of the expert committees, the use of coke/ coal by the
industries situated within the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) were emitting pollution
and causing damage to the Taj Mahal, as also people living in that area.
In the instant case the court ordered the re-location of polluting industries.
The Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India, had given direction to the
Delhi city authorities to take effective steps for streamlining vehicular pollution in
the city.
The order of the Supreme Court prohibiting the use of twenty years old vehicles
in the city roads of Delhi and its implementation is a welcome step in prevention
of the vehicular pollution, avoiding the accident and protecting health of the
Delhi Police.
Inventing new remedies : Absoliability :
While treading the path of judicial innovation, the Supreme Court has invented an
impressive range of concepts and principles. As a result following principles have
found firm footing in Indian Jurisprudence,
the principles of Strict and Absolute liability,
the principle of Sustainable Development,
the Polluter Pays principles,
the Precautionary principle and
the Public Trust doctrine.
The Supreme Court has firmly held the view that law should not remain static and
that it has to evolve to meet the changes arising out of new situations. Law has to
grow in order to satisfy the needs of the fast changing society and to keep abreast
with the economic development taking place in the country.

Finding the rule of strict liability as laid down in Rylands vs. Fletcher to be
unsuitable for dealing with enterprises engaged in hazardous or inherently
dangerous activities in the country, the Supreme Court unanimously held in M.C
Mehta and other vs. Shriram Food and Fertilizers industries and Union of India case
that
where an enterprise is engaged in a hazardous or inherently dangerous activity
and harm results to anyone on account of an accident in operation of such
hazardous or inherently dangerous activity resulting, for example, in escape of
toxic gas the enterprise is strictly and absolutely liable to compensate to all
those who are effected by the accident and such liability is not subject to any of
the exceptions which operate vis--vis the tortious principle of Strict Liability
under the rule in Rylands vs. Fletcher.
Thus, the Apex court, by departing from the rule of strict liability as laid down in
Ryland vs. Fletcher, took an epoch making decision having wide ramifications.
It is to be noted that this judgment opened a new frontier in the Indian
jurisprudence by a new concept of Absolute liability standard, which is not subject
to any exception, for industries engaged in hazard activities.
Way forward :
The emerging environmental Jurisprudence should take all aspects into
consideration in order to render Justice and ensure sustainable development.
For this purpose, the court can refer to scientific and technical aspects for
investigation and opinion by such expert bodies as the National Environmental
Appellate Authority whose investigation, analyses of facts and opinion, on
objections raised by parties, could give adequate help to the Supreme Court or the
High Courts for adjudication.
Pollution Control Board vs. Prof M.V. Naidu (Retd.,) and others, the Supreme Court
held that
monitoring of such investigation process may be difficult because it involved
formulation of alternative procedures, and domain specific scientific/ technical
knowledge was necessary. The court thought that National Environmental
Appellate Authority (NEAA) with adequate combination of both Judicial and
Technical expertise is the appropriate authority to go into the question in the
instant case.
It is pertinent to mention that the right to access to drinking water is fundamental
to life and there is a duty on the State under Article 21 to provide clean Drinking
Water to its Citizens.
In APPCB vs. M.V. Naidu 89 , the court ruled that
Drinking water is of Primary importance in any country. In fact India is a partly

to the resolution of the UNO passed during the United Nations water conference
in 1977 as All people, whatever their stage of development and their social and
economic conditions, have the right to have access to drinking water in quantum
and of quality equal to their basic needs.
The court observed that water is the basic need for the survival of human
beings and is part of the Right to Life and Human Rights as enshrined in Article
21 of the Constitution of India.
Conclusion :
From the foregoing decisions, it is clear that the Supreme Court has made
significant contribution in giving fill up to the rights of the citizen to a hygienic
environment
It is to be noted that the right to environment is a comprehensive right like any
other basic right at both National and International levels.
The Supreme Court has interpreted the various Constitutional and legal provisions
relating to environment in an appropriate direction by promoting ecological balance
and sustainable development.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain the role of Supreme Court of India for the protection of Human Rights. (Apr-
2014)
"Indian Judiciary is reading Human Rights Charter under the Constitution of India.
Discuss this statement in detail. (Oct-2012, Apr-2013)
Explain the role of High Courts for the protection of Human Rights.
Explain in detail the provisions for protection of impoverished masses under the
Constitution of India and contribution of the Supreme Court in protecting the same by
its various decisions. (Apr-2012)
Answer :
Refer :
V Good --->
page-31 of http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7839/12/12_chapter
%202.pdf >
Note : For constitutional provisions for human righs, refer to Module-3.
Introduction :
Judiciary in every country has an obligation and a Constitutional role to protect

Human Rights of citizens.
As per the mandate of the Constitution of India, this function is assigned to the
superior judiciary namely the Supreme Court of India and High courts.
The Supreme Court of India is perhaps one of the most active courts when it comes
into the matter of protection of Human Rights. It has great reputation of
independence and credibility.
The preamble of the Constitution of India encapsulates the objectives of the
Constitution-makers to build a new Socio-Economic order where there will be
Social, Economic and Political Justice for everyone and equality of status and
opportunity for all. This basic objective of the Constitution mandates every organ of
the state, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary working harmoniously to
strive to realize the objectives concretized in the Fundamental Rights and Directive
Principles of State Policy.
The judiciary must therefore adopt a creative and purposive approach in the
interpretation of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy
embodied in the Constitution with a view to advancing Human Rights
jurisprudence.
The promotion and protection of Human Rights is depends upon the strong and
independent judiciary.
The major contributions of the judiciary to the Human Rights jurisprudence have been
two fold :
(1) the substantive expansion of the concept of Human Rights under Article 21 of
the Constitution, and
(2) the procedural innovation of Public Interest Litigation
Writ Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the High Courts :
The most significant of the Human Rights is the exclusive right to Constitutional
remedies under Articles 32 and 226 of the Constitution of India. Those persons
whose rights have been violated have right to directly approach the High Courts
and the Supreme Court for judicial rectification, redressal of grievances and
enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
The right to move to the Supreme Court to enforce Fundamental Rights is itself a
Fundamental Right under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. This remedial
Fundamental Right has been described as the Cornerstone of the Democratic
Edifice as the protector and guarantor of the Fundamentals Rights. It has been
described as an integral part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
The Right to Constitutional remedy under Article 32 can be suspended as provided
under Articles 32(4), 358 and 359 during the period of promulgation emergency.
Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Courts have concurrent
jurisdiction with the Supreme Court in the matter granting relief in cases of
violation of the Fundamental Rights, though the High Courts exercise jurisdiction in
case of any other rights also.
The Supreme Court observed that where the High Court dismissed a writ petition
under Article 226 after hearing the matter on merits, a subsequent petition in the
Supreme Court under Article 32 on the same facts and for the same relief filed by
the same parties will be barred by the rule of Resjudicata. The binding character of
the judgment of the court of competent jurisdiction is in essence, a part of the rule
of law on which, the administration of justice is founded. Thus the judgment of the
High Court under Article 226 passed after hearing the parties on merits must bind
the parties till set aside in the appeal as provided by the Constitution and can not
be permitted to be avoided by a petition under Article 32.
Rule of Locus Standi vis--vis Public Interest Litigation :
The traditional rule is that the right to move the Supreme Court is only available to
those whose Fundamental Rights are infringed. A person who is not interested in
the subject matter of the order has no Locus Standi to invoke the jurisdiction of the
court.
But the Supreme Court has now considerably liberalized the above rule of Locus
Standi. The court now permits the public spirited persons to file a writ petition for
the enforcement of Constitutional and statutory rights of any other person or a
class, if that person or a class is unable to invoke the jurisdiction of the High Court
due to poverty or any social and economic disability.
The widening of the traditional rule of Locus Standi and the invention of Public
Interest Litigation by the Supreme Court was a significant phase in the
enforcement of Human Rights.
In S.P. Gupta vs. Union of India and others 4 , the seven member bench of the
Supreme Court held that
any member of the public having sufficient interest can approach the court for
enforcing the Constitutional or legal rights of those, who cannot go to the court
because of their poverty or other disabilities.
A person need not come to the court personally or through a lawyer. He can
simply write a letter directly to the court complaining his sufferings.
Speaking for the majority Bhagwathi, J. said that any member of the public can
approach the court for redressal where, a specific legal injury has been caused
to a determinate class or group of persons when such a class or person are
unable to come to the court because of poverty, disability or a socially or
economically disadvantageous position.
The strategy of Public Interest Litigation has been evolved by this court with a view
to bringing justice within the easy reach of the poor and disadvantaged sections of
the community.
Evolution of epistolary jurisdiction (letter petition) :
In Bandhu Mukti Morcha vs. Union of India, the Apex Court held that
Public Interest Litigation through a letter should be permitted, but expressed
the view that, in entertaining such petitions, the court must be cautious so
that, it might not be abused.
The court suggested that all such letters must be addressed to the entire
court and not a particular judge and secondly it should be entertained only
after proper verification of materials supplied by the petitioner.
This is known as epistolary jurisdiction.
The advent of Public Interest Litigation (here in after referred to as PIL) is one of
the key components of the approach of Judicial Activism that is attributed to the
higher judiciary in India. The verdict of Bhagwati, J. in M.C.Mehta vs. Union of
India, opened the doors of the Apex Court of India for the oppressed, the exploited
and the down trodden in the villages of India or in urban slums.
<include here discussion on SCs role in protecting rights of prisoners and custodial
violance from elsewhere in this doc>
<include here discussion on SCs role in development of Compensatory
Jurisprudence from elsewhere in this doc>
<include here discussion Clean environment : an inevitable Human Right>
Summary : Role of judiciary in HRs protection :
The right to enforce Human Rights as provided under the Constitution of India is
Constitutionally protected.
Article 226 empowers the High Courts to issue writs for enforcement of such rights.
Similarly Article 32 of the Constitution gives the same powers to the Supreme
Court.
A new approach has emerged in the form of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the
objective to bring justice with in the reach of the poor and the disadvantageous
section of the society. PILs have also enhanced accountability of the Governments
towards the Human Rights of the poor. Public Interest Litigation has rendered a
signal service in the areas of,
Prisoner's Rights,
development of compensatory jurisprudence for Human Rights violation,
Environmental protection,
Bonded labour eradication and
prohibition of Child Labour and many others.

