The Four Waves of Human Rights

1. The Four Waves of Human Rights Prof. Mark E. Wojcik The John Marshall Law School Chicago USA

2. The Four Waves of Human Rights

3. 1. Recognition

4. Recognition How are human rights recognized? Where do they come from? Who (if anyone) grants human rights?

5. Recognition: Three Generations In 1979, Prof. Karel Vašák, First Secretary-General of the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, proposed dividing human rights into “three generations.”

6. Recognition: First Generation

7. Examples Freedom of speech Freedom of the press Freedom of assembly Freedom of religion Right to a fair trial Right to vote

8. Where Found? Various national and international documents: Magna Carta (1215) (England) Claim of Right Act (1689) (Scotland) Bill of Rights (1689) (England) Bill of Rights (1789) (U.S. Constitution) Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles 3 to 21 (1948) (“UDHR”) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)(“ICCPR”)

9. Recognition: Second Generation

10. Recognition: Second Generation

11. Examples Right to education Right to housing Right to health care Right to work Right to free time Right to organize and bargain collectively Right to unemployment benefits or social security

12. Where Found? Various national and international documents: Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles 22 to 27 (1948) (“UDHR”) International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966) (“ICESCR”)

13. Recognition: Third Generation

14. Examples Right to economic and social development Right to a healthy environment Right to natural resources Right to communicate Right to participate in cultural heritage Rights to intergenerational equity and sustainability

15. Where Found? Third-generation human rights can be found in many progressive international law documents: Stockholm Declaration of the U.N. Conference on the Human Environment (1972) Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) Other “soft law” documents

16. 2. Definition and Codification

17. Who is Bound by a Definition?

18. Definition and Codification

19. Who Has the Right to Define? A national court? A national legislature (by statutes or a constitution)? A group of nations (by treaty)? An international tribunal? Civil society (world opinion)? Religious institutions? Four law professors sitting together on a panel? A room full of European law students?

20. The Future of European Human Rights Law

21. Examples

22. Example: Genocide • Is “genocide” only the act or failure to act? • Or is a particular mental state required?

23. Example: Victim • Is a “victim” only someone directly harmed by an act (or failure to act)? • Or does the word “victim” include other family members (or others in the community, or nation, or region)?

24. Example: Privacy • Is there a fundamental right to homosexual sod0my? • Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) • Is there a fundamental right to privacy? • Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

25. Example: Marriage • Is there a fundamental right to marriage? • Is there a fundamental right to same-sex marriage?

26. 3. Enforcement and Remedies

27. Various Ways to Enforce

28. Various Places to Enforce

29. Various Places to Enforce

30. Various Remedies

31. 4. Prevention

32. Prevention

33. Prevention

34. Comments and Questions?

35. The Four Waves of Human Rights Prof. Mark E. Wojcik The John Marshall Law School 315 S. Plymouth Court Chicago, IL USA +1-312-987-2391 intlawprof@gmail.com