HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
Rapid Revision Sheet
Definitions • instruments • dates • cases
KSLU • Human Rights Law and Practice (Optional-I)
How to use Skim before the exam. Memorise instrument names with their years; cases and key bodies in maroon. |
UNIT I — JURISPRUDENCE
Term / Instrument | In one line |
|---|---|
Human rights | Minimal rights every person has by virtue of being human; relating to life, liberty, equality & dignity (S.2(1)(d), PHRA 1993). |
Characteristics | Inherent, inalienable, universal, indivisible, interdependent, dynamic. |
Natural law theory | Rights from nature/reason, prior to the State (Locke, Paine). |
Positivist theory | Rights only as conferred by the State (Bentham — 'nonsense upon stilts'). |
Marxist / Sociological | Rights tied to economic structure / interests protected by law (Pound). |
Generation | Content (instrument) |
|---|---|
First — Civil & Political | Life, liberty, equality, speech (ICCPR). |
Second — Economic, Social, Cultural | Work, education, health (ICESCR). |
Third — Solidarity / Collective | Development, peace, environment, self-determination. |