In the recent past the judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court have from
time to time given far reaching and innovative judgements to protect the Human
Rights.
Fortunately India has pro-active judiciary. A review of the decisions of the Indian
Judiciary regarding the protection of Human Rights indicates that the judiciary has
been playing a role of saviour in situations where the executive and legislature
have failed to address the problems of the people. It can thus be aspired that in
the times ahead, people's right to live, as a true human beings will further be
strengthened.
It is the foremost duty of the society and all its organs to provide justice and
correct institutional and human errors affecting basic needs, dignity and liberty of
human beings.
From the perusal of the above contribution it is evident that the Indian Judiciary
has been very sensitive and alive to the protection of the Human Rights of the
people. It has, through judicial activism forged new tools and devised new
remedies for the purpose of vindicating the most precious of the precious Human
Right to Life and Personal Liberty.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain in detail : National Commission for Women and its jurisdiction. (Apr-2012,
Oct-2012)
Write notes : National Commission for Women. (Apr-2016)
Answer :
Refer :
Intro :
In our country there is largely a patriarchal structure of a society. In this set up
women have been considered as inferior and given a secondary status. They have
been subject to various legal and social discriminations.
There is a need to remove such inequalities and to make a provision for solving her
problems. The need was felt for structure to uphold the rights and implement the
provisions of beneficial legislations, in an organized and institutionalized manner.
So with this view National Commission for Women (NCW), was set up as statutory
body in Jan 1992 under National Commission for Women Act, 1990.
Purpose of the NCW :

To review constitutional & legal safeguards for women
To recommend remedial legislative measures.
To facilitate redressal of grievances &
To advice government on all policy matter affecting women.
In keeping with its mandate, the Commission initiated various steps to improve the
status of women and worked for their economic empowerment.
The commission has also acted suo-moto in several cases to provide speedy
justice.
It took up the issue of child marriage, sponsored legal awareness programmes,
Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats and reviewed laws such as Dowry Prohibition Act,
1961, Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994,
Indian Penal Code 1860 and the National Commission for Women Act, 1990.
It organized workshops/consultations, constituted expert committees on economic
empowerment of women, for gender awareness and took up publicity campaign
against female foeticide, violence against women, etc.
Composition of NWC : The commission shall consist of :
a. Chairperson, committed to the cause of women, to be nominated by the Central
Government.
b. Five Members to be nominated by the Central Government from amongst
persons of ability, integrity and standing who have had experience in law or
legislation, trade unionism, management of an industry potential of women,
womens voluntary organisations (including women activist), administration,
economic development, health, education or social welfare;
Provided that at least one Member each shall be from amongst persons
belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively;
c. Member-Secretary to be nominated by the Central Government who shall be :-
an expert in the field of management, organisational structure or sociological
movement, or
an officer who is a member of a civil service of the Union or of an all-India
service or holds a civil post under the Union with appropriate experience.
Tenure of NWC members : Section 4(1) of NWC Act says :
The Chairperson and every member shall hold office for such period, not exceeding
three years, as may be specified by the Central Government in this behalf.
Functions of NWC : The commission shall perform all or any of the following functions,
namely :-
Investigate and examine all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women
under the Constitution and other laws;
present to the Central Government, annually and at such other times as the
Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguard;
make such reports recommendations for the effective implementation of those
safeguards for improving the conditions of women by the Union or any state;
review, from time to time, the exiting provisions of the Constitution and other laws
affecting women and recommend amendments thereto so as to suggest remedial
legislative measures to meet any lacunae, inadequacies or shortcomings in such
legislations;
take up cases of violation of the provisions of the Constitution and of other laws
relating to women with the appropriate authorities;
look into complaints and take suo moto notice of matters relating to :-
deprivation of women's rights;
non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection to women and also to
achieve the objective of equality and development;
non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating
hardships and ensuring welfare and providing relief to women, and
take up the issues arising out of such matters with appropriate authorities;
call for special studies or investigations into specific problems or situations arising
out of discrimination and atrocities against women and identify the constraints so
as to recommend strategies for their removal;
undertake promotional and educational research so as to suggest ways of ensuring
due representation of women in all spheres and identify factors responsible for
impeding their advancement participate and advice on the planning process of
socio-economic development of women;
evaluate the progress of the development of women under the Union and any
State;
inspect or cause to inspected a jail, remand home, womens institution or other
place of custody where women are kept as prisoners or otherwise and take up with
the concerned authorities for remedial action, if found necessary;
fund litigation involving issues affecting a large body of women;
make periodical reports to the Government on any matter pertaining to women and
in particular various difficulties under which women toil;
Any other matter which may be referred to it by Central Government.
Units of NWC :
Complaints & Counseling Cell :
The Complaints and Counseling Cell of the commission processes the complaints
received oral, written or suo moto under Section 10 of the NCW Act.
The complaints received relate to domestic violence, harassment, dowry, torture,
desertion, bigamy, rape, refusal to register FIR, cruelty by husband, deprivation,
gender discrimination and sexual harassment at work place.
The complaints are tackled as below :-
Investigations by the police are expedited and monitored.
Family disputes are resolved or compromised through counseling.
For serious crimes, the Commission constitutes an Inquiry Committee which
makes spot enquiries, examines various witnesses, collects evidence and
submits the report with recommendations. Such investigations help in
providing immediate relief and justice to the victims of violence and atrocities.
The implementation of the report is monitored by the NCW. There is a
provision for having experts/ lawyers on these committees.
Legal Cell, Research Cell, P.R. Cell : These Cell mainly works to review the
constitutional and legal safeguards provided for women, recommend remedial
legislative measures, felicitate redressal of grievances and advice the Government
on all policy matters affecting women.
The Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat (PMLA) is an innovative mechanism developed by
the NCW, which has taken up 7500 cases so far. It deals with matters related to
family law, and aims at speedy justice. It also aims at empowering women.
Cases : Success stories of NCW :
The Commission received a complaint from Smt. Shanti Devi, w/o Mangelal Rao,
Village Kanana, District Barmer, Rajasthan, alleging that for the last 2 years widow
pension, due to her, had been stopped. She had been declared dead.
She represented to the concerned department for redressal but no action was
taken by the concerned authorities.
On the receipt of the complaint, the matter was taken up with the District
Collector, Barmer and the Collector informed the Commission that the stand of
Shanti Devi had been found to be correct and necessary instructions had been
issued by the District Collector to the Treasury office, Barmer.
Also the concerned Patwari had been proceeded against departmentally for
stopping the pension on false grounds.
Ms. Rupali Jain had represented to the Commission that her services in a school
run by a non-governmental organization were terminated without assigning any
reason. She had taken leave for appearing in an examination.
The Commission had taken up the matter with the District Collector, Ferozabad,
who reported to the Commission that on the intervention of the Commission Ms.
Rupali Jain had been allowed to join back as her grievance was found to be
genuine.
Mrs. Sudha Bala (name changed) was allegedly gang-raped by BSF personnel in
early 2002 at Gojhadanga at Indo-Bangladesh Border under the district of North 24
Parganas. Since then the victim along with her young daughter had been passing
days in the Presidency Jail at Kolkata simply because of non-submission of charge-
sheet by Police although a case under section 376 I.P.C. was duly registered
against the BSF personnel.
The matter was taken up by the Commission for the release of rape victim from
the jail and arrangement for her rehabilitation.
The joint efforts of the National Commission for Women and the West Bengal
State Commission for Women resulted in the release of Mrs. Das from jail, who
was given into safe custody to her brother.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Write shortnote : National Commission for Minority. (Apr-2014)

Write Explanatory Notes : National Commission for Minority (Mar-2015)
Answer :
Refer :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Commission_for_Minorities
http://ncm.nic.in/constitutional_provisions.html
http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/Political-Science/notes/statutory-
institutions-commissions-national-commission-for-minorities.html
Intro :
Constitution of India doesn't define the word 'minority' but has used the word
minorities in reference to two attributes (i) religion and (ii) language of a person.
In the current context, discussion is on religious minorities.
For minorities constitution of India has envisaged a number of rights and
safeguards. To provide enough equality and to dwindled the discrimination, makers
have spelt out various things in
Fundamental Rights (Part III);
Directive Principles of state policies (Part IV) and also
the Fundamental duties (Part IV-A).
However, with rising wedge between right and left and also the ephemeral political
aspirations of various political parties have diluted the discrimination safeguards.

