The Right to Life at Sea Seventy Years after the Proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 149-154
Author(s):  
Giorgia Bevilacqua
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Community ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Special Significance ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Multilateral Treaties

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed on 10 December, 1948, in order to offer a common standard of achievements in the context of fundamental human rights all peoples and all nations of the word. Of the rights universally recognized in the Declaration, the right to life presented a special significance in response to the atrocities and barbarous acts which preceded its proclamation: the right to life is irreversible and essential to the enjoyment of any other rights. In addition to the Universal Declaration, the right to life is stipulated in several multilateral treaties that confirm the relevance of the right to life for the entire international community. And even though none of these treaties includes the right to life at sea, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea sets out the duty to rescue people in distress at sea. In light of the persistent migratory crisis in the Mediterranean, as well as of the tendency to manage migration through activities of securitization, this paper aims to share some reflections on the current meaning of the obligations undertaken by the majority of States in the last 70 years in relation to the right to life.

scholarly journals Rescuing Asylum-Seeker Stranded at Sea: Malaysia’s Duty under International Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.30) ◽  
pp. 182
Author(s):  
Syafiq Sulaiman ◽  
Salawati Mat Basir ◽  
Mohd Zamre Mohd Zahir
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Right

The protection of the right to life and the duty to rescue persons in distress at sea are the fundamental obligations under two specialized international law regimes which are the international human rights law and the law of the sea. These rules when read together form a strong protection of the human rights of the asylum-seekers stranded at sea. However, often states failed to honour this obligation for various reasons ranging from national security to economic reasons. This article will analyse Malaysia’s responsibilities as regards the right to life and the duty to rescue of these asylum-seekers. It will also identify the existing international and domestic legal framework relevant to the application of these obligations upon Malaysia and whether it has acted in breach of such obligations. The article then proceeded with suggestions for further improvement that Malaysia can adopt in order to better perform its obligations. This study is a pure doctrinal legal research which is qualitative in nature. The data used in this research is collected from library-based resources. These data were then analyzed by using methods of content analysis as well as critical analysis. The article found that Malaysia has a duty to protect the right to life under international human rights law. Additionally, Malaysia is also bound under the law of the sea to perform its duty to rescue. In view of Malaysia’s failure to perform these duties in two occasions in the past consequently had resulted in a violation of international law. Therefore, it is suggested that Malaysia should initiate a revision of its national laws and policies regarding treatment of asylum-seekers stranded at sea to be in line with Malaysia’s duty under international law. Besides, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency is call upon to comply with the international standards of treatment of persons in distress at sea which includes the asylum-seekers.  

18. Human rights in action

2021 ◽  
pp. 435-457
Author(s):  
Anne Dennett
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Public Authority ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Article 9 ◽  
Freedom Of Thought ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

This chapter explores how three Convention rights operate in practice: the right to life (Article 2), the right to a private and family life (Article 8), and freedom of religious belief (Article 9). Article 2 provides that everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of one’s life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following one’s conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law. Article 8 provides that everyone has the right to respect for one’s private and family life, home, and correspondence. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law. Meanwhile, Article 9 provides that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change and manifest one’s religion or belief.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in medical-ethical perspective

1999 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-59
Author(s):  
Willem J. Eijk
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Surgical Interventions ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

Notwithstanding its impressive achievements in combating crimes against humanity, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights offers no sufficient basis for medical ethics. It does not provide a clear definition of the human being who is subject of human rights, thus giving room for philosophical anthropologies according to which fetuses or neonates are no human persons yet or at most ‘marginal persons’. Because the Declaration likewise fails to define the concept of right, it can be interpreted from the perspective of classical theories of right as well as from that of the ‘choice theory of right’. If, as the last states, the right to life would include the right to dispose of it, the Declaration could serve to defend euthanasia, assisted suicide and manipulative medical and surgical interventions as well.

