UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS,
G.A. res. 217 A(III), December 10, 1948,
U.N. Doc. A/810, at 71 (1948):
Preamble
Whereas 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 and 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 essential 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 of the law. All are
entitled 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
proved 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 omission 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 arbitrary interference with
his privacy, family, home or correspondence, 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 is 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.
Top
|