UGC NET Human Rights & Duties key terms

A 1948 non-binding United Nations General Assembly resolution setting out thirty articles of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights; it is the foundational statement from which later binding treaties were derived.

A 1966 binding UN treaty obliging states to respect liberties such as life, liberty, fair trial, expression and assembly, monitored by the Human Rights Committee through state reports and individual communications under its Optional Protocols.

A 1966 binding UN treaty covering rights to work, health, education, housing and social security, which states must realise progressively to the maximum of available resources rather than immediately in every respect.

A mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council under which every UN member state's human rights record is peer-reviewed roughly every four to five years, based on national reports, treaty body information and stakeholder submissions.

A forty-seven-member intergovernmental body of the United Nations, created in 2006 to replace the Commission on Human Rights, that promotes and monitors human rights and conducts the Universal Periodic Review.

A committee of independent experts created by a specific UN human rights treaty to monitor compliance by states parties, typically through periodic state reports, general comments and, where permitted, individual complaint procedures.

The eighteen-member expert body supervising the ICCPR; despite its name it is a treaty-monitoring committee, not a UN political organ, and it issues general comments and views on individual communications.

Independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, working as special rapporteurs, independent experts or working groups, who examine thematic or country situations and report publicly with recommendations.

An interpretive statement issued by a UN treaty body explaining the content of a treaty provision and the obligations it creates, used to guide states and practitioners although not formally binding.

A complaint filed by or on behalf of an individual alleging a state party has violated a treaty right, admissible only where the state has accepted the relevant optional protocol or article and domestic remedies are exhausted.

A separate treaty instrument attached to a parent convention that states may choose to ratify, often creating complaint procedures, inquiry powers or, in the case of the CRC, a communications mechanism on children's rights.

A 2008 instrument permitting the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to receive individual and group communications, conduct inquiries and consider inter-state complaints regarding economic and social rights.

A unilateral statement by a state when ratifying a treaty purporting to exclude or modify the legal effect of certain provisions, valid only if compatible with the treaty's object and purpose.

The temporary suspension of certain treaty obligations during a declared public emergency threatening the life of the nation, permitted only if officially proclaimed and consistent with other international obligations, and never for non-derogable rights.

Rights that may not be suspended even during a public emergency, including under the ICCPR the right to life, freedom from torture and slavery, freedom from retroactive criminal liability and recognition as a person before the law.

A treaty provision allowing a right to be restricted for specified legitimate purposes, such as public order or morals, provided the restriction is prescribed by law, necessary and proportionate to the aim pursued.

A right that admits no limitation or balancing for any purpose, such as the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, which cannot be justified by security or emergency considerations.

Peremptory norms of general international law accepted and recognised by the international community as norms from which no derogation is permitted, such as prohibitions of genocide, slavery and torture.

Rules arising from a general and consistent practice of states followed from a sense of legal obligation (opinio juris), binding all states regardless of treaty ratification; parts of human rights law have this status.

Non-binding instruments such as declarations, guidelines, principles and general comments that shape expectations and may crystallise into customary or treaty law, but are not directly enforceable in themselves.

Civil and political liberties, such as life, liberty, equality, expression and fair trial, historically associated with limitations on state power and often framed as immediately enforceable.

Economic, social and cultural rights, such as work, health, education and social security, which emerged with industrialisation and are generally subject to progressive realisation rather than immediate full attainment.

Collective or solidarity rights, including development, a clean environment, peace and self-determination, which are held by groups or peoples and are largely articulated in soft law instruments.

The principle that economic, social and cultural rights are to be achieved over time to the maximum of available resources, while imposing immediate duties such as non-discrimination and avoiding deliberate retrogression.

The essential levels of each economic and social right, such as basic primary health care, shelter and education, that every state must satisfy regardless of resource constraints.

A collective right, articulated in the 1986 UN Declaration, entitling every person and all peoples to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development in which all rights are realised.

The right of peoples freely to determine their political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development, recognised in common Article 1 of the two 1966 covenants and in the UN Charter.