Under the Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 76-77
Author(s):  
Julie Underwood
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
International Law ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Educational Rights ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
The U.S

The right to an education is guaranteed by international law in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Similarly, UNESCO’s Constitution sets out the right to an education as necessary to “prepare the children of the world for the responsibilities of freedom.” No such right is mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, though. Perhaps Congress or the Supreme Court would be sympathetic, however, to an argument for educational rights based on the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of the rights of citizenship.

18. Human rights in action

2019 ◽  
pp. 413-436
Author(s):  
Anne Dennett
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Public Authority ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Article 9 ◽  
Freedom Of Thought ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

This chapter explores how three Convention rights operate in practice: the right to life (Article 2), the right to a private and family life (Article 8), and freedom of religious belief (Article 9). Article 2 provides that everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of one's life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following one's conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law. Article 8 provides that everyone has the right to respect for one's private and family life, home, and correspondence. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law. Meanwhile, Article 9 provides that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change and manifest one's religion or belief.

Frontiers of International Law, Part One: The Chechen People, Continued

1997 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-20
Author(s):  
René Lefeber ◽  
David Raič
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Parent State ◽  
The People ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

We agree with André de Hoogh that the Chechens did not possess a right to external self-determination prior to the massive indiscriminate use oi military force by Russia in December 1994. At no point have we argued or suggested otherwise. Hence, up to December 1994, the Chechen claim did indeed not meet the conditions set by paragraph seven of the Friendly Relations Declaration. However, the Friendly Relations Declaration needs to be interpreted in view of usus and opinio iuris. In other words, one has to analyse how this paragraph has developed in customary international law. According to our analysis of the law of self-determination, the emergence of a right to external self-determination depends on two cumulative conditions, viz. 1) the serious and persistent violation of the right to internal self-determination and 2) the exhaustion of all total and international peaceful remedies by the people concerned to effectuate its right to internal self-determination. These conditions must be deemed fulfilled if the parent state seriously and massively violates the fundamental human rights and freedoms – in particular by an arbitrary violation of the right to life – of the persons belonging to the people concerned.

The Right to Leave and the Right to Return: A Declaration Adopted by the Uppsala Colloquium, Sweden, June 21, 1972

1973 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-66
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Law Faculty ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Policies And Practices

A Declaration Adopted by the Uppsala Collogium, Sweden, June 21, 1972. In June 1972, in Uppsala, Sweden, legal and human rights experts from 25 countries joined in a colloquium to examine the meaning and implications of Article 13 (2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.” Brought together under the auspices of the Law Faculty of Uppsala University, the Renέ Cassin International Institute for Human Rights, in France, and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, in New York, the participants reviewed current policies and practices around the world related to the right to leave and to return. Taking as their springboard a group of draft principles approved in 1963 by the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, they adopted a Declaration on the subject.

The right to life in armed conflict: does international humanitarian law provide all the answers?

2006 ◽  
Vol 88 (864) ◽  
pp. 881-904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Doswald-Beck
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

AbstractThis article describes the relevant interpretation of the right to life by human rights treaty bodies and analyses how this might influence the law relating to the use of force in armed conflicts and occupations where international humanitarian law is unclear. The concurrent applicability of international humanitarian law and human rights law to hostilities in armed conflict does not mean that the right to life must, in all situations, be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law. The author submits that the human rights law relating to the right to life is suitable to supplement the rules of international humanitarian law relating to the use of force for non-international conflicts and occupation, as well as the law relating to civilians taking a “direct part in hostilities”. Finally, by making reference to the traditional prohibition of assassination, the author concludes that the application of human rights law in these situations would not undermine the spirit of international humanitarian law.

Dignity

2021 ◽  
pp. 107-160
Author(s):  
William A. Schabas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Medical Treatment ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Right

Human dignity is not necessarily treated as a human right per se, but it may describe in particular several of the most fundamental rights that concern physical and psychological integrity: the right to life, the prohibition of torture and ill treatment, the prohibition of slavery and servitude, the right to liberty and security, and the recognition as a person before the law. Within these rubrics, some quite specific issues are addressed including the resort to capital punishment and other extreme penalties, the criminalisation of genocide, and the imposition of medical treatment. The references to dignity in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights appear to make up for the absence of any recognition of a supreme being,

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