Chapter 1 Example: Freedom of expression of belief of opinion.
Right to freedom of
GENERAL NATURE AND DEFINITION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
All persons are born free and equal in dignity and rights without any distinction s to race, color, sex,
religion, origin, and social status.
Introductory
All human beings upon birth automatically belong to a society.
They are born free, equal and with human dignity and rights.
The first society he belongs to is his family, then at higher levels, to his neighborhood,
his municipality, his country and the international community.
The rights he is entitled to are enjoyed without any distinction as to race, color, sex,
language, religion, origin and social status.
The ancient Confucianism to the Bahais proclaimed the brotherhood of men.
Judaism believes: What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. That is the entire Law.
Buddhism teaches: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find it hurtful.
Confucianism admonishes: If there is one principle which ought to be acted upon throughout
ones life, surely it is that of loving kindness. Do not do unto others what you would not have
them done unto you.
Islam advocates: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires
for himself.
Christianity teaches: In everything, do to others just what you want them to do for you.
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFINED
United Nations Definition
Human rights are generally defined as those rights, which are inherent in our nature,
and without which, we cannot live as human beings.
Philippine Commission on Human Rights Definition
Human rights are supreme, inherent and inalienable rights to life, dignity and self-
development. It is the essence of these rights that makes man human.
Mans Responsibility in Human Society
The freedom of an individual is realized and upheld in his relations to other people in
the form given to social life.
Basic Characteristics of Human Rights
1) Inherent because they are not granted by any person or authority. They do not need
any event for their existence. They are distinguished from constitutional or legal rights,
which are provided in state constitutions or legislative bodies.
Example: Right to life and the right to dignity as human being.
2) Fundamental because without them the life and the dignity of man will be
meaningless.
Example: Right to individual liberty and security of a person or freedom of
thought or religion.
3) Inalienable because they cannot be rightfully taken away from a free individual.
Example: Freedom from torture
4) Imprescriptible because they cannot be lost even by long passage of time.
Example: Freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
5) Indivisible because they are not capable of being divided. They cannot be denied
even when other rights have already been enjoyed.
religion and worship.
6) Universal to all human beings irrespective of their origin, status or condition or place
where they live.
7) Interdependent because the fulfillment or exercise of one cannot be had without the
realization of the other. The respect of human rights necessarily includes the realization
of mans dignity.
Example: Right to life and existence as a person.
Classification of Rights
1) According to source
Natural rights are God-given rights, acknowledged by everybody to be
morally good. They are unwritten but they prevail as norms of the society.
Example: Rights to life, dignity and self-development
Constitutional rights are those rights which are conferred and protected by
the Constitution and which cannot be modified or taken away by the law-
making body.
Statutory rights are those rights which are provided by law promulgated by
the law-making body and, consequently, may be abolished by the same body.
2) According to recipient
Individual rights are those rights being accorded to individuals
Collective rights also called peoples rights or solidarity rights are
rights of the society, those that can be enjoyed only in company with others.
Example: Right to peaceably assemble, right to peace, right to
development, right to self-determination, and right to environment.
3) According to aspect of life
Civil rights are those rights which the law will enforce at the instance of
private individuals for the purpose of securing to them the enjoyment of their
means of happiness.
Example: Rights against involuntary servitude and imprisonment for
non-payment of debt or a poll tax; the constitutional rights of the
accused; the social and economic rights; liberty of abode and of
changing the same. Freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press,
the right to assemble and petition, and the right to form associations
are likewise civil rights.
Political rights are those rights which enable us to participate in running the
affairs of the government either directly or indirectly.
Example: Right to vote, right to information on matters of public
concern , and the right to initiative and referendum
Economic and social rights are those which the law confers upon the people
to enable them to achieve social and economic development, thereby ensuring
them their well-being, happiness and financial security.
Example: Right to property, education and promotion of social
justice.
Cultural rights are those rights that ensure the well-being of the individual
and foster the preservation, enrichment, and dynamic evolution of national
culture based on the principle of unity in diversity in a climate of free artistic
and intellectual expression.
4) According to struggle for recognition
 First generation rights it conceives of human rights more in negative
(freedoms from) than positive (rights to) terms; it favors the abstention rather
than the intervention of government in the exercise of freedoms and in the
quest for human dignity.
Example: covers civil and political rights which derives primarily
from the 17th and 18th centurys reformist theories and which are
associated with the English, American and French revolutions.
Second generation rights it conceives of human rights more in positive
terms (right to) they are fundamental claims to social equality.
Example: covers economic, social and cultural rights which find their
origin primarily in the socialist tradition and have been variously
promoted by revolutionary struggles and welfare movements.
Third generation rights it is best understood as a product, albeit one still in
formation, of both the rise and decline of the nation States in the last half of
the 20th century.
Example: covers collective rights. Right of people to development of
healthy development.
5) According to derogability
Absolute or non-derogable rights are those that cannot be suspended nor
taken away nor restricted/limited even in extreme emergency and even if the
government invokes national security.
Example: right to be deprived of life arbitrarily, the right of freedom
from torture, the right to be recognized as a person, and the right to
freedom of thought or conscience.
Derogable or can-be-limited rights may be suspended or restricted or
limited depending on the circumstances which call for the preservation of
social life.
Example: right to freely move may be limited through the imposition
of curfews.
The imposition of restrictions on certain individual rights must
satisfy three requirement for it to be valid:
1. It is provided for by law which is made known to every citizen
2. There is a state of emergency which necessitates the urgent
preservation of the public good, public safety, and public moral
3. It does not exceed what is strictly necessary to achieve the
purpose.
