On 10 December 1948 delegates to the United Nations adopted the UDHR. Forty-eight members voted in favour of the declaration while there were eight who abstained (including Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the eastern European states).

It was the first formal international document stating the principles and values of human rights. Its aim was to set basic minimum international standards for the protection of the rights and freedoms of the individual.

The context to the adoption of the UDHR was important because it reflected a response to the atrocities and human rights abuses committed during the Second World War (Nazism and racism in particular) and the animosities that would develop into the cold war.

At the time of drafting of the Universal Declaration in 1948, only two African countries were not under European rule and were therefore members of the UN - Ethiopia and Liberia.

The only other country in Africa represented at the UN was South Africa (and they abstained from voting). So some people objected to the declaration saying that the rights weren't universal because they only reflected the values of certain states.

The focus of the UDHR was also on the protection and promotion of the rights of individuals and it was criticised for not reflecting the values of the African concept of human rights.

However, today the UDHR is almost universally accepted as being the main guide to the meaning of human rights commitments in the UN Charter, and most of its provisions have been included in treaties. Where there were gaps such as the right to petition, the right to self-determination, the right to development and the rights of minority groups and indigenous people, these have been included in other treaties.

The UDHR contains a list of basic living standards, which stated for the first time, the basic rights and freedoms of each and every human being, regardless of race, gender, sex, ethnic origin, disability and age.

The full text of the UDHR is available on the following website:

http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htm

You can also view the text in this file:

UNDHR.pdf

Can the UDHR be enforced?

The UDHR is a declaration and not a treaty. This means that countries have not signed or ratified it (see the section on 'Signing and ratifying treaties') and it is not legally enforceable.

However, the principles in the UDHR have 'over time' gained a certain moral force and are now generally regarded as being part of international customary law. This means all countries are automatically bound to uphold its principles and values.

It is a very powerful document and as such it has been used as a standard in the following situations:

• to monitor the abuse or protection of rights by governments
• to influence various international and regional treaties
• to influence various national constitutions which have included the rights from the UDHR
• to influence courts in their interpretation of the law

Customary international law

What do you think customary international law is?

Write down your thoughts in your notebook, then look at the next screen for an explanation.

Customary international law develops from the practice or customs of states. To become a rule of customary international law, a practice must be widely followed and there must be a belief by states that the rule must be followed. Customs therefore form part of international law that govern the conduct of states.

The human rights principles in the UDHR are things that most states agree would comply with the major legal systems. The legal relevance of the UDHR can be seen in the way that it has influenced the making of various treaties as well as domestic constitutions.

It is also used as a standard to monitor the protection of human rights by governments. It can therefore be said that the UDHR has become part of customary international law.

(Source: English and Stapleton 1995 and Ravindran 1998)

Is the UDHR respected in your country?

Below is a list of some of the rights in the UDHR. Click to view and print this document.

countryrights.pdf

Are these rights well protected and respected in your country? Put a mark in either the 'yes' or 'no' column alongside each right. When you have gone through all the rights, file the sheet in your workfile.

Linking rights

Read the following statements and indicate to which right in the UDHR each one is linked. For each situation you must click on the article that you think is the correct one. In some cases different rights could apply to the same situation. In these cases there may be more than one 'correct' answer.