What are human rights ?
Human rights mean all those rights which are related to life, liberty, equality and dignity of an individual. These rights are described in Part III of the Nepalese Constitution as Fundamental Rights and are enforceable by courts.
Apart from this, such rights which have been accepted by the General Assembly of the United Nations as a result of international agreement and are enforceable by the courts of the country are considered as human rights.
These rights include the right to live in a pollution-free environment, the right not to be subjected to torture and degrading treatment in custody, and the right to dignified treatment for women.
Human rights are the rights of all, that is, women, men, children and old people, and they are equally enjoyed by all. These rights cannot be violated on the basis of caste, religion, language, gender. All these rights are innate rights.
Human rights are inherent in human nature and the imperative of these rights has always been for the overall development of human personality.
Meaning of Human Rights
The word human rights is a compound word of two words: Human + Rights. Human rights refers to human rights. Before fully understanding the term human rights, we have to understand the term rights :-
According to Harald Lasky, "Rights are those conditions of social life without which one cannot generally hope for full self-development". According to him, "Right is the rational demand for freedom to do certain things." In the words of Bosanke, "Right is a demand which is accepted by the society and enforced by the state".
Rights are those facilities which are necessary for a person to live, for his personality to flourish. The scope of human rights is very wide. Its scope includes various types of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights. Due to its wide scope, the use of the term human rights has also become a subject of very wide discussion.
Principles of Human Rights
In order to develop a deeper understanding of human rights, you have to understand the principle of human rights. There are many theories in the regard of principles of human rights.
- Doctrine of natural rights
- Legal theory of rights
- Non-utilitarian theory
- Legal realist theory
- Marxist theory
1. Doctrine of Natural Rights
It is the most ancient theory of the doctrine of rights and originated in ancient Greek. According to this theory, authority is related to the nature of man and is therefore self-evident truth.
It also emphasizes that natural rights have been living with human beings or human beings have been enjoying them even before the establishment of the state and society. Locke was the official originator of this theory.
According to the critics of this theory, authority is not expressive. It is not only personal. Rights can be born and enforced in the society itself. Rights and duties are two sides of the same coin, yet this theory gave importance to the notion that human rights cannot be violated.
2. Legal Theory of Rights
This theory arose as a reaction to the theory of natural rights. According to this theory, human rights can be created only by the legal power of the state. Thomas Hobbes and Bentham and Austin developed this theory. Right is based entirely on utilitarianism.
A person has to give up some rights in the social interest. Not only can law be the creator of rights, traditions, morals and customs also contribute significantly to it. The role of the state for the protection of human rights has been accepted.
3. Non-utilitarian Theory
Dwarkain Najik and Genrals are the originators of this theory. According to this ideology, there should be no mutual conflict between individual and social rights, but an equal feeling is necessary.
4. Legal Realist Theory
This is a contemporary idea piece. It originally arose during President Roosevelt's 'New Deal Policy' in America. Jurists such as Karl Levellen and Roscoe Pound put forward this theory. This theory emphasizes the practical side of human rights.
5. Marxist Theory
According to Marx, rights are actually the concept of bourgeois (capitalist) society which further strengthens the ruling class. The state itself is an exploitative institution. Therefore, in a capitalist society and state, rights are class rights.
Marx strongly believed that human rights could arise and survive in a classless society. Such a society can be formed only according to scientific socialist ideas. Social and economic rights are more important to this theory.
This theory has also influenced the International Declaration of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966). All theories are the product of the particular conditions of their time and all have some facts or the other.
Types of Human Rights
Generally, rights are divided into two main ways -
(a) moral rights,
(b) legal rights.
In modern times, different political systems enjoy different types of rights. In a liberal democratic system, where civil and political rights are given special importance. Human rights are divided or classified into the following categories -
- Natural Rights
- Moral Rights
- Legal Rights
- Civil Rights
- Fundamental Rights
- Economic, Social and Cultural rights
1. Natural Rights
Man is born with some rights from his birth. He gets this right from nature. Being derived from nature, they are naturally inherent in human nature. Like the right to live, the right to move freely.
2. Moral Rights
The source of moral rights is the conscience of the society. Moral rights are those rights which are related to the moral conduct of human beings.
Moral rights are not protected by the state, so their observance depends on individual will. Moral rights are accepted under the pressure of theology and the spiritual consciousness of the people.
3. Legal Rights
Legal rights are those which are provided by the state in accordance with the law and whose violation is punishable by the state. These rights are enforced by the court.
Legal Rights rights keep on increasing with the development of social life. Equality before the law and equal protection of the law is the best example of this.
4. Civil Rights
Civil and political rights are those rights which a human being enjoys as a member of the state. Through these rights, a person directly or indirectly participates in the administration of his country. Civil and political rights have a special importance in liberal democratic systems.
5. Fundamental Rights
In modern times, every civilized state makes provision for fundamental rights in the constitution while making it. In democracy, the individual is important.
With the mention of fundamental rights in the constitution, the scope of freedom is clear and secured by the constitution itself. These rights have been considered indispensable for the personality development of the individual.
6. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Man is a social animal, he wants to live in society with harmony. Being a part of society, he is also a member of many economic, social and cultural institutions and participates in their activities.
The list of human rights classifications is very long. With the passage of time, this list is also increasing. It is a difficult and challenging task to determine which rights are important, which are of less importance in human rights. Human rights have received special attention since the Global Declaration on Human Rights.
In short, it can be said that "the protection and implementation of all rights is essential for the holistic development of human life".
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