Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Also called: UDHR · Topic: Political Theory: Freedom and Rights · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Rights"

Meaning

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is the first worldwide list of the basic rights that every human being should enjoy. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted and proclaimed it in Paris on 10 December 1948 as a "common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations" [2].

It matters because it is the starting point of modern human-rights law. Together with the two 1966 Covenants, it forms the International Bill of Human Rights. It also shaped how India talks about rights, from Part III of the Constitution to the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993.

Explanation

Core idea: rights you have because you are human

• Human rights belong to a person simply because they are a human being. They do not depend on nationality, caste, sex, religion or status.
• They rest on inherent dignity. Every human being has a worth that no state can give or take away.
• They have two key features:
• Universal: they belong to everyone, everywhere.

• Inalienable: they cannot be given away or taken away.

• Preamble of the UDHR (NCERT Class 11, Ch 5 "Rights" reproduces it):

• Freedom, justice and peace rest on recognising the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all humans.
• Ordinary people most hope for a world with freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want. ("Want" means poverty or need.)

• The rule of law must protect human rights. If it does not, people may be forced to rebel against tyranny and oppression as a last resort.

• Article 1: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."

How it was made: steps in order

1. Background: it grew out of the experience of the Second World War [2].
2. 1946: the first session of the UNGA looked at a draft declaration. It sent the draft to ECOSOC (UN Economic and Social Council), which passed it to the Commission on Human Rights [2].
3. Early 1947: the Commission set up a formal drafting committee of eight states, chosen from different regions [2].
4. September 1948: the first full draft was ready. Over 50 member states took part in the final drafting [2].
5. 10 December 1948: the UNGA, meeting in Paris, adopted it by Resolution 217 A (III). The vote was 48 for, 0 against, 8 abstentions [2]. - 10 December is now celebrated as Human Rights Day.

Key drafters [2]:

Person	Country	Role
Eleanor Roosevelt	USA	Chaired the drafting committee
René Cassin	France	Wrote the first draft
Charles Malik	Lebanon	Rapporteur (reported on the committee's work)
Peng Chung Chang	China	Vice-Chairman
John Humphrey	Canada	Prepared the blueprint
Hansa Mehta	India	Got "all men" changed to "all human beings" in Article 1

Form, legal status and limits

• It has 30 articles.
• It is a declaration, not a treaty.
• States do not sign or ratify it.

• So it does not bind states directly.

• It is a "common standard of achievement", which means a goal that states agree to work towards.

• Many of its rules are now treated as customary international law. These are rules that bind all states because states follow them widely and accept them as law.
• Limits:
• It has no court or body of its own to enforce it.
• Economic and social rights depend on money and resources, so states often treat them as goals rather than rights a court can enforce.

What grew out of it: the Bill, the generations and new claims

• International Bill of Human Rights = UDHR (1948) + ICCPR + ICESCR.
• ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) covers rights such as life, free speech, fair trial and voting.
• ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) covers rights such as work, health, education and an adequate standard of living.

• Both were adopted in 1966 and came into force in 1976.

• Three generations of rights (Karel Vasak, 1977): Vasak matched each generation to one word of the French Revolution's slogan.

Generation	Rights	Slogan word	Nature
First	Civil and political	Liberty	"Negative": the state must not interfere
Second	Economic, social and cultural	Equality	"Positive": the state must provide
Third	Solidarity rights (development, peace, healthy environment)	Fraternity	Held by groups and peoples; need states to cooperate

• Vienna Declaration (1993): all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent.
• Indivisible: civil rights and economic rights cannot be separated or ranked.

• Interdependent: each right depends on the others. Free speech means little to a person who is starving.

• New claims keep being added (NCERT): environmental rights, the right to livelihood, children's rights, tribal peoples' right to their habitat, and freedom from bonded labour.

• These claims win support through moral outrage, meaning public anger at injustice. An example is Bob Geldof's Live 8 concerts (2005) against poverty in Africa.

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitution:
• Part III (Fundamental Rights) contains many first-generation rights also found in the UDHR, such as equality, free speech, religious freedom and life and liberty (Article 21).
• Part IV (Directive Principles) contains many second-generation goals, such as work, education and public assistance. Courts cannot directly enforce them.

