Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Global constitutional document outlining human rights for the whole of humanity, adopting an preserving a "common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations". Prepared by the Commission on Human Rights, set up by the United Nations Economic and Social Council chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948, with 48 member states voting in favor and 8 against, and has been adopted by many more countries since. The thirty articles of the declaration cover areas summarized as follows: Article 1 all humans are born free an equal in dignity and rights. . Entitlement to rights without distinctions of race, color, sex, language, religion, politics, nationality, property, birth and other status. 3. right to life, liberty and security of person, 4. prohibition of slavery and servitude. 5. prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment, 6. right of recognition before the law. 7- equality before the law, 8. right to an effective legal remedy, 9. prohibition of arbitrary arrest, detention or exile, 10. right to an impartial tribunal hearing. 11. presumed innocent until proven guilty. 12. protection against arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, correspondence, honor or reputation, 13. freedom of national and international movement, 14. right to foreign asylum from political persecution, 15. Right to a nationality, 16. right to consenting marriage and protection of the family unit, 17- Right to own property, 18. right to consenting marriage and protection of the family unit, 17. right to own property, 18. right to freedom of thought and conscience, choice of religion and freedom to teach, practice and worship, 19. right to freedom of opinion and expression and Right to seek receive and impart information through any media, 20. right to freedom of peaceful assembly association, 21. Access to government, public service and genuine elections expressing the will of the people, 22. right to social security, 23. right to work, free choice of employment, equal pay for equal work and trade union membership, 24. right to rest and leisure, 25. Standards of living adequate for health, wellbeing, security and child protection, 26. free elementary education and access to higher education on the basis of merit, 27. right to participate in the arts, science and cultural life, with protection of author interests, 28. right to an international social order able to realize these rights and freedoms, 29. Everyone has duties to their community and is subject to laws which respect general welfare and the rights and freedoms of others, and 30. Discouraging any act aimed at the destruction of these rights and freedoms. The document is laid out in the familiar civil law tradition, including a preamble followed by thirty articles. As it was conceived as a statement of objectives to be followed by governments, it is not legally binding and there were therefore no signatories. The declaration does not form part of international law, but it is a powerful tool in applying diplomatic and moral pressure to governments, and it is customary to follow it. The 1968 United Nations International Conference on Human Rights decided it "constitutes an obligation for the members of the international community" to all persons. The declaration has served as the foundation for the original two legally-binding UN human rights Covenants, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. It continues to be widely cited by academics, advocates, and constitutional courts.