Establishment of NCM :
The Union Government set up the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) under
the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
Six religious communities, viz; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians
(Parsis) and Jains have been notified in Gazette of India as minority communities
by the Union Government all over India.
Original notification of 1993 was for Five religious communities Sikhs,
Buddhists,Parsis,Christians and Muslims. Jains were added later.
UN Declaration :
The NCM adheres to the United Nations Declaration of 18 December 1992 which
states that "States shall protect the existence of the National or Ethnic, Cultural,
Religious and Linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and
encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.
Functions of NCM : The Commission has the following functions :
evaluate the progress of the development of Minorities under the Union and
States.
monitor the working of the safeguards provided in the Constitution and in laws
enacted by Parliament and the State Legislatures.
make recommendations for the effective implementation of safeguards for the
protection of the interests of Minorities by the Central Government or the State
Governments.
look into specific complaints regarding deprivation of rights and safeguards of
the Minorities and take up such matters with the appropriate authorities.
cause studies to be undertaken into problems arising out of any discrimination
against Minorities and recommend measures for their removal.
conduct studies, research and analysis on the issues relating to socio-economic
and educational development of Minorities.
suggest appropriate measures in respect of any Minority to be undertaken by the
Central Government or the State Governments.
make periodical or special reports to the Central Government on any matter
pertaining to Minorities and in particular the difficulties confronted by them.
any other matter which may be referred to it by the Central Government.
The Central (or State as the case may be) Government shall cause the
recommendations of the Commission to be laid before each House of Parliament (or
state assembly) along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed
to be taken on the recommendations relating to the Union (or state) and the
reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations.

Powers of NCM : While performing any of its functions The Commission has all the
powers of a civil court trying a suit and, in particular, in respect of the following
matters, namely :
Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India and
examining him on oath.
Requiring the discovery and production of any document.
Receiving evidence on affidavit.
Requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office.
Issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents.
Composition of Commission :
The Commission shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson and five
Members to be nominated by the Central Government from amongst persons of
eminence, ability and integrity; provided that five Members including the
Chairperson shall be from amongst the minority communities.
Rights & Safeguards of Minorities :
Although Indian Constitution does not define word Minority but it has provided
constitutional safeguards and fundamental rights to minorities:
Rights & Safeguards under Fundamental rights : Part III of Indian Constitution :
Indian state is committed to administer these rights which can be enforced by
judiciary
[Article 29(1)] : right of any section of the citizens to conserve its distinct
language, script or culture;
[Article 30(1)] : right of all Religious and Linguistic Minorities to establish and
administer educational institutions of their choice;
[Article30(2)] : freedom of Minority-managed educational institutions from
discrimination in the matter of receiving aid from the State;
Rights & Safeguards under Part XVII Official Language of Indian Constitution :
[Article 347] : Rights for any section of population for language spoken by
them ;
[Article 350A] : Provision for facilities of instruction in mother tongue ;
[Article 350B] : Provisioning a special officer for linguistic minorities and defining
his duties ;
Sachar Committee Report :
On March 9, 2005 the Prime Minister issued a Notification for the constitution of a
High Level Committee to prepare a report on the social, economic and
educational status of the Muslim community of India.

List of recommendations : Recommendations contained in the Report of the High
Level Committee on Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim
Community of India headed by Justice Rajindar Sachar (Retd.) :-
Need for Transparency, Monitoring and Data Availability- Create a National Data
Bank (NDB) where all relevant data for various socio-religious categories are
maintained
Enhancing the Legal Basis for Providing Equal Opportunities Set up an Equal
Opportunity Commission to look into grievances of deprived groups like
minorities.
Shared Spaces : Need to Enhance Diversity :- The idea of providing certain
incentives to a 'diversity index' should be explored.
Education :- a process of evaluating the content of the school text books needs
to be initiated to purge them of explicit and implicit content that may impart
inappropriate social values, especially religious intolerance. Need to ensure that
all children in the age group 0-14 have access to free and high quality education.
High quality Government schools should be set up in all areas of Muslim
concentration. Exclusive schools for girls should be set up, particularly for the 9-
12 standards. This would facilitate higher participation of Muslim girls in school
education. In co-education schools more women teachers need to be appointed.
Provide primary education in Urdu in areas where Urdu speaking population is
concentrated.
Mechanisms to link madarsas with higher secondary school board.
Recognise degrees from madarsas for eligibility in Defence Services, Civil
Services and Banking examinations.
Increase employment share of Muslims, particularly where there is great deal of
public dealing.
Enhancing Participation in Governance :- appropriate state level laws can be
enacted to ensure minority representation in local bodies
Create a nomination procedure to increase participation of minorities in public
bodies.
Establish a delimitation procedure that does not reserve constituencies with high
minority population for SCs.
Enhancing Access to Credit and Government Programmes :- Provide financial
and other support to initiatives built around occupations where Muslims are
concentrated and that have growth potential
Improve participation and share of minorities, particularly Muslims, in business
of regular commercial banks
Improving Employment Opportunities and Conditions

The Committee suggested that policies should sharply focus on inclusive
development and mainstreaming of the Community while respecting diversity.
Conclusion :
The National Commission for Minorities protects the constitutional and legal rights
of minorities in the nation.
The minorities are one of the communities on whom the constitution of India has
made special safeguards so that they could preserve their religion, language, script
and culture, and this has been done by carving out an exception to the principle of
equality and secularism.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Discuss : National Commission for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes.

Answer :
Refer :
http://www.hrln.org/hrln/images/stories/pdf/SHRHumanRightsTrainingModule.pdf
NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED CASTES NCSC :
Intro :
In our country due to some historical reasons i.e. the age old practice of
untouchability some of the castes have been deprived of the opportunities for
their development, they remained underprivileged and socially and economically
backward.
For many years these classes were exploited by others.
As identified in a schedule to the constitution of India, these classes are known
as scheduled castes, dalits or Harijans.
Constitutional provisions :
In our constitution certain safeguards are provided for the protection of their
rights, following are some of those Constitution of India articles provided for SCs
& STs :
Article 15(4) Educational & cultural safeguard.
Article 16(4) 4A 4B Reservation in service.
Article 17 Abolition of untouchability.
Article 19(5) Prevention of sale or transfer of land of tribal to non-tribal.
Article 23 Prohibition in human trafficking, forced labour.

Article 24 Prohibition of child lobour in certain occupation.
Article 25(2)(b) Throwing open Hindu religious institution.
Article 164(1) Minister-in-charge of tribal welfare & welfare of schedule
castes & backward castes in Bihar, MP & Orissa
Article 243-D Reservation of seats in Panchayats/ Municipality.
Article 330 Reservation of seats for schedule caste & schedule Tribes in
Parliament.
Article 332 - Reservation of seats for state Assemblies.
Articles 333 Claims of schedule caste & schedule Tribes to services & posts.
Appointment of the Commission :
Article 338 provided for the Appointment of commissioners for schedule caste &
schedule Tribes by President.
By the constitutions 65th amendment bill 1990 the commissioners were
replaced with the commission for schedule caste & schedule Tribes
commission.
Later 89 th amendment Act, 2003 separated this commission and now we
have,
National Commission for Scheduled Caste -NCSC
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes-NCST
Fakirbhai Vaghela was the first Chairperson of this commission.
Duties of the commission :
Clause (5) Article 338 lays down the duties of the commission
(a) to investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for
the Scheduled Castes under this Constitution or under any other law for the time
being in force or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working
of such safeguards;
(b) to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights
and safeguards of the Scheduled Castes
(c) to participate and advise on the planning process of socioeconomic
development of the Scheduled Castes and to evaluate the progress of their
development under the Union and any State;
(d) to present to the President, annually and at such other times as the
Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;
(e) to discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and
development and advancement of the Scheduled Castes as the President may,
subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify.

