Neither Magna Carta, nor any of these laws, declarations, treaties or conventions are themselves human rights. They are human rights laws.

A human right is a moral right possessed by all human beings, regardless of whether it is also guaranteed by national laws and ­constitutions. When national laws and constitutions do not effectively guarantee and comply with human rights, people call for reform and, in the most serious cases, disobey the non-compliant law. There is an apparent paradox: the more effectively a right is protected by national laws and constitutions, the less the need to invoke a human right. If the laws of a state perfectly guaranteed all human rights, there would never be a need to invoke them. So, human rights are moral standards to which national laws must conform.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login