Universal Human Dignity: Some Reflections in the Asian Context

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Yee Karen Lee
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
Common Association

AbstractThe idea of “human dignity” is accorded a prominent status in domestic constitutions and international human rights law. Its symbolism as a universal ground of human rights sits awkwardly with the absence of a precise definition. The concept has evolved over history and has been interpreted in various ways by people holding different worldviews. The elusive nature of human dignity creates challenges when it is evaluated across cultures. Despite its common association with the concept of liberal democracy, the idea of human worthiness is not necessarily absent in Asian societies, many of which function under alternative political systems.A cross-cultural perspective requires putting aside ethnocentrism and exploring the convergence of views from different belief systems. Examples from Confucianism and Islam may provide insights on how human dignity is understood and realized in various Asian contexts.

Part III Structural Principles, Ch.14 Human Dignity

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carozza Paolo G
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Structural Principles ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Instruments

This article examines the issue of human dignity in relation to human rights. It analyses the functions and principle of human dignity and its use in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments. It suggests that human dignity seems to help justify expansive interpretations of human rights and strengthens the centrality and importance of the right in question and limiting possible exceptions or limitations to that right. This article also contends that the difficulty of reaching greater consensus on the meaning and implications of human dignity in international human rights law may be attributed to the fact that it refers to both a foundational premise of human rights and to a principle that affect interpretation and application of specific human rights.

scholarly journals The duty to work as precondition for human dignity: a Swiss perspective on work programmes

2020 ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
Melanie Studer ◽  
Kurt Pärli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Eligibility Criterion ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Right ◽  
Federal Supreme

In Switzerland, the participation in certain work programmes is an eligibility criterion to social assistance benefits and the constitutionally granted right to the financial means required for a decent standard of living. This chapter examines whether the implementation of these programmes is in accordance with fundamental rights and more precisely, whether they respect the normative framework elaborated in Chapter 4. As will be shown, the right to financial assistance when in need has close links to human dignity. Therefore, the evaluation of the mentioned work programmes against the human rights background leads to some critical conclusions on their compatibility with international human rights law in general and human dignity in particular. Especially, the authors argue that the Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s case law lacks a comprehensive approach for the evaluation of human rights infringements in this context.

scholarly journals Human Rights Theory and Comparative International Law Scholarship

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher McCrudden
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Domestic Courts ◽  
Domestic Use ◽  
International Human

An account of what we know about the use by domestic courts of international human rights law is identified, based on the findings in this volume and earlier work on the use of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). From that, three aspects of the domestic functions of international human rights treaties are tentatively identified as particularly significant: international human rights law is only partly internationally-directed; domestic courts very seldom appear to be acting as ‘agents’ of international human rights law; and ‘human dignity’ (sometimes by itself, sometimes alongside ‘autonomy’ and ‘equality’) acts as an important meta-principle in the domestic use of international human rights law. The implications these functions have for normative theorising about human rights, in particular practice-dependent theories of human rights, is considered, and a theory of human rights law consistent with this practice is identified.

scholarly journals Rewarding in International Human Rights Law?

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 232-236
Author(s):  
Siobhán McInerney-Lankford
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Action ◽  
International Human

Compliance in international law remains a challenge and the search to understand whether and why states comply with international human rights law endures as well. This essay endorses van Aaken and Simsek's contention that rewarding is an important yet underexplored mechanism for ensuring compliance with international law, but suggests that certain features of international human rights law may make rewarding less apposite in the human rights sphere for three interrelated reasons. First, compliance with international human rights law depends on domestic as well as international action, potentially rendering rewarding between states less relevant. Second, the unique and complex structure of international human rights law obligations and their measurement may make an assessment of the effectiveness of rewarding more difficult, at least for certain categories of rights and obligations. Third, rewarding may be inappropriate in international human rights law given its core normative purpose of protecting human dignity. As such, this essay explores whether rewarding can or should be pursued in international human rights law.

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