• Article 51 asks the state to foster respect for international law and treaty obligations.

• Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA) 1993:

• It defines "human rights" as rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual. These rights must be guaranteed by the Constitution or written into the International Covenants, and courts in India must be able to enforce them [7].
• It set up the NHRC, the State Human Rights Commissions (SHRCs) and Human Rights Courts in districts.

• 2019 amendment: a former Supreme Court Judge (not only a former Chief Justice of India) can now chair the NHRC. The term was cut from 5 years to 3 years or until age 70, whichever comes first. At least one of the 3 human-rights expert members must be a woman [3]. Parliament passed it unanimously [4].

• India and the treaties:

• India acceded to the ICCPR and ICESCR in 1979. (Accession means joining a treaty after others have already signed it.)

• India joined the CRC in 1992, CEDAW in 1993 and CRPD in 2007.

• Indian courts have widened Article 21, much as new claims have widened the UDHR family:

• Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar (1991): the right to life includes the right to pollution-free water and air.

• M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2024) (Great Indian Bustard case): the Court recognised a right against the adverse effects of climate change.

• Global practice:

• UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC): created by UNGA Res. 60/251 (15 March 2006). It replaced the Commission on Human Rights that had drafted the UDHR. It sits in Geneva and has 47 members elected by secret ballot [6]. It runs the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), under which every UN member state's record is reviewed in turn on an equal footing [6].
• UNGA Res. 76/300 (28 July 2022) recognised the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right. The vote was 161–0–8 [5].

Don't confuse with

• ICCPR / ICESCR (1966): these are treaties that bind the states that join them. The UDHR is a declaration that does not bind states directly.
• Vienna Declaration (1993): this, not the UDHR, first said that rights are "universal, indivisible and interdependent".
• UN Declaration on the Right to Development (1986): this is a third-generation (solidarity) right. It is a separate document, not part of the 1948 UDHR.
• Fundamental Rights (Part III): these can be enforced in Indian courts. The UDHR has no court of its own and works as a moral and political standard.

Prelims Hooks

• UDHR: adopted in Paris on 10 December 1948 by Res. 217 A (III). Vote 48–0–8. It has 30 articles and is not legally binding [2].
• Hansa Mehta (India) got "all men" changed to "all human beings". Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the drafting. René Cassin wrote the first draft [2].
• International Bill of Human Rights = UDHR + ICCPR + ICESCR. The Covenants were adopted in 1966, came into force in 1976, and India acceded in 1979.
• Vasak (1977): first generation = civil and political = liberty. Second = economic, social and cultural = equality. Third = solidarity = fraternity.
• Trap: the UDHR came out of the Commission on Human Rights, not the UNHRC. The UNHRC was created only in 2006 (Res. 60/251) and replaced that Commission [6].
• 10 December = Human Rights Day, the date the UDHR was adopted.

Mains Points

• Paper rights versus real rights: the UDHR does not bind states and has no enforcement body of its own.
• Its real force comes from later steps: covenants, customary international law and national laws such as India's PHRA 1993, which links "human rights" to the International Covenants [7].

• Indian courts have also turned second-generation goals (livelihood, health, environment) into rights under Article 21. This supports the Vienna idea that rights are indivisible.

• Universalism versus cultural relativism:

• Universalism means the same rights apply to everyone. Cultural relativism means each society should judge rights by its own values. The 1990s "Asian values" argument is an example; critics say it often protects rulers rather than citizens.
• India's position mixes both. It has joined the ICCPR, ICESCR, CEDAW, CRC and CRPD, but it resists outside judgement on internal matters as a question of sovereignty (a state's right to govern itself).

• A balanced answer: core dignity rights are universal, but each country can put them into practice in a way that respects its culture.

• A living standard that keeps growing: the UDHR's Preamble speaks of "freedom from fear and want". That idea has grown into new claims driven by moral outrage, such as Live 8 (2005), the right to a healthy environment (Res. 76/300, 2022) [5] and Ranjitsinh (2024).

• Critics warn that "inflating" rights weakens the core rights.
• Supporters reply that new threats, such as climate change, need new protections.
• Selective enforcement by powerful states is still a weakness of the system as a whole.

Related concepts

• Three generations of human rights
• Environmental rights

Read more

• Human rights: the UDHR, generations and new claims