Categories of Human Rights
As Fundamental Freedom in Political Rights
Freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression;
freedom of the press and communication; freedom of association, freedom of peaceful assembly.
The rights to privacy, reputation and human dignity.
As Democratic Rights
These rights are commonly exercised in a democratic state such as the right to vote and
to participate in the electoral process, and the right to participate in public or governmental
affairs.
As Mobility Rights
The right to travel and to return to ones country, and the freedom of movement within
the country. These rights are national as well as international in character.
As Right to Life, Liberty and Security of the Person
These rights represent the core of fundamental rights which relate to the right to
physical and personal integrity, consistent with human dignity. They include the right to
protection against political and other extrajudicial killings, the disappearances of persons, and
torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
As Legal Rights
Include the freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention and the protection against
unreasonable search and seizure, right to counsel, right to fair and public trial, presumption of
innocence, and the right against self-incrimination. These rights constitute due process that can
be invoked by persons accused.
As Rights of Equality
The right against discrimination. Everyone is equal before the law and is entitled to
equal protection or the equal benefit of law. It includes the protection against discrimination on
the grounds of sex, race, religion, ethnic origin, age, marital status and political and social
condition.
As Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
They are considered more of standards to be observed by the state. These rights include
the right to social security, social insurance, protection and assistance to the family, the right to
an adequate standard of living, adequate food, clothing and housing, and the right to physical
and mental health. They also include the right to education and the right to be part of the artistic
and scientific life of the country.
As Workers Rights
Includes the right to association, the right to organize unions, to bargain collectively,
the prohibition of forced labor, the prohibition of employment of children, and the guarantee of
minimum wages and other support.
As Aboriginal Rights
These are rights are associated with the rights of indigenous cultural tribes or
communities.
As Reproductive Rights
These rights includes the right to found a family and bear children, to gender sensitivity
and the biomedical technology, and to family planning.
As Protective Rights of Persons in Armed Conflicts
These rights are provided in the international humanitarian law for the protection of
children, women and non-combatants during internal armed conflicts.
As Right of Self-determination
This right was asserted by colonial peoples in their struggle for independence. This
means the right of people to be free from colonial rule and decide their own destiny.
As Minority Group Right
These rights includes the protection of ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities.
The Second, Third and Fourth Generation Rights
Second Generation Rights are the economic, social and cultural rights.
Third and Fourth Generation Rights were developed through the peace-keeping
efforts and through solidarity of the international community. They include the control of
manufacture and use of weapons of mass destruction like atomic bombs, chemical or biological
warfare, the protection of the environment and the right to development. They are better known
as collective rather than individual rights.
Human Rights without Any Limitation
 These are the rights to life, freedom from torture, freedom from enslavement or Equality with respect to basic liberty means the recognition of individual
servitude, protection from imprisonment for debt, freedom from retroactive penal laws, the right rights in the enjoyment of the basic freedoms such as freedoms of speech,
to recognition as a person before the law, the freedom of thought, conscience and religion. religion, assembly, fair trial and access to courts.
Chapter II Governments must treat all their citizens equally.
HISTORY, THEORIES OF SOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS 8) The Theory Based on Justice
Justice is the greatest interest of man.
Human rights are as old as human society. They are rights men asserted at the beginning Respect for human rights serves the end of justice.
against injustices of tyrannical rulers of ancient nations and the royal autocratic kings and The general conception of justice is one of fairness and those social primary
princess of the medieval era the nine theories of sources of human rights
goods such as opportunity, income and wealth and self-respect are to be
THEORIES OF SOURCES OF RIGHTS distributed equally.
9) Theory Based on Dignity of Man
1) Religious or Theological Approach Professors McDougal and Laswel follow the so-called value-oriented
Central to the doctrines of all religions is the concept of the dignity of man as approach based on protection of human dignity.
a consequence of human rights. This theory proceeds on the premise that human rights means sharing values
The Doctrine of a Supreme Being, the creator, the father of all humanity. of all identified policies upon which human rights depend on.
The theological approach means also the brotherhood of men and equality in The most important values are respect, power, knowledge, health and
the eyes of God. security.
God-given rights. Policy science approach.
2) The Natural Law Theory 10) The Utilitarian Theory
Originated from the Stoics and elaborated by Greek philosophers Plato and Mainly based on the philosophy of English jurist Jeremy Bentham, seeks to
Aristotle and later by ancient Roman law jurists perceives that the conduct of define the notion of rights in terms of tendencies to promote specified ends
men must always conform to the law of nature. such as common good.
Natural law embodies those elementary principles of justice which were right The goal is to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
reason in accordance with nature, unalterable and eternal. Utilitarianism is the principle that requires governments to maximize the total
Jon Locke envisioned human beings in a state of nature. In that state, they net sum of citizens.
enjoyed life, liberty and property which are deemed natural rights.
3) Historical Theory
Advocates that the human rights are not deliberate creation or the effort of
man but they have already existed through the common consciousness of the
people of what is right and just.
Human rights developed through the common consciousness of men.
4) The Functional or Sociological Approach
Human rights exist as a means of social control.
Human rights exist to serve the social interest of society.
The sociological approach lays emphasis of obtaining a just equilibrium of
multifarious interests among prevailing moral sentiments and the social and
economic conditions of the time and place.
5) The Positivist Theory
What is known as legal positivism states that all rights and authority come
from the state and what officials have promulgated.
The only law is what it is commanded by the sovereign.
The sources of rights can be found only in the promulgated law and enforced
by the state.
6) The Marxist Theory
Emphasizes the interest of society over an individual mans interest.
Individual freedom is recognized only after the interest of society is served.
It is concerned with economic and social rights over civil or political rights of
community.
7) Theory Based on Equality and Respect