Topic Two: Human Rights
Rights
The nature and development of concepts of human rights.
State sovereignty, ‘natural law’ doctrine, historic constitutional documents, movement for slavery abolition, trade unionism, universal suffrage and universal education

Human Rights
Human rights are the basic rights to which all human beings are entitled to.

The most recognized document in modern human rights is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created by the UN.

Human rights can be said to come from the idea of ‘natural law’. Natural Law Doctrine is the idea that some laws come from God or higher reasoning whether they have been written down or not.

State sovereignty
State sovereignty refers to the power of a state to have control over its territory and its subject.
It’s important for protecting human rights because it means someone whose rights are being abused can flee to a safe country for protection. Because it restricts the actions of neighbours and other concerned states, also allows human rights abuses to go unpunished within the boundaries of a state.

Movement for the Abolition of Slavery
Slavery is the state of being under the control of another person.

Trade Unionism
Trade unionism is the collective organisation of workers formed to protect the rights of individuals from the power exercised by employees. The benefits of trade unionism include: * Prevention of child labour * Prevention of forced labour * Fair treatment of workers

Universal Suffrage
Universal suffrage refers to the right of all persons within a state to vote in political elections.

Education
Education is also considered a basic human right because without education a person is unable to properly understand the society within they live.

Historic Constitutional Documents * The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 * The European