Can Utilitarianism Ground Human Rights?
Appendix 1
Listed below are 11 key human rights declarations and conventions that served as important marking points in the theoretical and socio-political development of human rights thinking. I have added some brief notes and references to each. The first reference is to an online source for the content of the document while the second reference is to a brief online history of its development.
1. Magna Carta (1215 – England)
- medieval Latin for 'Great Charter of Freedoms'
- settled dispute between King John of England and rebel barons
- reaction against King's arbitrary demands, extrajudicial punishments and debilitating taxes
- established the right to due legal process
- Text:
- History:
2. Bill of Rights (1689 – England)
- King James II of England dethroned
- William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange) and wife, Mary, proclaimed King and Queen of England, France and Ireland
- reaction against the King's cruel punishments, abuse of courts and parliamentary representation
- model for the later Bill of Rights
- still cited in legal proceedings in United Kingdom and broader Commonwealth
- Text:
- History:
3. U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776)
- reaction against colonialist Great Britain's excessive taxes and punishments, judicial overreach, lack of political representation
- played a key role in the later abolition of slavery
- Text:
- History:
4. U.S. Bill of Rights (1791)
- constitute the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution
- guarantees personal freedoms and rights, limitations on federal government's judicial powers and the deferring of non-declared powers to states
- Text:
- History:
5. Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789 – France)
- reaction to King Louis XVI with rising social and economic inequality, ballooning government debt, economic depression, unemployment, high food prices, regressive tax system
- in 1793, the Assembly condemned King Louis XVI to death for 'conspiracy against public liberty and general safety'
- Text:
- History:
6. American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (1948)
- first general international human rights instrument
- United Nations adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights eight months later
- Text:
- History:
7. U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
- adopted by the General Assembly as UN Resolution A/RES/217(III)[A]
- 48 voted in favour, none against, 8 abstained
- reaction to atrocities committed by the Nazis
- adopted universalist language
- Text:
- History:
8. European Convention on Human Rights (1950)
- signed by Members of the Council of Europe
- legally binding enactment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Text:
- History:
9 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
- adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI)
- legally binding enactment of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Text:
- History:
10. American Convention on Human Rights (1969)
- adopted by many countries in the Western Hemisphere
- Text:
- History:
11. African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (1982)
- adopted by members of the Organization of African Unity
- Text:
- History:
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