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- Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1948]
-
- Preamble
- Wheras recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable
- rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice
- aand peace in the world,
- Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous
- acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world
- in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from
- fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common
- people,
- Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a
- last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights
- should be protected by the rule of law,
- Whereas it is essenntial to promote the development of friendly relations
- between nations,
- Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed
- their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
- person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote
- social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
- Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation
- with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance
- of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
- Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the
- greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
- Now, therefore,
- The General Assembly
- Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of
- achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual
- and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall
- strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and
- freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure
- their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples
- of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their
- jurisdiction.
-
- Article 1
- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are
- endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a
- spirit of brotherhood.
-
- Article 2
- Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
- Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
- language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
- property, birth or other status.
- Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political,
- jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a
- person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under
- any other limitation of sovereignty.
-
- Article 3
- Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person.
-
- Article 4
- No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade
- shall be prohibited in all their forms.
-
- Article 5
- No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading
- treatment or punishment.
-
- Article 6
- Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
-
- Article 7
- All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to
- equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and
- against any incitement to such discrimination.
-
- Article 8
- Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national
- tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the
- constitution or by law.
-
- Article 9
- No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
-
- Article 10
- Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair, and public hearing by an
- independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and
- obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
-
- Article 11
- 1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed
- innocent until proven guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has
- had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
- 2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or
- ommision which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or
- international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier
- penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal
- offence was committed.
-
- Article 12
- No one shall be subjected to artitrary interference with his privacy, family,
- home or correspondance, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone
- has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
-
- Article 13
- 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the
- borders of each State.
- 2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to
- return to his country.
-
- Article 14
- 1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum
- from persecution.
- 2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely
- arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and
- principles of the United Nations.
-
- Article 15
- 1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
- 2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the
- right to change his nationality.
-
- Article 16
- 1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race,
- nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They
- are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its
- dissolution.
- 2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the
- intending spouses.
- 3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is
- entitled to protection by society and the State.
-
- Article 17
- 1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association
- with others.
- 2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
-
- Article 18
- Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this
- right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either
- alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his
- religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
-
- Article 19
- Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
- includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
- impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
-
- Article 20
- 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
- 2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
-
- Article 21
- 1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country,
- directly or through freely chosen representatives.
- 2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
- 3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government;
- this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by
- universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent
- free voting procedures.
-
- Article 22
- Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is
- entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation
- and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the
- economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free
- development of his personality.
-
- Article 23
- 1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and
- favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
- 2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for
- equal work.
- 3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration
- ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and
- supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
- 4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the
- protection of his interests.
-
- Article 24
- Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation
- of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
-
- Article 25
- 1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health
- and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing
- and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the
- event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of
- livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
- 2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
- All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social
- protection.
-
- Article 26
- 1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least
- in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be
- compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally
- available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis
- of merit.
- 2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human
- personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental
- freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all
- nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the
- United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
- 3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be
- given to their children.
-
- Article 27
- 1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the
- community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its
- benefits.
- 2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material
- interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of
- which he is the author.
-
- Article 28
- Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights
- and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
-
- Article 29
- 1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full
- development of his personality is possible.
- 2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject
- only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of
- securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and
- of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general
- welfare in a democratic society.
- 3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the
- purposes and principles of the United Nations.
-
- Article 30
- Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State,
- group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed
- at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.