Chapter 4: Human Rights Law

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the origins, characteristics, legal frameworks, international conventions, constitutional protections, and enforcement mechanisms of human rights law in Vietnam.

Natural Rights Theory

The philosophical school of thought asserting that human rights are innate and inherent to every individual simply by virtue of being born a member of the human family, independent of customs, culture, or state will.

Legal Rights Theory

The school of thought asserting that human rights are not innate or natural, but rather created, defined, and codified into legal norms by states or derived from specific cultural traditions.

Nonsense upon Stilts

The critical characterization used by Jeremy Bentham to describe the idea of natural, inalienable human rights, arguing that no rights exist outside of positive law.

Universality of Human Rights

The core characteristic establishing that human rights are inherent to all members of the human family and apply equally to everyone without discrimination, guaranteeing equal status as rights-holders.

Inalienability of Human Rights

The principle that human rights cannot be arbitrarily taken away or restricted by any entity or state official, though lawful restrictions may apply in specific circumstances such as criminal punishment.

Indivisibility of Human Rights

The principle that all human rights possess equal importance and status, meaning no right is inherently superior to another and restricting any right damages overall human dignity.

Interdependence and Interrelatedness of Human Rights

The principle that the realization or violation of any single human right directly or indirectly promotes or impairs the enjoyment of other human rights.

Human Rights (Marxist Conception)

The rights belonging to all individuals that originate from inherent human dignity, are conditioned by class character and socio-economic factors, and are formally recognized and safeguarded by law.

Citizen

According to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, a member of a state who owes allegiance to that state and is entitled to receive its protection.

Citizen's Rights

Legal entitlements and interests established, recognized, and protected by a state specifically for individuals holding its nationality, reflecting the relationship between the individual and the state.

Obligation to Recognize

The duty of the State to formally acknowledge and institutionalize civil, political, economic, social, and cultural human rights within its legal and ethical frameworks.

Obligation to Respect

A negative obligation requiring the State and public officials to refrain from directly or indirectly interfering with the lawful exercise and enjoyment of human rights.

Obligation to Protect

A positive obligation requiring the State to actively prevent third parties, such as corporations, organizations, and individuals, from violating the human rights of others, as well as to investigate and remedy abuses.

Obligation to Fulfil

A positive obligation requiring the State to adopt proactive legislative, administrative, budgetary, and judicial measures to enable people to enjoy their rights to the maximum extent possible.

Obligation to Promote

The State's duty to establish supportive economic and social environments—especially for marginalized groups—and maintain transparent mechanisms to monitor and expand the realization of rights.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966)

A fundamental UN treaty ratified by Vietnam in 1982 that safeguards basic civil and political liberties, primarily demanding the State's compliance with the obligation to respect.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966)

A core UN human rights treaty ratified by Vietnam in 1982 that obligates states to progressively realize economic, social, and cultural rights in line with available national resources.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD, 1965)

An international human rights convention joined by Vietnam in 1982 requiring states to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and ensure equality in civil, political, and socio-economic spheres.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979)

Often described as the 'International Bill of Rights for Women', a treaty ratified by Vietnam in 1982 mandating legal equality between men and women and affirmative actions to achieve substantive equality.

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989)

A major UN treaty ratified by Vietnam in 1990—the first in Asia and second in the world—centered on the core principle that the best interests of the child must be the primary consideration across four rights clusters: survival, development, protection, and participation.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006)

An international human rights treaty ratified by Vietnam in 2014 that establishes a fundamental shift from a charity-based perspective to a human rights-based approach regarding persons with disabilities.

Convention Against Torture (CAT, 1984)

A core international treaty joined by Vietnam in 2015 that establishes an absolute, non-derogable ban on torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948)

A foundational international instrument adopted by the UN General Assembly that proclaims universally protected fundamental human rights and provided the framework for the ICCPR and ICESCR.

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW, 1990)

One of the two core United Nations human rights treaties (out of nine) that Vietnam has not yet joined or ratified.

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED, 2006)

One of the two core United Nations human rights treaties (out of nine) that Vietnam has not yet signed or ratified.

Duty-Bearers

Entities responsible for respecting, protecting, and fulfilling human rights, primarily comprising State actors (governments, agencies, officials) alongside non-state actors.

Vulnerable Groups

Populations that face heightened risks of rights violations, discrimination, or marginalization due to physical traits, age, gender, economic status, or legal standing, requiring specific protective measures.

Substantive Equality

A standard of equality recognizing that identical treatment does not necessarily create fairness, requiring tailored support and reasonable accommodations to overcome structural disadvantages.

Corruption

Under Vietnam's Anti-Corruption Law of 2018, the act of an individual holding a position of authority who abuses that position and power for personal gain.

Person with Position and Power

Any individual appointed, elected, recruited, contracted, or assigned to carry out official duties or corporate management functions with specific authority, whether compensated or uncompensated.

Presumption of Innocence

The constitutional principle enshrined in Article 31 of the 2013 Constitution stipulating that an accused person is considered innocent until proven guilty under statutory procedures and affirmed by an effective court judgment.

Whistleblower Protection

A legal safeguard governed by the 2018 Law on Denunciation that shields reporters of corrupt practices from retaliation, mistreatment, arbitrary job transfers, or threats to personal safety, health, property, and reputation.