This episode considers the relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
today, in spite of the political compromises which surrounded its drafting, resulting in
ambiguous norms which rely on domestic legal systems for meaning as well as
effective implementation.
As the previous episodes have shown, impulses towards individual rights and
freedoms have always been conflicting and conflicted, and have never exhibited a
consistent, linear, upward development. Human dignity as expressed as rights to
freedom and equality has never been an immutable concept, and is not so now.
If so, how useful can the Declaration be today?
This episode focuses on three facts: the contribution of the Declaration to the
processes of human rights; its contribution to coping with today’s human rights
flashpoints; and its relevance in addressing new horizons in international law.
The episode contains further excerpts of the interview the presenter conducted with
John Humphrey, the Canadian scholar who constructed the initial draft of the
Declaration, as well as interviews with Ambassador Hans Corell (the former UN
Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs) and with the Hon Michael Kirby (former
Justice of the High Court of Australia).

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This episode describes the drafting process of the Universal Declaration within the United Nations. It was fundamentally different from its eighteenth-century antecedents in that the process involved every UN member, myriad Non-Governmental Organisations and dozens of highly committed individuals.

However, there was opposition to it (from the UN Secretary-General down) and debates became fractious in the climate of the Cold War. This episode contains parts of an interview with John Humphrey, the Canadian Head of the Human Rights Division within the UN Secretariat and reputedly the author of the initial draft of the Declaration.

The aim was to provide common grounds for agreement – a synthesis of world views – and the compromises involved produced a document containing a productive ambiguity. The document that resulted was revolutionary as it re-aligned the normative concept of international law which would no longer be the sole province of state sovereignty, but it was not the product of a revolution.
The final vote in the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, produced no votes against the Declaration, although there were 8 abstentions. There was not unanimity. But it heralded a vision of humans and humanity and forever changed the political debate at international level.

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While the 19th century had seen some advances in rights for people (the abolition of the slave trade; protection of people in times of war), they were advances for specific groups of people rather than for all human beings.

At the start of the 20th century there were several organisations from many parts of the world which were concerned about rights. These were the initiatives of concerned
individuals rather than governments.

After the devastation of World War I, a truly inter-governmental organisation was set up: the League of Nations. It achieved several advances for rights, such as for minorities and workers, but again the focus was on specific groups rather than for everyone universally. Also, the fact that the United States never became a member of the League was a distinct drawback in its effectiveness.

After the Second World War, advances in technology meant that people all over the world could see in newsreels the horrors perpetrated by totalitarianism. This helped change the international mood to one in favour of rights for everyone. But when the United Nations was established its Charter contained references to human rights but no definition of them.

The major powers with veto power in the Security Council were more concerned about world peace and stability than human rights. But the General Assembly had the power to discuss any matter under the UN Charter and recommend action.

The seeds had been sewn for the development of human rights – but again the principal instigators and drivers of this were committed individuals, rather than governments, who would help bring about a social and legal phenomenon.

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