UGC NET Human Rights & Duties flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

UDHR adoption date

Adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948 in Paris as Resolution 217A (III). It contains 30 articles and is celebrated annually as Human Rights Day.

International Bill of Human Rights

Collective name for the UDHR, the ICCPR, the ICESCR and their Optional Protocols. It forms the core of the UN human rights framework.

ICCPR monitoring body

The Human Rights Committee, an 18-member body of independent experts based in Geneva. It reviews state reports and, under the First Optional Protocol, individual communications.

ICESCR obligations

Article 2(1) requires progressive realisation of economic, social and cultural rights to the maximum of available resources, without discrimination, through legislative and other measures.

Three generations of rights

Karel Vasak's classification: first-generation civil and political rights (liberty), second-generation economic, social and cultural rights (equality), and third-generation collective or solidarity rights.

Vienna Declaration 1993

World Conference on Human Rights document affirming that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. It led to the creation of the OHCHR.

State obligations respect protect fulfil

Respect means the state must not interfere with rights. Protect means preventing abuse by third parties. Fulfil means providing services and facilities to realise the right.

Universal Periodic Review

A Human Rights Council mechanism reviewing the human rights records of all 193 UN member states every four to five years, based on state reports, UN information and stakeholder submissions.

Article 32 remedy

The constitutional right to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of fundamental rights through writs. It is itself a fundamental right and cannot be suspended except under Article 359.

Article 21 scope

Protects life and personal liberty; judicially expanded to include dignity, privacy, health, clean environment, speedy trial, legal aid and livelihood, subject to fair procedure.

Article 51A duties

Part IVA, inserted by the 42nd Amendment 1976, lists fundamental duties of citizens. The 86th Amendment 2002 added the eleventh duty on educating children aged 6-14.

Protection of Human Rights Act 1993

Statute creating the NHRC and State Human Rights Commissions. It defines human rights as life, liberty, equality and dignity guaranteed by the Constitution or international covenants.

NHRC composition

Headed by a former Chief Justice or judge of the Supreme Court, with one member who is or was a Supreme Court judge, one High Court judge, and members with human rights knowledge.

NHRC limitation period

The Commission cannot inquire into a matter after one year from the alleged act. It lacks power to enforce recommendations or punish, acting with civil-court inquiry powers.

Armed forces complaint bar

Under Section 19 of the 1993 Act, the NHRC may only seek a report from the Central Government on armed forces violations; it cannot conduct its own inquiry.

Human Rights Courts India

Section 30 of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 permits state governments to establish Human Rights Courts presided over by a Sessions Judge with a Special Public Prosecutor.

Maneka Gandhi principle

1978 ruling holding that procedure established by law under Article 21 must be fair, just and reasonable, linking Articles 14, 19 and 21.

Puttaswamy privacy judgment

K.S. Puttaswamy v Union of India (2017) recognised privacy as intrinsic to Article 21, requiring legality, legitimate aim and proportionality for state intrusion.

Vishaka guidelines

1997 Supreme Court judgment laying down binding guidelines against sexual harassment at the workplace, later replaced by the Sexual Harassment of Women Act 2013.

D.K. Basu safeguards

1997 ruling prescribing arrest and detention safeguards, including arrest memos, informing relatives, medical examination and production before a magistrate, to prevent custodial torture.

Non-derogable rights

Rights that cannot be suspended even during a public emergency under ICCPR Article 4, including the right to life, freedom from torture, and freedom of thought and conscience.

Reasonable restrictions Article 19(2)

Permits laws restricting free speech in the interests of sovereignty, security, public order, decency, morality, contempt of court, defamation and incitement to an offence.

Preventive detention limits

Article 22 allows detention up to three months without an advisory board; longer detention requires board approval. Detainees must be informed of grounds and given representation rights.

Non-refoulement principle

A core refugee protection rule barring return of a person to a territory where they face persecution. India is not party to the 1951 Convention but follows it in practice.

Genocide Convention 1948

Treaty defining genocide as acts intended to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, and obliging states to prevent and punish it.

CAT ratification status India

India signed the Convention against Torture in 1997 but has not ratified it. India also lacks a dedicated anti-torture statute; a bill has remained pending.

RTE Act 2009

Implements Article 21A, inserted by the 86th Amendment 2002, providing free and compulsory education to children aged 6-14. Article 45 was amended accordingly.

Hohfeld rights analysis

Wesley Hohfeld analysed rights as claim, privilege, power and immunity, each with a correlative duty or liability, clarifying the relational structure of rights and duties.

Progressive realisation

The ICESCR principle that economic, social and cultural rights are achieved over time subject to resource availability, with immediate minimum core obligations and non-retrogression.

UN Guiding Principles 2011

The Ruggie Framework on business and human rights rests on three pillars: the state duty to protect, corporate responsibility to respect, and access to effective remedy.

Refugee Convention 1951

Defines a refugee as a person outside their country with a well-founded fear of persecution on protected grounds. The 1967 Protocol removed its geographic and temporal limits.

SDG 16

Sustainable Development Goal 16 promotes peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice for all, and effective, accountable institutions, integrating human rights into Agenda 2030.

Dualism in India

International treaties require domestic legislation to be enforceable in Indian courts. Unincorporated treaties may guide interpretation where domestic law is silent, as in Vishaka.