The principle requiring that rights be enjoyed without distinction of race, sex, language, religion, national or social origin or other status; it is an immediate obligation cutting across all human rights treaties.

The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, obliging states to eliminate discriminatory laws, practices and stereotypes and monitored by a dedicated committee of experts.

The 1989 treaty setting out children's civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, guided by the best interests principle, the right to life and development, non-discrimination and respect for the child's views.

A guiding principle of the CRC requiring that, in all actions concerning children by public or private bodies, the child's best interests be a primary consideration, weighed against other relevant factors.

The return of a refugee or asylum seeker to a territory where their life or freedom would be threatened; the principle of non-refoulement prohibits such return and is widely treated as customary law.

The UN treaty defining a refugee as a person outside their country with a well-founded fear of persecution for specified reasons, and setting out rights of refugees and states' protection obligations.

Protection granted by a state to a foreign national on its territory who flees persecution or serious harm, encompassing admission, non-return and treatment consistent with international standards.

The body of rules, principally the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, governing the conduct of armed conflict, protecting non-combatants and limiting means and methods of warfare.

Four 1949 treaties, supplemented by three Additional Protocols, protecting wounded and sick soldiers, shipwrecked persons, prisoners of war and civilians during armed conflict, with grave breaches treated as war crimes.

A core principle of international humanitarian law requiring parties to distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives, directing operations only against the latter.

A permanent court established by the 1998 Rome Statute with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression, operating on the principle of complementarity to national courts.

The principle under the Rome Statute that the International Criminal Court will act only where national jurisdictions are unwilling or genuinely unable to investigate and prosecute the same conduct.

The assertion of criminal jurisdiction by a state over certain grave offences, such as torture, piracy or genocide, regardless of where the crime occurred or the nationality of perpetrator or victim.

A state-established body, ideally independent and pluralist, mandated to promote and protect human rights; the Paris Principles set the standards for its status and accreditation.

Standards adopted in 1993 governing the independence, pluralism, mandate and resources of national human rights institutions, used to accredit them with A, B or C status.

Education, training and information aimed at building a universal culture of human rights, in which people understand their rights and the mechanisms protecting them and develop attitudes of respect for others.

The obligations of individuals and communities toward others and the common good, recognised in Article 29 of the UDHR and in the African Charter, and balanced against the enjoyment of rights.

The 1981 regional treaty, also called the Banjul Charter, protecting individual rights alongside peoples' rights and expressly imposing duties on individuals toward family, society and the state.

A 1950 regional treaty of the Council of Europe protecting civil and political rights, enforced through the European Court of Human Rights, which hears individual applications after domestic remedies are exhausted.

The Strasbourg court that delivers binding judgments on alleged violations of the European Convention, may award just satisfaction and has developed doctrines such as the margin of appreciation.

A doctrine of the European Court of Human Rights allowing states a degree of latitude in interpreting and applying convention rights, varying with the nature of the right and the importance of the aim pursued.

A condition of admissibility requiring a complainant to use available and effective domestic avenues before an international body will consider the case, except where remedies are unreasonably prolonged or plainly futile.

The test that a restriction on a right must be suitable for and necessary to achieve a legitimate aim and must not impose burdens disproportionate to the benefit sought, balancing individual harm against public interest.

The right, recognised in the ICESCR and CRC, to free and compulsory primary education, accessible secondary and higher education, and schooling directed to the full development of the human personality.

The most fundamental civil right, protected by the ICCPR and regional treaties, prohibiting arbitrary deprivation of life and, in some jurisdictions, restricting or barring the death penalty.

The right to hold opinions and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any medium, subject to lawful and proportionate restrictions for the rights of others, public order or national security.

The right to be free from arbitrary or unlawful interference with one's private life, family, home and correspondence, increasingly applied to data protection, surveillance and informational self-determination.

An absolute and non-derogable prohibition on intentionally inflicting severe pain or suffering for purposes such as obtaining information or punishment, recognised in the UN Convention against Torture and customary law.

A framework for policy and development that makes human rights principles, such as participation, accountability, non-discrimination, empowerment and legality, central to the design and evaluation of interventions.