SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Chapter 1. Introduction:

Human Rights Law – is the branch of public law that deals with the body of laws, rules,
procedures, and institutions designed to respect, promote, and protect human rights at the
national, regional, and international levels.

It also includes decisions of the Supreme Court and International Criminal Court that and
writings of advocates of human rights.

The United Nations Charter declared in its preamble “that the UN is determined to reaffirm
faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human persons, in the
equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small and to promote social
programs and better standards of life in larger freedom.”

Article II, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines provides that the “State values
the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights.”

1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights – is the basic source of human rights that has
profoundly shaped and influence local and international landscapes.

“No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or
outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force
against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law
of the land.” - Magna Carta, 1215

“People look at rights as if they were muscles- the more you exercise them, the better they
get.” – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

Human Rights – are the aggregate of privileges, claims, benefits, entitlements, and moral
guarantees that pertain to man because of his humanity.

- Are regarded as a system of values or elements which are inherent to human dignity.

- Jean Jacques Maritain, a French philosopher stressed in his book “The Rights of Man”
that the human person possesses rights because of the very fact that it is a person, a
whole, master of itself, and of its acts, and which consequently is not merely a means
to an end, but an end which must be treated as such.
 - Pope John XXIII, in his papal encyclical “Pacem In Terris” wrote that “any human
society, if it is well-ordered and productive, must lay down as a foundation, this
principle, namely, that every human being is a person, that is, his nature is endowed
with intelligence and full will. By virtue of this, he has rights and duties, flowing directly
and simultaneously from his very nature… ”

Kinds of Human Rights : (According to Czech-French jurist Jarel Vasak)

A. First Generation of civil and political rights or first generation of liberty rights:
- Serves a protection of the individuals from the arbitrary exercise of police power.

Examples:

1. Rights to life, liberty, and security of person;

2. Right against torture;
3. Right to equal protection against any discrimination;
4. Right against arbitrary arrest and detention;
5. Right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal;
6. Right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty;
7. Right to privacy, freedom of opinion and expression;

B. Second Generation of economic, social, and cultural rights or second generation of

equality rights:
- This started to be recognized when people realized that possession of the first
generation of liberty rights would be valueless without the enjoyment of economic,
social, and cultural rights.

Examples:

1. Right to work;
2. Right to Social Security;
3. Right to form and join trade unions;
4. Right to education;
5. Right to rest and leisure;
6. Right to health;
7. Right to shelter

C. Third Generation of solidarity rights or collective rights:

- is intended to benefit individuals, groups and peoples and its realization will need global
cooperation based on international solidarity.
 Examples:

1. Right to peace;
2. Right to Development;
3. Environmental rights;
4. Right of self-determination;
5. Right to food;
6. Rights of women;
7. Rights of Children;
8. Right to humanitarian disaster relief.
9. Right to clean water

Principles of Human Rights:

1. Universality – means that rights belong to and are to be enjoyed by all human beings
without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex or language, religion, political
and other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other stature.

- In other words, human rights belong to everyone wherever they are because they are
human beings endowed with dignity.

- Also means that the internationally-recognized human rights are the basic core
minimum to be observed everywhere without regional differences. These human rights
belong to everyone, everywhere, by virtue of being human.

2. Indivisibility
3. Interdependence

- These two related principles mean that the first generation of liberty rights and the
second generation of equality rights are interrelated and are co-equal in importance.
They form an indivisible whole and only if these rights are guaranteed that an individual
can live decently and in dignity.
Characteristics of Human Rights:
1. Inherent – means that human rights are the birthright of all human being or group.
When one is born, he varies with him these rights. They cannot be separated or
detached from him.
2. Inalienable – means that no person can deprive any person these rights and no
person can repudiate these rights by himself. Also mean that these rights cannot be
the subject of the commerce of man.
 3. Universal – means that these rights belong to every human being, no matter what
he or she is like. Because rights are universal, its promotion and protection are the
duty of all States, regardless of cultural, economic, or political systems.

Components of Human rights:

1. Subject or Right-Holder – is as individual (natural person), a group of individuals or a
non-governmental organization entitled to rights under the law and can take legal
action to protect or to promote those rights.

2. Duty-Holder – is an entity, normally a State that is obliged to respect, to ensure and to

protect the subject’s rights or demands.

3. Object – is the content of any given right and a duty of the holder of the right and the
holder of the obligation.

4. Implementation – is a set of measures, approaches, and initiatives designed to realize

the right concerned. These includes laws, administrative measures, legal writs, and
mechanisms adopted by the three branches of government, namely, Executive,
Legislative and Judiciary.
Stages of Human Rights:
1. Idealization – means that notions about human rights have started in the realm of ideas
that reflect a consciousness against oppression, dehumanization or inadequate
performance by the State.
2. Positivization – is the second stage where support for the ideas became strong and the
stage is set to incorporate them into some legal instruments, whether domestic law or
international law.

3. Realization – is the last stage where these rights are enjoyed by the citizens of the State
by the transformation of the social, economic, and political order.

