Fundamental Rights of EU Law - Dissertation Example

3 Introduction Fundamental rights are defined as the elemental human rights and freedoms of all human beings. All humans are entitled to these by virtue of their dignity as human beings and they apply irrespective of race, creed, religion, gender or place of birth and are enforceable by the 1courts, subject to specific restrictions Some of these fundamental rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law, and the right to food, the right to have an education, the right to work and to participate in one's culture.

History of Fundamental Rights Fundamental rights had been traced to several ancient documents which dates signify that even in those ancient eras fundamental rights had already been practiced and recognised and that the concept was alive and respect for such rights existed thousands of years ago. The Cyrus Cylinder which can be found in the British Museum in London shows that during 539 BC, Cyrus the Great of Persia believed in the fundamental human rights of his own citizens as well as captive citizens of Babylonia which he.

As the report discusses fundamental rights then emerged from the Roman concept of libertas which established civil law with liberties and gave it political status. During the 14th century emerged the concept of central sovereign courts of justice where Roman sovereign courts guarantee civil law. Lessius then came up with the theory that God invested men with civil rights at birth. According to the paper findings in England, fundamental rights were recognised in the English Magna Carta of 1215 during the reign of King John of England.

The Magna Carta enforced certain rights such as the rule of law, the right of prisons to appeal and to be heard and the writ of habeas corpus. This was soon revised in 1297 and remains enforced up to the present in England and Wales. Its provisions included the right to due process, the right to religion, the right to life and liberty, the right to a fair trial by a court of justice. More legal rights were then recognised in both USA and France with the US Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

But many human rights activists claim that human rights of individuals were given impetus during the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason during the 18th century. Philosophers sprouted during this era, espousing freedom of thought and expression and encouraging people that they have God-given rights that they ought to defend.