TheUniversal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted between early 1947 and late 1948 by a committee formed by theUnited Nations Commission on Human Rights. Further discussion and amendments were made by the Commission on Human Rights, theEconomic and Social Council and theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations. Representatives of the UNCommission on the Status of Women participated in the meetings of the UN Commission on Human Rights, debating for a gender inclusive language in the Declaration.[1]
Cassin compared the Declaration to the portico of a Greek temple, with a foundation, steps, four columns, and a pediment.Members of the Commission who contributed significantly to the creation of the Declaration includedCanadianJohn Peters Humphrey of theUnited Nations Secretariat,Eleanor Roosevelt of theUnited States (who chaired the Drafting Committee),René Cassin ofFrance,Charles Malik ofLebanon,P. C. Chang ofRepublic of China,[a] andHansa Jivraj Mehta ofIndia among others. While not a member of the drafting committee, the French philosopherJacques Maritain was influential in the lead up to the drafting of the Universal Declaration, advocacy for it within UNESCO in 1947–1948, and in its subsequent advancement.
The Drafting Committee[2] included
John Peters Humphrey was newly appointed as Director of the Division of Human Rights within the United Nations Secretariat.[3] In this role, he produced the first draft of a list of rights that were to form the basis of the Declaration.
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The underlying structure of the Universal Declaration was introduced in its second draft which was prepared byRené Cassin working from the Humphrey draft. The structure was influenced by theCode Napoleon, including a preamble and introductory general principles.[4]In Cassin's model, the last three articles of the Declaration provide the pediment which binds the structure together. These articles are concerned with the duty of the individual to society and the prohibition of use of rights in contravention of the purposes of the United Nations.[5]Cassin compared the Declaration to the portico of a Greek temple, with a foundation, steps, four columns and a pediment.
The Cassin draft was submitted to the Commission on Human Rights and was to undergo editing in the commission, then in further drafts considered by the Third Committee of the United Nations, and finally in a draft before the General Assembly of the United Nations, which ultimately adopted the Declaration on 10 December 1948. The vote for the declaration was 48 to 0, with eightabstentions: theByelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic,Czechoslovakia, thePeople's Republic of Poland, theKingdom of Saudi Arabia, theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, theUnion of South Africa, theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics, and theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[6]
The first controversy to resolve was related to the very origin of the human rights, basically the discussion between the supporters of the concepts ofnatural rights (which humans are endowed byGod orNature) andpositive rights (which humans acquire as a result of a rational agreement).[7]
The second controversy was basically between the positions of theMarxist theory of theSoviet Bloc and theliberal theory of theWestern World. In philosophical terms, the Soviet Bloc criticized theindividualist stance of the issue, arguing in favor of thecollectivism approach, where the rights of the collective dominate that of an individual. In political terms, theSoviet Union and its satellites, facing mounting accusations of human rights violations, argued that the declaration is a mere formality if it would not consider guarantees of economic and social rights. However these objections were of surprisingly little consequence, because the Soviet Bloc was not very active during the seating of the commission, perhaps indicating a preestablished decision not to sign the Declaration.[7]
Another issue is the legal status of the declaration. The majority considered the document to be mainly of moral character. At the same time some participants argued in favor of adding certain legal aspects in terms ofinternational law.[7]
British representatives in particular were extremely frustrated that the proposal had moral but no legal obligation. (It was not until 1976 that theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights came into force, giving a legal status to most of the Declaration)[8]
Source: United Nations Year Book 1948–1949, pp. 524 et seq
