International Bill of Rights

Adoption and drafting

• Adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948 (Resolution 217 A (III)) at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris, by 48 votes in favour, none against and 8 abstentions (the Soviet Union, Byelorussian SSR, Ukrainian SSR, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa). Two members were absent (Honduras and Yemen). 10 December is celebrated as Human Rights Day.

• Drafted by the Commission on Human Rights (chair: Eleanor Roosevelt). The eight-member drafting committee included Roosevelt, René Cassin (France), Charles Malik (Lebanon), P.C. Chang (China) and John Humphrey (Canada, Director of the UN Division of Human Rights, whose first draft was the working text), Hernán Santa Cruz (Chile), Alexandre Bogomolov (USSR) and Charles Dukes (UK). India’s Hansa Mehta is credited with changing “all men are born free and equal” to “all human beings are born free and equal”.

• Structure: a Preamble and 30 Articles.

• Legal status: a declaration, not a treaty, so not binding in itself. It has acquired strong legal significance: the 1968 Proclamation of Teheran stated that it states a common understanding of the peoples of the world and constitutes an obligation for the members of the international community; many of its provisions are regarded as customary international law; it has been incorporated into national constitutions and cited by courts (including the Indian Supreme Court).

Content by group of Articles

Points often asked: the right to property is in the UDHR (Art. 17) but not in either Covenant; the right to asylum is in Art. 14; the right to nationality is in Art. 15; Art. 25 is the basis of the right to an adequate standard of living; Art. 29(1) is the only reference to duties.

• Adopted on 16 December 1966 (GA Resolution 2200A (XXI)); in force 23 March 1976 (three months after the 35th ratification). It has a preamble and 53 Articles in six Parts.

• Article 1: right of all peoples to self-determination (common to ICCPR and ICESCR); permanent sovereignty over natural wealth and resources.

• Part II (Arts. 2–5): States undertake to respect and ensure the rights to all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction (Art. 2(1)); effective remedy (Art. 2(3)); equal rights of men and women (Art. 3); derogation in public emergency (Art. 4), with no derogation from Arts. 6, 7, 8 (paragraphs 1 and 2), 11, 15, 16 and 18.

• Part III (Arts. 6–27), the substantive rights:

• Human Rights Committee (Part IV, Arts. 28–45): 18 independent experts, elected for four-year terms, who serve in their personal capacity. Functions: examining periodic reports by States (Art. 40); issuing General Comments; considering inter-State complaints (Art. 41, optional); and, under the First Optional Protocol, individual communications.

• First Optional Protocol (1966, in force 1976): individual communications against States Parties for alleged violations of ICCPR rights, after exhaustion of domestic remedies. India is not a party.

• Second Optional Protocol (1989, in force 1991): aims at the abolition of the death penalty; the only permitted reservation relates to wartime crimes of a military nature.

• India: acceded to both the ICCPR and the ICESCR on 10 April 1979, with declarations (for example that the right to self-determination in Art. 1 applies to peoples under foreign domination and not to sovereign States, and that Arts. 9, 13, 19, 21 and 22 are to be applied consistently with the Constitution; and that the right to compensation for unlawful arrest in Art. 9(5) is not enforceable in India as a legal right in the manner of the Covenant).

• Adopted on 16 December 1966; in force 3 January 1976. It has a preamble and 31 Articles in five Parts.

• Article 1: self-determination. Article 2(1): each State undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realisation of the rights; Art. 2(2): non-discrimination; Art. 3: equal right of men and women; Art. 4: limitations only as determined by law and solely for promoting the general welfare in a democratic society.

• Monitoring: the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (18 experts) was established by ECOSOC in 1985 (it is not created by the Covenant itself). It reviews State reports and issues General Comments (for example General Comment 3 on the nature of State obligations, with the concept of a minimum core obligation).

• Optional Protocol to ICESCR adopted 10 December 2008, in force 5 May 2013: individual communications, inter-State communications, and an inquiry procedure.

• Interpretation guides: Limburg Principles 1986, Maastricht Guidelines 1997, Maastricht Principles 2011 (extraterritorial obligations).

Related instruments: Genocide Convention 1948 (in force 1951), Refugee Convention 1951, Optional Protocol to CAT 2002 (OPCAT), Optional Protocols to CRC (2000 and 2011), Optional Protocol to CEDAW 1999, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women 1993, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007.

• Gramophone Co. of India v. Birendra Bahadur Pandey (1984): national courts should interpret municipal law consistently with international law where possible.

• Jolly George Varghese v. Bank of Cochin (1980): ICCPR Art. 11 used to read down imprisonment for debt.

• Chairman, Railway Board v. Chandrima Das (2000): the UDHR and its principles were applied to uphold the rights of a foreign national who was a rape victim at a railway guest house.

• People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (1997): telephone tapping and privacy, with reference to Art. 17 ICCPR and Art. 12 UDHR.

• Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997): CEDAW used to frame sexual harassment guidelines in the absence of legislation.

• Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa (1993): compensation for custodial death; reference to ICCPR Art. 9(5).

• Socio-economic rights under Art. 21: education (Unni Krishnan, 1993), health (Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity, 1996), shelter (Olga Tellis, 1985), food (PUCL v. Union of India, 2001).