Three Obligations of State Parties:

State parties to International Covenants have obligations:

1. Obligation to respect – Article 2 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and political
Rights (ICCPR) contain the obligation to respect. It indicates the negative character of
civil and political rights, commanding State Parties to refrain from restricting the
exercise of these rights where such is not expressly allowed.
 Example:

a. On the prohibition of torture in Article 7 of ICCPR. It is absolute, meaning, States

must refrain from practicing torture under all circumstances.
b. Right to life in Article 6 (1) of ICCPR
c. Protection of Privacy in Article 17 of ICCPR

2. Obligation to ensure - Article 2 of the same International Covenant on Civil and political
Rights (ICCPR) containing the obligation to ensure indicates the positive character of the
civil and political rights and the economic, social, and cultural rights.

Under the obligation, State Parties must be proactive to enable individuals to enjoy their
rights. This means that State Parties has the obligations under Article 2 (2) to adopt
executive, judicial, legislative measures to provide an effective remedy to victims of
human rights violators and to safeguard certain rights by means of procedural
guarantees and legal institutions.

3. Obligation to protect – obligation to ensure includes the obligation to protect. This

means preventing private individuals, groups and entities from interfering with the
individual’s civil and political rights.

ACTIVITY:
SEARCH, PRINT, READ AND SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING DEMONSTRATIVE CASES:

1. Almario vs. The Executive Secretary. 701 SCRA 269 (2013)

2. Pestilos vs. Generoso. GR No. 182601, November 10, 2014
3. Vivares Vs. St. Theresa’s College, GR No. 202666, September 29, 2014
 Chapter 2
SOURCES AND FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

(Lesson for September 7-18, 2020)

1. The 1987 Constitution

- It is the basic source of human rights law in the Philippines. It is rich in human rights
content and constitutes a vast improvement of the Philippine Constitutions. In it are
found the first generation of rights. (Article III, Bill of Rights); the second generation of
rights (Article XII, National Economy and Patrimony); Article III, Social Justice and Human
Rights; article XIV, education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture, and Sports; and the
third generation of rights (Article II Declaration of Principles and State Policies; Article
XV, The Family).

Commission on Human Rights

- Is a novel feature of the 1987 Constitution. It is an independent constitutional office,
one of the first national human rights commissions in the world.

Important functions of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR):

a. Investigate Human rights violations involving civil and political rights either committed
by the government or by non-governmental entities; and
b. To establish a program of education and information to enhance respect for the primacy
of human rights.

- The 1987 Constitution is sometimes called a Human rights Constitution because of its
many human rights and human rights related provisions provisions found in several of
its Articles.

- The 1987 Constitution contains an Incorporation Clause found in its Article II, section 2,
stating “The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the
generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of land.”

2. The International Bill of Rights

- Is composed of the:

a. Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

- The Preamble to the Declaration is important because it refers to the concepts of

inherent human dignity and inalienable nature of human rights. The Preamble calls for
inter-
 cultural consensus by indicating that “a common understanding of the rights and
freedoms is of greatest importance for the full realization of the pledge od Members of
the United nations to achieve the promotion of universal respect for and observance of
human rights fundamental freedoms.”

b. The International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights;

- Is an Magna Carta for mankind and is the essential prerequisite for peace at home and
in the world. (U Thant, former Secretary General of the United Nations).

c. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

3. Philosophy

- The writings, exposition and discourses of:

a. John Locke;
b. Jean Jacques Rousseau;
c. Baron de Montesquieu;
d. Immanuel Kant;
e. Thomas Hobbes;
f. John Stuart Mill;
- These western thinkers inspired the formulation of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and other Human Rights Instruments.

John Locke, an English philosopher wrote the “Second Treatise of Government” where he
argued that sovereignty resides in the people and explained the nature of government in terms
of natural rights and social contract.

He wrote that legitimate government is instituted by the covenant of the governed and that
this legitimate government is duty-bound to preserve the rights of life, liberty, health and
property of its citizens and to prosecute and punish those who violate the rights of others and
to pursue the public good.

Jean Jacques Rousseau, a Franco-Swiss philosopher, authored his masterpiece “The Social
Contract”. Here he postulated a social contract y which the citizens surrender their rights to the
general will of the people which aim at the impartial good.

Baron de Montesquieu, a French philosopher, wrote “The Spirit of the Laws”, his magnum opus
to explain human laws and institutions. He saw despotism “a single person directs everything
by his own will and caprice,” as a standing danger foe any government not despotic and argued
it could best be prevented by a system of separation of powers in which different bodies
exercise legislative, executive and judicial powers.
 4. Religion:
- Embedded in the sacred scriptures and books of the world’s religions and lessons and
teachings on human dignity, sanctity of life, worth of conscience, social justice, respect
for the integrity of creation, rights of prisoners, rights of persons with disabilities, rights
of minorities, rights of children, etc. In Christianity, one finds them in the Old Testament
and New testament.

Amos 5:24 commands “let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like water that never
goes dry.”

Isaiah 61:1-3 instructs us “to bring news to the poor, to heal the broken hearted and to
announce release of the captives.”

Matthew 26:35 reminds us that one who is blessed by God and one who will inherit the
Kingdom is he or she who gives food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked,
care to the ill and visitation to those in prison.

Koran 5:2 states that “who so slays a soul not to retaliate for a soul slain, nor for corruption
done in the land, shall be us if he had slain mankind altogether.”

Koran 2:84 requires that “Ye shall not shed your brother’s blood, nor dispossess one another of
your habitations.”