Powers of the commission :
Clause (8) of article 338 states The Commission shall, while investigating any
matter referred to in sub-clause (a) or inquiring into any complaint referred to in
sub-clause (b) of clause (5), have all the powers of a civil court trying a suit and
in particular in respect of the following matters, namely:-
(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of
India and examining him on oath;
(b) requiring the discovery and production of any document;
(c) receiving evidence on affidavits;
(d) requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office;
(e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents;
(f) any other matter which the President may, by rule, determine.
Art-338(9) states that Union and State government shall consult commission on
all major policy matters affecting for schedule castes.
The Headquarters of the Commission is located at New Delhi. For the sake of
convenience, the commission work is divided in to following wings,
Atrocities & protection of civil rights :- It deals with matters related to atrocities
caused to scheduled castes.
Whenever information is received in the commission about any incident of
atrocity against a person belonging to Scheduled Castes, the commission
would immediately get in touch with the law-enforcing and administrative
machinery of the state and the district to ascertain the details of the incident
and the action taken by the district administration.
Eco. Social development wing :- this wing mainly deals with the plan, schemes
of central/state government, some of its work is as follows
Special component plan for schedule castes.
N S C, FDC- (National schedule castes, Finance & development Corporation.)
Representations/complaints regarding grievance by/ for schedule castes.
Social Research Institute, other research bodies.
Land reforms Act & their implementation.
Education scheme for schedule castes.
NCSC also monitor & evaluate the impact of development schemes for the SCS.
It also conducts state level review meetings.
NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED TRIBES NCST :
Intro :
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes came into force on 19 th February
2004
The Rules of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes were notified on 20
February 2004, by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (Annex-IV).
Salient provisions :
The tenure of Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Members of the Commission is
three years from the date of assumption of the charge by each of them.
The C.P, V. CP & members shall be appointed from amongst persons of ability,
integrity & standing who have had a record of selfless service to the cause of
justice for STS.
At least one member has to be lady.
The tenure of the first Commission constituted in February, 2004 was over in
March, 2007.
At present, Smt. Urmila Singh is the Chairperson of the Commission and Shri
Tsering Samphel is Member of the Commission. Both of them joined in the month
of June, 2007. The posts of Vice-Chairperson and two Members are vacant as on
date.
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes functions from its Headquarters at
New Delhi and from the Regional Offices of the Commission located in six States.
Units of NCST :
There are following Six Units of NCST at the Headquarter which are as follows ;
Administration
Coordination unit
Research unit I, II, III, IV
The main functional units are Research Units which deal with all matters
pertaining to socio-economic and educational development, service safeguards
and atrocities in relation to STs as per distribution of the Ministries/ Departments
(including CPSEs and other Organisation/ Offices under their administrative
control) and the States and UTs among these four Research Units.
Regional offices :
There are 6 Regional offices of the National Commission for Scheduled tribes
located at Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Raipur, Ranchi, & Shillong which work as
eyes and ears of the Commission.
They keep a watch on the formulation of policy and issue of guidelines relating to
the welfare of Scheduled Tribes in the States/ Union territories, and keep the
Commissions Headquarters informed about the developments periodically.
Policy decisions taken by any State Government/UT Administration affecting the

interests of the Scheduled Tribes are brought to the notice of the concerned
authorities for necessary action.
FUNCTIONS :
The functions, duties and power of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
have been laid down in clauses(5), (8) and (9) of the Article 338A of the
Constitution, as amended by Constitution [Eighty-ninth Amendment] Act, 2003.
Clause(5) states that it shall be the duty of the Commission to investigate and
monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the Scheduled Tribes
under this Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under
any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards.
to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and
safeguards of the Scheduled Tribes.
to participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic development
of the Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of their development under
the Union and any State.
to present to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission
may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards.
to make in such reports recommendations as to the measures that should be taken
by the Union or any State for the effective implementation of those safeguards and
other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the
Scheduled Tribes
to discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and
development and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes as the President may,
subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule, specify.
Clause (8) states that the : Commission shall, while investigating any matter
referred to in sub- clause (a) or inquiring into any complaint referred to in sub-
clause (b) of clause (5), have all the powers of a civil court trying a suit and in
particular in respect of the following matters, namely :-
summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India
and examining him on oath.
requiring the discovery and production of any documents;
receiving evidence on affidavits.
requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office.
issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents.
any other matter which the President may by rule, determine.
Clause (9) provides that the Union and every State Government shall consult the
Commission on all major policy matters affecting Scheduled Tribes.

The commission would also discharge the following other functions :
Measures that need to be taken over conferring ownership rights in respect of
minor forest produce to the STs living in forest area.
Measures to be taken safeguard rights to tribal communities over mineral resources
water resources etc.
Measures to be taken for the development of tribal & to work for more viable
livelihood strategies.
Measures to be taken to improve the efficiency of relief & rehabilitation measures
for tribal groups displaced by development project.
Measures to be taken to prevent alienation of tribal people from land & effectively
rehabilitate such people in whose case alienation has already taken place.
Measures to be taken to elicit maximum. Co-operation & involvement of tribal
communities for protecting forests & undertaking social aforestation (artificial
establishment of forests by planting or seeding in an area of non- forest land).
Measures to be taken to ensure full implementation of the provisions of panchayats
(extensions to the schedule areas act (40) of 1996.
Measures to be taken to reduce and ultimately eliminate the practice of shifting
cultivation by tribal that leads to their continuous dis-empowerment & degradation
of land & the environment.
Powers of this commission are as same as that of National Commission for SCS.
GO TO CONTENTS.
State the purpose of enacting the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 and explain
the provisions made there in to protect the Human Rights. (Apr-2012)
Explain the arrangement for the protection of Human Rights under the
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. (Oct-2012)
Explain : Violation of Human Rights and remedies available in such cases. (Oct-
2012, Apr-2016)
Discuss the salient features of the Human Rights Protection Act 1993. (Apr-2014)
Answer :
Refer :
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/law-india/Human-Rights-law-in-India.htm
https://www.taxmanagementindia.com/visitor/detail_article.asp?ArticleID=1415
Intro :
In order to live with dignity certain basic rights and freedoms are necessary, which
all Human beings are entitled to, these basic rights are called Human Rights
Human rights demand recognition and respect for the inherent dignity to ensure
that everyone is protected against abuses which undermine their dignity, and give
the opportunities they need to realize their full potential, free from discrimination.
Human rights include civil and political rights, such as:
The right to freedom of expression
The right to freedom of religion or conscience
The right to property
The right to freedom of assembly
The right to privacy
The right to vote.
Human rights also cover economic and social rights, such as:
The right to an adequate standard of living
The right to adequate food, housing, water and sanitation
The rights you have at work
The right to education.
Human rights belong to everyone, everywhere, regardless of nationality, sexuality,
gender, race, religion or age. The foundation of modern human rights is the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The 30 articles of the Declaration
were adopted in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly, and over time
these have been integrated into national laws and international treaties. The core
values of the UDHR - human dignity, fairness, equality, non-discrimination - apply
to everyone, everywhere.
Definition of Human Rights :
Sec. 2 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (Act for brevity) defines the
term human rights as the rights relating to-
life;
liberty;
equality and
dignity of the individual
guaranteed under the Constitution or embodied in the international covenants on
civil and political rights and international covenant on Economic, social and
cultural rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on
16.12.1966 and enforceable by Courts in India.

