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The Principle of Humanity

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Asia and the Drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Abstract

Asia contributed substantially to shaping the foundation articles of the Universal Declaration, Articles 1 and 2. This chapter looks at the vision of the drafters and then discusses the legal and philosophical significance of Articles 1 and 2, elucidating the contents of eight concepts that appear in the two articles (human beings, free, equal, dignity, rights, reason, conscience, brotherhood). It concludes by examining policy and normative developments undertaken in implementation of the two articles since the Universal Declaration was adopted 70 years ago.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    E/SR.20, 31 May, 1946. (Schabas, 65–66).

  2. 2.

    E/422 (Schabas, 245).

  3. 3.

    See, generally, Glendon, Mary A., A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (New York, Random House, 2001); Paul G. Lauren, The Evolution of International Human Rights: Visions Seen. 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003). Habib C. Malik (Ed.), Charles Malik and the Universal Declaration . Published by the Charles Malik Foundation in association with the Centre for Lebanese Studies, Oxford, 2000. Johannes Morsink, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Origins, Drafting and Intent. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999); Roger Normand, and Sarah Zaidi, Human Rights at the UN. The Political History of Universal Justice. (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2008).

  4. 4.

    R. Cassin , “Twenty Years After the Universal Declaration . Freedom and Equality”, Journal of the International Commission of Jurists, December 1967, Special Issue 1968, International Year for Human Rights, pp. 1–16, at. P.1. Italics added.

  5. 5.

    L.B. Sohn, “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, in Journal of the International Commission of Jurists, loc. cit. I, pp. 17–26, at - pp. 25–26.

  6. 6.

    J. Morsink, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Origins, Drafting and Intent. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999) p. 39.

  7. 7.

    A/C.3/SR 100, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2190.

  8. 8.

    Ibid., pp. 2184–2185.

  9. 9.

    Ibid.

  10. 10.

    Glendon, op. cit., p. 165.

  11. 11.

    See the Report of the Institute of International Law on its Lausanne session, 1947.

  12. 12.

    I.C.J. Report 1949.

  13. 13.

    Morsink, op. cit., p. 295.

  14. 14.

    Morsink, op. cit., p. 295.

  15. 15.

    North Sea Continental Shelf, Judgement of 20 February 1969, International Court of Justice Reports, 1969.

  16. 16.

    See generally, Andrew Woodcock, “Jacques Maritain, Natural Law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Journal of the History of International Law, Vol., 8, pp. 2006, pp. 245–266.

  17. 17.

    A/C.3/SR.9930 11 October 1948, in Schabas, p. 2181.

  18. 18.

    Ibid.

  19. 19.

    Glendon op. cit., p. 58.

  20. 20.

    A/C.3/ SR 98, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2173.

  21. 21.

    See on this S. Mumford, Metaphysics. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, University Press, 2012, Chapter 7: What is a Person, esp. pp. 65–66.

  22. 22.

    S. Blackburn, What Do We Really Know. The Big Questions of Philosophy. (London, Quercus, 2009), p. 53.

  23. 23.

    A/C.3/SR. 98, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2169.

  24. 24.

    Glendon, op.cit., pp. 67–68.

  25. 25.

    A/C.3/264 12 October 1948, in Schabas, pp. 2206.

  26. 26.

    A/C.3/237 7 October 1948, in Schabas, p. 2144.

  27. 27.

    A/C.3/243 7 October 1948, in Schabas, p. 2147.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., p. 2151.

  29. 29.

    Bernard Williams, “The idea of Equality,” in Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology, Robert Goodin and Philip Pettit, Eds. (Malden, MA; Oxford; Victoria, Australia: Blackwell 2006), p. 451. Originally published in Peter Laslett and W.G. Runciman, Philosophy, Politics and Society (Oxford: Blackwell, 1962).

  30. 30.

    See Robert Nozick, “Justice Does Not Imply Equality,” in Louis Pojman and Robert Westmoreland, Equality: Selected Readings (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997).

  31. 31.

    S. Blackburn, Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford U. Press, Third Edition, 2016).

  32. 32.

    A/C.3/SR 100, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. p. 2196.

  33. 33.

    A/C.3/SR 98, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2171.

  34. 34.

    A/C.3/SR.10032 12 October 1948, in Schabas, p. 2191.

  35. 35.

    Glendon, op. cit., p. 146.

  36. 36.

    A/C.3/SR 98, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2169.

  37. 37.

    Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, op. cit.

  38. 38.

    Brand Blanshard, Reason and Analysis. London, 1962.

  39. 39.

    G.J. Warnock, “Reason”, in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Paul Edwards, Editor in Chief, London, Macmillan, 1967, Vol. 7, pp. 83–85.

  40. 40.

    A/C.3/SR.9930 11 October 1948, in Schabas, p. 2184.

  41. 41.

    Ibid.

  42. 42.

    Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, op. cit.

  43. 43.

    A/PV. 182, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. p. 3058.

  44. 44.

    A/C.3/SR 99, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2184.

  45. 45.

    A/C.3/SR 98, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2173.

  46. 46.

    A/C.3/SR 96, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2152.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Webster University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Robin Ramcharan

  2. Asia Centre, Bangkok, Thailand

    Robin Ramcharan

  3. Emeritus President, UPR Info, Alyth, Perthshire, UK

    Bertrand Ramcharan

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  1. Robin Ramcharan
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Ramcharan, R., Ramcharan, B. (2019). The Principle of Humanity. In: Asia and the Drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2104-7_6

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