LLB 106 Human Rights Law
Learning Outcomes and Key Concepts in Human Rights
Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, learners should be capable of the following: * Demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of key human rights concepts. * Stating the specific distinctions between human rights and civil rights. * Demonstrating an understanding of the specific influences exerted by culture and religion on human rights. * Explaining the distinction between the schools of Naturalism and Positivism regarding the source of human rights.
Definition of Human Rights: Human rights denote the rights of humans or the "rights of man" as described in various historical documents. Because all human beings possess the same basic nature equally, rights based on this nature are inherently universal and held equally by all.
Sources of Human Rights: The source is defined as the human being, human nature, or humanity itself. These are rights inherent in human nature through several possible frameworks: * A divine donation (God’s natural gifts forming part of a divinely ordained nature). * Something self-evident. * Inherent in the dignity of the human person. * Based on human needs for a life of dignity.
Glossary of Key Jurisprudential Terms: * Rights: A proper claim to something, an authority to do something, or an interest. It is something an individual may do or have by law; a legal authority or claim. * Morals/Morality: Principles concerning right or wrong behavior; standards based on a sense of justice rather than legal obligations. Morality is a society’s perception of right and wrong. Moral rules differ from legal rules, though both govern human conduct. * Freedom: The condition of being free or the state of being unrestricted in action. It is the right to do as one pleases without interference. In human rights law, this is synonymous with liberty and suggests a claim to "be left alone." * Rule of Law: A fundamental principle requiring that rights within a state must be protected by law. Disputes must be resolved by competent, impartial, and independent tribunals within legal confines, rather than through arbitrary discretion. * Justice: While lacking a universally agreed meaning, it implies right and fair behavior, reasonableness, or fairness. For a lawyer, it involves upholding rights and punishing wrongs through law. * Fundamental: Central, primary, core, or basic. A right is fundamental if it forms the foundation of other rights; without them, other freedoms are ineffectual. * Human: Refers to a person (man, woman, or child) as distinct from other animals. A contentious area in jurisprudence is whether a foetus is legally a person entitled to the right to life, and the basis for the universal penalization of criminal abortion (protecting the foetus as the intrinsic value of human life). * State: A territorial division with defined borders where people live under a government and a uniform system of law. Requirements include territory, population, government, and the capacity