As such the Court is empowered to protect the human rights as mentioned above.
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 :
India is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the
General Assembly of the United Nations on 16th December, 1966.
Even though the human rights embodied in the aforesaid covenants stand
substantially protected by the constitution these has been growing concern in the
country and abroad about issues relating to Human Rights.
Considering the social realities and the merging trends in the nature of crime and
violence the government of India has reviewed the then existing laws, procedures
and system of administration of justice with a view to bring about greater
accountability and transparency in them and devising more efficient and effective
methods of dealing with the situation.
After having a deliberate discussion on the subject the Human Rights Commission
Bill, 1993 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 14.5.1994 and it was referred to the
Standing Committee of Parliament on Home Affairs. In view of the urgency of the
matter, the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance, 1993 was promulgated by the
President of India on 28.9.1993. Later on 8.1.1994 the Protection of Human Rights
Act, 1993 was enacted. This Act extends to whole of India.
Outline of provisions of The Act :
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 provides for
Establishment of National Human Rights Commission,
Establishment of State Human Rights Commissions,
Procedures for dealing with complaints,
Establishment of Human Rights Courts,
Finance accounts and audit of HR Commissions
Detailed discussion on provisions of PHR Act 1993 :
Establishment of National Human Rights Commission :
Establishment of State Human Rights Commissions :
Procedures for dealing with complaints : Violation of Human Rights and remedies
available : arrangements for the protection of Human Rights :
Whenever & whereever there is violation of Human Rights, arrangements have
been made in the PHR Act 1993 to remedy the wrong. Apart from general
provisions under CPC, CrPC, etc, the PHR Act 1993 provides for establishment of
NHRC and SHRC as well as Human Rights Courts. Moreover, PHR Act also
prescribes procedures for redressal of complaints files under the Act.
Procedures for dealing with complaints are given under Chapter IV PROCEDURE
Sections 17 to 20 of the PHR Act 1993.
A complaint may be in English or Hindi or in any language included in the eight
schedule of the Constitution;
The complaints are to be self contained;
No fee is charged on complaints;
Complaints may also be made by means of telegram, fax, e-mail;
Complaints can also be made on the mobile number of the Commission;
The following complaints will NOT be entertained by the Commission-
in regard to events which happened more than one year before making of the
complaints;
with regard to matters which are sub-judice;
which are vague, anonymous or pseudonymous;
which are frivolous in nature;
which pertains to service matters.
Section 17 :
All complaints in whatever form received by the Commission shall be
registered and assigned a number and placed for admission as per the special
or general directions of the Chair person not later than one week on receipt
thereof;
The Commission shall have power to dismiss a complaint in limini;
Upon admission of a complaint the Commission shall direct whether the
matter would be set down for inquiry by it or should be investigated into;
Then the Secretariat shall call for reports/ comments from the concerned
Government/Authority giving the latter a reasonable time therefor. If the
report is not received within the time stipulated, it may proceed to inquire on
its own; for the purpose the Commission shall have its own team of
investigation;
Section 18 :
On receipt of the report a detailed note on the merits of the case shall be
prepared for consideration of the Commission;
The Commission in the disposal of the complaint affords a reasonable
opportunity to the concerned parties to represent his case;
On completion of the inquiry the Commission may take the following steps-
where the inquiry discloses the commission of violation of human rights or
negligence in the prevention of violation of human rights by a public
servant, it may recommend the concerned Government or authority to
initiation of the proceedings for prosecution or such other action as the
Commission may deem fit against the concerned person or persons;
approach the Supreme Court or the High Court concerned for such
directions, orders or writs as that Court may deem necessary;
recommend to the concerned Government or authority for the grant of such
immediate interim relief to the victim or the member of his family as the
Commission may consider necessary;
send the copy of the inquiry report together with its recommendations to
the concerned Government/ authority; the concerned Government/
authority within a period of one month or such further time as allowed,
shall forward its comments on the report including the action or proposed
to be taken thereon to the Commission;
send a copy of the inquiry report to the petitioner or his representative;
the Commission shall publish its inquiry, report together with the comments
of the concerned Government or authority, if any and the action taken or
proposed to be taken by the concerned Government or authority on the
recommendation of the Commission.
Section 19 : PROCEDURE WITH RESPECT OF ARMED FORCES:
The Commission may on its own motion or on the basis of the petitions made
to it on allegation of human rights violation by armed forces, seek a report
from the Central Government.
On receipt of the report, it may either not to proceed with the complaint or to
proceed with the complaint as the case may be, make its recommendations to
the Government.
According to the Act the Central Government shall inform the Commission of
the action on the recommendations within 3 months or such further time as
the Commission may allow.
It is further stipulated that the Commission shall publish its report together
with its recommendations to the Central Government and the action taken by
that Government on such recommendations.
A copy of the report so published shall be given to the petitioner.
Section 20 : Annual and special reports of the Commission
(1) The Commission shall submit an annual report to the Central Government
and to the State Government concerned ----- and may at any time submit
special reports on any matter which, in its opinion, is of such urgency or

importance that it should not be deferred till submission of the annual report.
(2) The Central Government and the State Government, as the case may be,
shall cause the annual and special reports of the Commission to be laid before
each House of Parliament or the State Legislature respectively, as the case
may be, ----- along with a memorandum of action taken or proposed to be
taken on the recommendations of the Commission and the reasons for non-
acceptance of the recommendations, if any.
TYPES OF COMPLAINTS : The Commission from the date of its inception has
handled various types of complaints. The following are the major types of
complaints:
In respect of Police Administration-
Failure in taking action;
Unlawful detention;
False implication;
Custodial violation;
Illegal arrest;
Other police excesses;
Custodial deaths;
Encounter deaths;
Other major areas where HR violation complaints are received :
Harassment of prisoners;
Jail conditions;
Atrocities on SC and STs;
Bonded labor;
Child labor;
Child marriage;
Dowry death or its attempt;
Dowry demand;
Abduction, rape and murder;
Sexual harassment and indignity to women;
Exploitation of women.
Establishment of Human Rights Courts :
Finance accounts and audit of HR Commissions :

Chapter VII : Sections 32 to 35
Section 32 : Grants by the Central Government to NHRC :
(1) The Central Government shall after due appropriation made by Parliament
by law in this behalf, pay to the Commission by way of grants such sums of
money as the Central Government may think fit for being utilised for the
purposes of this Act.
(2) The Commission may spend such sums as it thinks fit for performing the
functions under this Act, and such sums shall be treated as expenditure
payable out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1).
Section 33 : Grants by the State Government to SHRC :
(1) The State Government shall, after due appropriation made by Legislature
by law in this behalf, pay to the State Commission by way of grants such
sums of money as the State Government may think fit for being utilised for
the purposes of this Act.
(2) The State Commission may spend such sums as it thinks fit for performing
the functions under Chapter V, and such sums shall be treated as expenditure
payable out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1).
Section 34 : Accounts and Audit of National Commission :
(1) The Commission shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records
and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be
prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the Comptroller
and Auditor-General of India.
(2) The Accounts of the Commission shall be audited by the Comptroller and
Auditor-General at prescribed intervals
Any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by
the Commission to the CAG.
(3) The CAG or any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of
the accounts of the Commision under this Act shall have the same rights and
privileges and the authority in connection with such audit as the CAG has in
connection with the audit of Government accounts.
These include the right to demand the production of books, accounts,
connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of
the offices of the National HR Commission.
(4) The accounts of the National HR Commission as certified by the CAG
together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded annually to the
Central Government by the Commission and the Central Government shall
cause the audit report to be laid as soon as may be after it is received before
each House of Parliament.

Section 35 : Accounts and Audit of State Commission :
(1) The State Commission shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant
records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be
prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Comptroller and
Auditor-General of India.
(2) The accounts of the State Commission shall be audited by the Comptroller
and Auditor-General at prescribed intervals
Any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by
the State Commission to the CAG.
(3) The CAG or any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of
the accounts of the State Commission under this Act shall have the same
rights and privileges and the authority in connection with such audit as the
CAG has in connection with the audit of Government accounts
These include the right to demand the production of books, accounts,
connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of
the offices of the State HR Commission.
(4) The accounts of the State HR Commission, as certified by the CAG
together with the audit report thereon, shall be forwarded annually to the
State Government by the State Commission and the State Government shall
cause the audit report to be laid, as soon as may be after it is received, before
the State Legislature.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain with decided cases the role and functions of National Human Rights
Commission. (Oct-2012)
Explain about constitution and functions of National Human Rights Commission. (Mar-
2015)
Answer :
Refer :
Intro :
The National Human Rights Commission was established on 12th October, 1993
under the legislative mandate of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. This act
also recommended for the setting up of State Human Right Commission at State
level and Human Right courts along with NHRC.
The Central government shall provide the Commission with grants of which the
Commission shall maintain proper accounts which shall be audited by auditor
general. The Commission shall not inquire into matters pending in State
Commission. The Central Government from time to time shall make rules of
regulation for the commission.
The act gives immense powers to the Commission in furtherance of prevention of
violation of human rights
Constitution of a National Human Rights Commission : The Commission consists of
Chairperson, who has been a Chief Justice of India.;
One member who is or has been, a Judge of Supreme Court;
One member who, is or has been, the Chief Justice of High Court;
Two members being from among people having the knowledge of human right and
have practical experience
The chairperson of
the National Commission for minorities,
the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and
the National Commission for Women
shall be deemed to be members of the commission for the discharge of functions
specified in clauses (b) to (j) of section 12
All these appointments are made by the President after getting the
recommendation from a committee which is headed by the Prime Minister.
The terms and condition meant for all the members :
1. A member who is appointed as chairman will cease to be a member after the
period of five years from the date of his appointment or the attainment of the age
of 75 years of age whichever is earlier.
2. A member after the completion of five years can be reappointed again unless
and until he is less than 75 years of age.
3. When a person is not reappointed as a member he/she will not be eligible to be
employed for any post under the central govt. or the state govt.
Action against chairman/Member :
1. Any member or chairman can be removed only after the order of president in
conditions such as misbehavior or incompetence, only after reference is made to
the Supreme Court.
There are some further conditions on which the chairman/ member can be
removed.
if it is found that they are insolvent.
Engaged in an office as a paid employee
Not able to do his work because of infirmity of mind or body.
He/she is a person of unsound mind.
If any one is convinced and sentenced for any offence that involves moral
turpitude.
Procedure adopted and regulated by the commission
a) The chairman shall decide the venue and date of the meetings.
b) The commission is free to adopt its own procedures.
All the decisions of the commission in all events will be authorized by the Secretary
general or any other officer of the chairperson
Functions of the commission : The commission will perform all or any of the following
functions under Sec. 12 of the act namely,
Enquiry : the commission shall inquire, suo motu or on a petition presented to it by
a victim or any person on his behalf
The commission may intervene in any proceeding involving any allegation of
violation of human rights pending before a court.
The Commission is allowed to visit any jail or other institution under the control of
the State Government, where persons are detained or lodged for purposes of
treatment, reformation or protection, for the study of the living conditions of the
inmates and make recommendations
The commission may review the safeguards provided by or under the Constitution
or any law for the time being in force for the protection of human rights and
recommend measures for their effective implementation
The Commission shall review the factors, including acts of terrorism that inhibit the
enjoyment of human rights and recommend appropriate remedial measures
The Commission shall study treaties and other international instruments on human
rights and make recommendations for their effective implementation
The Commission shall undertake and promote research in the field of human rights
The Commission shall spread literacy among various sections of society and
promote awareness of the safeguards available for the protection of these rights
through publications, the media, seminars and other available means
The Commission shall encourage the efforts of NGOs and institutions working in the
field of human rights
The commission may perform any such other functions as it may consider
necessary for the protection of human rights.

Powers of NHRC :
(1) The Commission shall, while inquiring into complaints under this Act, have all
the powers of a civil court trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908,
and in particular in respect of the following matters, namely :
Summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on
oath;
Discovery and production of any document;
Receiving evidence on affidavits;
Requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office;
Issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents;
Any other matter which may be prescribed.
(2) The Commission shall have power to require any person, subject to any
privilege which may be claimed by that person under any law for the time being in
force, to furnish information on such points or matters as, in the opinion of the
Commission, may be useful for, or relevant to, the subject matter of the inquiry
and any person so required shall be deemed to be legally bound to furnish such
information within the meaning of section 176 and section 177 of the Indian Penal
Code.
(3) The Commission or any other officer, not below the rank of a Gazetted Officer,
specially authorised in this behalf by the Commission may enter any building or
place where the Commission has reason to believe that any document relating to
the subject matter of the inquiry may be found, and may seize any such document
or take extracts or copies there from subject to the provisions of section 100 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, in so far as it may be applicable.
(4) The Commission shall be deemed to be a civil court and when any offence as is
described in section 175, section 178, section 179, section 180 or section 228 of
the Indian Penal Code is committed in the view or presence of the Commission, the
Commission may, after recording the facts constituting the offence and the
statement of the accused as provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973,
forward the case to a Magistrate having jurisdiction to try the same and the
Magistrate to whom any such case is forwarded shall proceed to hear the complaint
against the accused as if the case has been forwarded to him under section 346 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
(5) Every proceeding before the Commission shall be deemed to be a judicial
proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228, and for the purposes of
section 196, of the Indian Penal Code, and the Commission shall be deemed to be a
civil court for all the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973.

(6) Where the Commission considers it necessary or expedient so to do, it may, by
order, transfer any complaint filed or pending before it to the State Commission of
the State from which the complaint arises, for disposal in accordance with the
provisions of this Act; Provided that no such complaint shall be transferred unless
the same is one respecting which the State Commission has jurisdiction to
entertain the same.
(7) Every complaint transferred under sub-section (6) shall be dealt with and
disposed of by the State Commission as if it were a complaint initially filed before
it.
Procedure for the enquiry :
The Commission while inquiring into the complaints of violations of human rights
may
(i) call for information or report from the Central Government or any State
Government or any other authority or organisation subordinate thereto within
such time as may be specified by it :- Provided that
(a) if the information or report is not received within the time stipulated by
the Commission, it may proceed to inquire into the complaint on its own;
(b) if, on receipt of information or report, the Commission is satisfied either
that no further inquiry is required or that the required action has been
initiated or taken by the concerned Government or authority, it may not
proceed with the complaint and inform the complainant accordingly;
(ii) without prejudice to anything contained in clause (i), if it considers
necessary, having regard to the nature of the complaint, initiate an inquiry.
Annual and special reports of the Commission :
(1) The Commission shall submit an annual report to the Central Government and
to the State Government concerned and may at any time submit special reports on
any matter which, in its opinion, is of such urgency or importance that it should not
be deferred till submission of the annual report.
(2) The Central Government and the State Government, as the case may be, shall
cause the annual and special reports of the Commission to be laid before each
House of Parliament or the State Legislature respectively, as the case may be,
along with a memorandum of action taken or proposed to be taken on the
recommendations of the Commission and the reasons for non-acceptance of the
recommendations, if any.

Current scenario :
The following data shows that there is great disparity in the cases registered and
the cases disposed by the commission :

Number of cases registered by the Commission :
2000-2001: 71,555
2001-2002: 69,083
2002-2003: 68,779
Number of cases disposed of by the Commission :
2000-2001: 44,383
2001-2002: 50,108
2002-2003: 82,231
Thus, there has been a definite increase in the number of complaints received by
the Commission. It signifies, according to the Commission, an increase in
awareness of human rights and a "reflection of the increasing confidence of people
in the Commission.
Conclusion :
Over the past fifteen years the Commission has endeavoured to give a positive
meaning and a content to the objectives set out in the Protection of Human Rights
Act, 1993.
It has moved vigorously and effectively to use the opportunities provided to it by
the Act to promote and protect human rights in the country.
However the commission faces some difficulties, like,
there is insufficient workforce,
the commission doesnt have full-fledged investigative machinery, and
there is heavy backlog of cases.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Write shortnote : State Human Rights Commission. (Apr-2014)

Explain the role and function of State Human Rights Commission with special
reference to Gujarat state. (Apr-2013, Apr-2016)
Answer :
Refer :
Intro :
The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 recommends the constitution of National
Human Rights Commission along with State Human Rights Commission in States
for better protection of human rights.
The State Government shall provide the Commission with grants of which the
Commission shall maintain proper accounts which shall be audited by auditor
general. The Commission shall not inquire into matters pending in National
Commission. The State Government from time to time shall make rules of
regulation for the commission.
The act gives immense powers to the Commission in furtherance of prevention of
violation of human rights
Constitution of State Human Rights Commissions :
(1) A State Government may constitute a body to be known as (name of the State)
Human Rights Commission (e.g. Maharashtra Human rights Commission) to
exercise the powers conferred upon, and to perform the functions assigned to, a
State Commission under the constitution.
(2) The State Commission shall, with effect from such date as the State
Government may by notification specify, consist of
(a) A Chairperson who has been a Chief Justice of a High Court;
(b) one Member who is, or has been, a Judge of a High Court or District Judge in
the State with a minimum of seven years experience as District Judge;
(c) one Member to be appointed from amongst persons having knowledge of, or
practical experience in, matters relating to human rights.
(3) There shall be a Secretary who shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the State
Commission and shall exercise such powers and discharge such functions of the
State Commission as it may delegate to him.
(4) The headquarters of the State Commission shall be at such place as the State
Government may, by notification, specify.
(5) A State Commission may inquire into violation of human rights only in respect
of matters related to any of the entries enumerated in List II and List lll in the
Seventh Schedule to the Constitution :
Provided that if any such matter is already being inquired into by the commission
or any other Commission duly constituted under any law for the time being in
force, the State Commission shall not inquire into the said matter:
(6) Two or more State Governments may, with the consent of a Chairperson or
Member of a State Commission, appoint such Chairperson or, as the case may be,
such Member of another State Commission simultaneously if such Chairperson or
Member consents to such appointment:
Provided that every appointment made under this sub-section shall be made
after obtaining the recommendations of the Committee referred to in sub-

section(1) of section 22 in respect of the State for which a common Chairperson
or Member, or both, as the case may be, is to be appointed.
Appointment of Chairperson and Members of State Commission :
(1) The Chairperson and Members shall be appointed by the Governor by warrant
under his hand and seal:
Provided that every appointment under this sub-section shall be made after
obtaining the recommendation of a Committee consisting of
(a) The Chief Minister Chairperson
(b) Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Member
(c) Home Minister of the State
(d) Leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly
Term of office of Chairperson and Members of the State Commission :
(1) A person appointed as Chairperson shall hold office for a term of five years
from the date on which he enters upon his office or until he attains the age of
seventy years, whichever is earlier;
(2) A person appointed as a Member shall hold office for a term of five years from
the date on which he enters upon his office and shall be eligible for re-appointment
for another term of five years;
Provided that no Member shall hold office after he has attained the age of
seventy years.
(3) On ceasing to hold office, a Chairperson or a Member shall be ineligible for
further employment under the Government of a State or under the Government of
India.
Functions and powers of the SHRC :
The functions and powers of the state commission are similar to those of National
Human Rights Commission. The only difference is that the State commission
cannot make a study of international treaties.
The state commission is empowered to study only those cases which are related to
their particular state only.
If a matter is with the State Commission then NHRC shall not deal with these
matters.
The present state commissions :
So far 18 states have set up their respective State Human Rights Commissions.
These are :
Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh,
Assam, Orissa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal

Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Write shortnote : Human Right courts. (Apr-2013)

Answer :
Refer :
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/huri.htm
One of the objects of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 as stated in the
preamble of the Act, is the establishment of human rights courts at district level.
The creation of Human Rights Courts at the district level has a great potential to
protect and realize human rights at the grassroots.
The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 provides for establishment Human Rights
Courts for the purpose of providing speedy trial of offences arising out of violation of
human rights.
It provides that the state Government may, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice
of the High Court, by notification, specify for each district a Court of Sessions to be a
Human Rights Court to try the said offences.
The object of establishment of such Courts at district level is to ensure speedy
disposal of cases relating to offences arising out of violation of human rights.
Human Rights Courts are only for namesake :
Human Rights Courts are only for namesake for following reasons :
It does not define or explain the meaning of "offences arising out of violations of
human rights".
It does not provide for taking cognizance of offences arising out of violation of
human rights.
The Act refers to the offences arising out of violations of human rights. But it does
not define or explain the meaning of "offences arising out of violations of human
rights". It is vague.
The Act dose not give any clear indication or clarification as to what type of
offences actually are to be tried by the Human Rights Courts. No efforts are made
by the Central Government in this direction.
Unless the offence is not defined the courts cannot take cognizance of the offences
and try them. Till then the Human Rights Courts will remain only for namesake.
Even if "offences arising out of violations of human rights" are defined and clarified
or classified, another problem arises in the working of the Human Rights courts in
India. The problem is who can take cognizance of the offences.
What the Act says is, in each district one Sessions Court has to be specified for
trying "offences arising out of human rights violation". It is silent about taking of
cognizance of the offence.
Sessions Court of the district concerned is considered as the Human Rights Court.
However, under the CrPC 1973, a Sessions Judge cannot take cognizance of the
offence arising out of violation of human rights. He can only try the cases
committed to him by a magistrate under Section 193 of the Cr.P.C.
For example :
The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is NOT silent on taking cognizance. PCA
1988 provides for appointment of a Sessions Judge in each district as Special
Judge to try the offence under the said Act. And, provision has been made in
section 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 empowering the Special
Judge to take cognizance of the offences under the said Act. In the Protection of
Human Rights Act, 1993 it is not so.
Similar problem had arisen in working of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in the beginning. The Special Judges
used to take cognizance of the offences.
In Potluri Purna Chandra Prabhakara Rao V. State of A.P., 2002(1) Criminal
Court cases 150, Ujjagar singh & others V. State of Haryana & another,
2003(1) Criminal Court Cases 406 and some other cases it was held that
the Special Court (Court of Session) does not get jurisdiction to try the
offence under the Act without committal by the Magistrate.
The Supreme Court also held same view in Moly & another V. State of Kerala,
2004(2) Criminal Court Cases 514.
Consequently the trial of all the cases under the Prevention of Atrocities Act
were stopped and all the cases were sent to the Courts of jurisdictional
Magistrates. Thereafter the respective Magistrates took cognizance of the
cases and committed them to the Special Courts. Only thereafter, the Special
Courts started trying the cases after they were committed to them.
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
was later amended giving the Special Courts the power to take cognizance of
the offences under Act.
Though, the situation in respect of the Human Rights courts under the Protection of
Human Rights Act, 1993 is the same, NO efforts have been made to rectify the
problem.
Hence we can say that Human Rights Courts are only for namesake.
Apart from the above, the Special Courts will face yet another question whether
provisions of Section 197 of Cr.P.C. are applicable for taking cognizance of the
offences under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
In most of the cases of violation of human rights it is the police and other public
officers who will be accused. These offences relate to commission or omission of
the public servants in discharge of their duties.
Definitely the accused facing the trial under the Act raise the objection. There are
plethora of precedents in favour of dispensing with the applicability of Section 197
of Cr.P.C. on the ground that such acts (like the ones which result in violation of
human rights) do not come within the purview of the duties of public servants. But
there is scope for speculation as long as there is no specific provision in the Act
dispensing with the applicability of Section 197 of Cr.P.C.
The object of establishment of Human Rights Courts at district level is to ensure
speedy disposal of cases relating to offences arising out of violation of human rights.
But, unless the lawmakers take note of the above anomalies and remove them by
proper amendments the aim for which provisions are made for establishment of
special courts will not be achieved.
Conclusion :
Human Rights courts are established under section 30 of the PHR Act for the
purpose of providing speedy trial of offences arising out of violation of human
rights. The State Government, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High
Court, by notification, specify for each district a Court of Session to be a Human
Rights Court. A special public prosecutor shall also be appointed to try such cases.
However, due to several reasons, in reality we can say that, Human Rights Courts
are only for namesake and that their full potential has not been realized.
GO TO CONTENTS.
Explain the role of various NGOs (Non Government Organization) in the protection
and promotion of Human Rights. (Apr-2013, Mar-2015, Apr-2016)
Answer :
Refer :
Intro :
<insert brief meaning/ nature of human rights>

Though there are constitutional safeguards for the exercise and protection of
Human Rights, and it is the constitutional duty of the government to protect the
Human Rights of people, sometimes, individuals or a section of society are not able
to exercise their human rights and keep languishing as suppressed and violated.
There are several national and state commissions for the purpose of protecting the
Human Rights. But these commissions also have certain limitations in the
protection of Human Rights.
NonGovernment organizations (NGOS) work for the welfare of people. Some of
these organizations also fight for the protection of Human Rights. There are
hundreds of NGO' s working at the national and international level for the cause of
the protection of Human Rights.
NON GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS :
Non government Organizations (NGO's) are voluntary organizations.
They are formed by people who want to work for the welfare of people in general
and the less privilege and helpless in particular.
The Government, central or state has it limitations in providing welfare measures
like means of livelihood, education and health services to people who need them.
Lack of funds, lack of manpower, public protest and pressure from political parties
are some of the problems faced by the government in providing welfare measures
to people.
On the other hand, NGO's have better network of manpower. These organizations
are financially supported by business organizations.
And, above all, NGO' s have personal contact at the grass root level. Activists in
these organizations have healthy relations or rapport with general public. And,
therefore, they can serve people better than government officials in the fields like
educations, protection of human rights, health, Child welfare, environmental
protection, rehabilitation of displaced people etc.
What NGO' s can do for people ? NGO' s can do the following activities for the welfare
of people
1) NGO' s can run educational institutions for education of the masses. They can
also provide professional training to people for producing experts and technicians
by running training institutions.
2) The voluntary organizations fight for the protection of human rights of people.
They can file petitions in law courts for safeguarding the fundamental rights of
people.
3) NGO' s can undertake various activities for protecting the physical environment.
They can make people aware about environmental issues and the importance of
environmental protection.
4) These voluntary movements can concentrate on bringing about rural
development of the country. For this purpose they can plan and undertake different
activities that will lead to development in agricultures and its allied fields.
5)NGO' s can provide medical assistance and health services to the needy people.
6) Activists of NGO' s can arrange child welfare activities especially for
undernourished, physically handicapped, mentally disabled and street children.
7) NGO' s help the government to monitor the welfare activities undertaken by it.
8) When the government activities clash with the interests of people, NGO' s
oppose the government and pressurize it to act in the interests of people. Thus,
these organizations work for the cause of people, help them to form favorable
opinion about life, health, environmental, social and political issues.
Because NGO' s look towards everything from the point of common people they
are, described as the eyes and ears of people.
Problems faced by NGO' s : While offering selfless services to people NGOs face the
following problems :
NGO' s find it very difficult in collecting the realistic formation about the
government plans policies and projects.
Though these voluntary organizations are fully supported by Business
organizations, financial institutions etc, the funds thus raised are inadequate for
managing diverse welfare activities by them.
Because of paucity of funds NGO' s find difficulty in getting the services of experts
and technician.
Adequate infrastructures are not available to these voluntarily organisation.
Because of the in involvement of people of diverse interests, NGO' s find it rather
difficult to define their objectives clearly.
It is not easy for these organizations to coordinate various activities undertaken by
them.
Often there is political interference in day to day functioning of NGOs.
Prominent NGOs in India :
Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) :
This is a Delhi based NGO.
PUCL was founded in 1976 by Jayaprakash Narayan, the great Gandhian leader.
In the beginning he formed a national group named, Citizens for Democracy
(CFD) in 1974 along with similar groups in Delhi, Madras, Mumbai and Calcutta
for opposing the autocratic functioning of the government of India.
Later on, emergency was declared by the government. During the emergency,
fundamental rights and civil liberties of people were suppressed. The National
Security Act was passed in 1980 which was a repressive law which introduced
preventive Detention of people under the pretext of national security.
In a response to this act, the PUCL was revitalized in 1980. It insisted that the
civil liberties of people must be protected at any cost. It also pledged to work
against any type of discrimination that encroaches civil liberties of the weaker
sections of society like children, women etc.
Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) :
Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) argues that the underprivileged
people have Right to organize themselves and to agitate or revolt for bringing
about total change in the socio economic and political system if it does not
ensure solutions to their problems.
This organization also filed a case in the Supreme Court for protecting the
economic rights of ASIAD workers who were paid less than minimum wages. The
court declared that it amounts to forced labour and it also violates the article 23
of the constitution of India.
Chipko Movement :
Due to indiscriminate cutting of trees for commercial purposes, Uttarakhand
faced environmental problems like soil erosion, drying up of the sources of water
due to clearing of forests. This also caused soil degradation. And it became
essential to protect the environment from its further degradation due to
deforestation.
To tackle this problem a movement was started. It was named as the Chipko
Movement. The term `Chipko Literally means hugging or embracing trees. Shri
Bahuguna started protecting the trees by embracing them. This is the mass
movement of its kind started solely for protecting the trees and forests.
This movement was started by Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandiprasd Bhat in
1970. It spread in Garhwal region of Himalayas which is the source of great
rivers like the Ganga and the Yamuna. As a result of this movement there was
considerable improvement in the environment and awareness of people to
problems resulting from indiscriminate deforestation.
Prominent NGOs in international arena :
The impact of human rights has brought about a profound change on the notions of
State sovereignty. Today, no nation can say that the way it treats its citizens is
purely a domestic concern. Globalisation of human rights with the modern concept
of a global village has resulted in the human rights situation anywhere in the world
becoming a matter of international concern. Voluntary organizations, which are also
called non-governmental organizations, all over the world have begun to support
and promote human rights in all societies.

The actions of international non-governmental organizations like the Amnesty
International and the Human Rights Watch are active in addressing massive human
rights violations in the former Yugoslavia (Kosovo, Bosnia etc.), Rwanda, East
Timor, Sierra Leone, Sudan. The activities of such organizations are coordinated at
the international level through the Human Rights Commission established by the
General Assembly of the United Nations in 1946.
The Amnesty International (AI) :
This is a world famous NGO working for the protection of human rights. It was
established in 1961.
The AI mainly deals with the five areas viz womens Rights, Children Rights
ending Torture and Execution, Rights of Refugees and Rights of prisoners of
conscience.
At present the AI is concentrating mainly on controlling the violence against
women and checking the world arms trade. Its main branches are in London and
New York.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) :
This NGO was established in New York in 1987. It serves as an umbrella
organization for U.S. Helsinki watch committee, America
Watch, Asia Watch, Middle East Watch and Africa Watch.
It publishes Human Rights publication Catalogue, quarterly news letters and
Human Rights world watch reports.
It evaluates the Human Rights practices of governments in the light of standards
recognized by international laws and agreements including the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the Helsinki Accord.
Further it also evaluates the performance of the U.S. government in promoting
human rights at the international level.
The organization mainly concentrates on evaluating the treatment of the U.S.
government with refugees and visitors to U.S.
As a result of these activities of the non-governmental organizations it has now
become familiar requirement for States to submit reports to a statutory organ
(Human Rights Committee, Childrens Committee, Womens Committee, Committee
on Elimination of Racial Discrimination etc.) about their domestic/ internal
implementation of human rights obligations.
Half a century back it would have appeared unthinkable that sovereign States
would periodically submit a report to an international body about their internal
matters involving treatment of their citizens by the government, and then the
States participation in a discussion of the report with members of an international
body drawn from all over the world. Such is the power of the idea of human rights
today.
Conclusion :
Impact of non-governmental organizations with regard to protection and promotion
of human rights is no longer debatable. The impact is clear and visible. Along with
the genuine human rights agencies, official or non-govermental, the human rights
movement in India is quite strong. One great stumbling block in preventing
violation of human rights is poverty.
GO TO CONTENTS.
*** End-of-Compilation ***

Source : Public domain print/ internet contents.
URLs of some such resources are listed herein above.
Credits/ copyrights duly acknowledged.
Suggested Reading :
S. K. Avesti and R.P. Kataria, Law Relating Human Rights , Chh. IV, V, VIII, XIV XXIX,
and XXXIX Orient, New Delhi.
Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Project. The Human Rights Watch Global Report
on Women's Human Rights Oxford
Limacora, Nowak and Tretter, International Human Rights, Sweet & Maxwell
Wallace, Internationla Human Rights, Text & Materials, Sweet & Maxwell
Muntarbhom. The Statu of Refugees in Asia, Oxford
Human Rights and Global Diversity, Frank Cass, London
Nirmal C.J. (ed) Human Rights in India, Oxford
P.R. Gandhin, International Human Right Documents, Universal, Delhi.
K. C. Joshi : Internal Law & Human Rights, Eastern Book Company
Dr. Vijay Chitnis : Human Rights and the Law : National & Global Perspectives, Sno
White Publication Pvt. Ltd.
Khwaja Abdul Muntaquim : Protection of Human Rights: Law Publishers (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Law Relating to Human Rights: Asia Law House
Dr. S. K. Kapoor: Human Rights under International Law and Indian Law: Central Law
Agency
Dr. Vijay S. Chitnis:Human Rights & Princes of Poverty: Snow White Publication Ltd.
Dr. N. Subramanya: Human Rights and Refugees : A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, New
Delhi
Mangari Rajender: The Protection of Human Rights Act and Relating Taws : Law Book
Agency

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Module-1) Human Rights : General.

Module-2) UN and Human Rights :

Module-3) Human Rights under the Constitution and different Legislation :

Module-4) Enforcement of Human Rights and machinery thereof :

Module-1) HUMAN RIGHTS : GENERAL.

1.1) Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights :

What is meant by Human Rights ? Explain the historical development, nature,

What is meant by Human Rights ? Explain the historical development, nature,

the fundamental concept of sovereignty. In the twenty-first century no state would

They are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights "to which a

slavery and freedom from torture.

Discuss in detail : historical development of the concept of Human Rights in

independence and drew up their own Declaration of Independence in 1776, based

Explain in detail, Sources and Significance of Human Rights. (Mar-2015)

discrimination on grounds of religion or non-religion;

18th century Philosophes centered mainly in Paris, including Montesquieu,

Legal positivism is a theory about the nature of law, commonly thought to be

It does not take seriously enough the separateness of the individual; it

<read importance of human rights from elsewhere in this doc>

Explain in detail : various theories of Human Rights. (Apr-2012, Apr-2013, Apr-2014,

8. THEORIES OF RIGHTS BASED ON JUSTICE

individuals can be achieved;

Discuss in detail : Concept of natural Law, Concept of natural rights.

Module-2) UN and Human Rights :

2.1) International Documents relating to Human Rights

Discuss about International Documents relating to Human Rights. (Mar-2015)

Discuss about International Documents relating to Human Rights. (Mar-2015)

Right Category & reference

1 The right to seek asylum Due process, Article 14,

2 The right to have access to Due process Article 10,

3 Freedom from Equality Article 7, Universal

Right Category & reference

4 The right to cultural Liberty Article 27, Universal

5 The right not to be Individual Article 6, ICCPR

6 The right not to be Individual Article 7, ICCPR

7 The right not to be held in Individual Art 8, paras 1&2,

8 The right not to be Due process Art 11, ICCPR

The right not to be Due process Art 15, ICCPR

The right to the recognition Equality Art 6, ICCPR

The right to freedom of Liberty Art 18, ICCPR

Right Category & reference

The right to have or adopt a religion of

Note : Above list is not exhaustive. Refer to

Discuss in detail : Importance and binding effect of international documents on

1. Importance international documents on Human Rights :

Write a brief essay on international developments relating to Human Rights (Apr-

Intro : What is "International human rights law" ?

The enforcement of international human rights law is the responsibility of the

Discrimination (1965), and

Human rights are increasingly a well established area of international politics.

Human rights are inherent, inalienable, interdependent, and indivisible, meaning

practices that impact individuals enjoyment of those rights. Therefore, we think

Explain the Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, 1966 (Oct-2012)

Explain in detail : International Labour Organization and its functions. (Apr-2012,

The terms of office are three years.[6][7]

requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long

Explain : Disarmament threat to Human Rights. (Oct-2012)

Discuss about Human Rights reflected in Fundamental Rights under the

Discuss in detail : Directive Principles legislative and administrative

Explain in detail, Implementation of International Human Rights norms through

Module-3) Human Rights under the Constitution and different Legislation in

* End-of-Compilation *