Do Human Right Exist and What Is the Purpose of the Rule of Law - Coursework Example

 Do Human Right Exist? What is the Purpose of the Rule of Law? Abstract The definitions for human rights in the world of today are so illustrious and extravagant that we may be forced to assume and understand that we are living in an era of greatest order of human rights comprised of justice, freedom and civility. However the trueness of these definitions can certainly be scrutinised given the dynamic state of political ideologies in existence and the compromising tendencies in human behaviour. We are deceived if we think that the passion for human rights is the inevitable wave of the future or that it will be carried by the spirit of the times. Today there is a growing debate about whether the idea of human rights holds any significance to regimes when it comes in standing conflict with their policies or with their political or economic endeavours. Do human rights really exist? How can human rights be understood and justified. And what is the purpose of the rule of law? The following study is purposed to analyze the practical understanding of the concept of human rights in different countries and whether the fundamentals of this concept are universally observed and agreed upon. Rights are creations of human consciousness. Today the existence of human rights has assumed paramount importance for the advance of society. Human right can exist as a shared norm of actual human moralities, as a justified moral norm supported by strong reasons, as a legal right at the national level, or as a legal right within international law. Enactment in national and international law is one of the ways in which human rights exist. But many have suggested that this is not the only way. If human rights exist only because of enactment, their availability is contingent on domestic and international political developments. However there are certain rights which are somehow innate and inherent in human beings- the right to life, the right to food, liberty and to formal equality as pressed by the rules of natural justice. The more contemporary human rights include the right to freedom of expression, right to a free trial and the right to equality before law and the extent to which these rights are observed in a given country primarily depends on its establishment inspired by the policies in practice by the regime. That is one reason why despite the universal agreement on the need for protection of human rights, there exist1s an alarming trend of deliberate violation of these rights within the premises of the current institutions. Every regime claims to advance the well being of its people and still most regimes in the world systematically violate human rights. They do so in the name of maintaining national security, defending civilization and advancing the revolution of economic progress. Our kind of world makes necessary the most robust scepticism toward all ideological labels. Whether a repressive regime describes itself as socialist or capitalist, as revolutionary or traditional, Do Human Right Exist? What is the Purpose of the Rule of Law? 4 the salient characteristics are the same. People are not allowed to leave the country. The secret police are not restrained by law and there is no appeal from police power. Persons are not permitted to oppose government actions, and there is no provision for popular participation in the transfer of governmental power. Today we witness police states and military dictatorships that justify their actions by appealing to the necessities of socialist revolution, national security, or both. They recognize no transcendent point of reference to which they are accountable and by which they are restrained. More specifically, they refuse to acknowledge the transcendent value embodied in every person. A defining example is the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989. The Tiananmen Square protest of 1989 culminating in the Tiananmen Square massacre (referred to in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident) were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in the People’s Republic of China between 15 April and 4 June 1989. They were mainly led by Beijing students and intellectuals. The protest occurred in a year that saw the collapse of a number of socialist governments round the world. The participants were generally against the authoritarianism and voiced calls for economic liberalisation and democratic reform within the structure of the government. The movement lasted 2seven weeks from Hu Yaobang’s death on 15th April until tanks cleared Tiananmen Square on 4 June. In Beijing, the resulting military response to the protesters by the government left many civilians dead or injured. Following the violence, the government conducted widespread arrest to suppress protesters and their supporters, cracked down on other protests around China, banned the foreign press from the country and strictly Do Human Right Exist? What is the Purpose of the Rule of Law? 5 controlled coverage of the events in the press. Members of the party who had publicly sympathised with the protestors were purged with several high-ranking members placed under house arrest, such as the General Secretary Zhao Ziyang. The violent suppression of the Tiananmen Square protest caused widespread international condemnation of the PRC government of China. The number of dead and wounded remains unclear because of the large discrepancies between the different estimates. According to the initial reports from the Chinese Red Cross, there were 2600 casualties. Following pressure from the Chinese government this number was soon revoked and later the Chinese government released a casualty count of 241, but did not release a list of the deceased. Unlike the Cultural Revolution, about which people can easily find information through government approved books and internet sites, this topic completely disappeared from any media inside mainland China. It is a topic forbidden by the government.3 Tiananmen Square is not the only ugly chapter in China’s history of imperialist ambitions and authoritarian rule. The recent crackdown on hundreds of Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans to suppress the protest demonstrating Tibetan uprising against the Chinese forceful occupation of Tibet is another such episode depicting the manhandling of human rights by the repressive regime of China. To earn the right to play host to the summer Olympics, Beijing promised to improve its human rights record, however, its indifferent behaviour in Tibet and the recent arrest of human rights advocate Hu Jia clearly shows that Do Human Right Exist? What is the Purpose of the Rule of Law? 6 China does not take that commitment seriously. Worker’s rights and privacy are other contentious human rights issues in China. There have been several reports of core International Labour Organization conventions being denied to workers. Human rights organizations have also criticised China for its supportive relationship with the government of Sudan, which is committing mass killings in Darfur. All the repressive regimes in the world try to justify their repressive actions on the basis of advancing social and economic rights. Brazil no less than Cuba, South Korea no less than Mozambique, claims to be pursuing programs of economic and social betterment. Whether the rhetoric is “building the revolution” or “creating an economic miracle”, the reality is the violation of personal, civil and political rights in the name of a worthy social purpose. The rightness of a policy is not established by its observance. Against positivists of all stripes, we must insist that practice and law do not establish duty. Duty is prior to law and practice and is, at best, recognized by them. In a society where everyone lied, and there was no law against lying, it would still be wrong to lie. In a world where most regimes torture their subjects and do so under the guise of law, it is still wrong to torture. Our commitment to 4human rights, if it is to be sustained, must depend not on practice, law, or the passing policies of the governments, but rather on a promise that bestows dignity upon every person and demands respect for every person. This demanding promise is the “why” of our concern for human rights. Do Human Right Exist? What is the Purpose of the Rule of Law? 7 Purpose of the Rule of Law The ‘rule of law’, in its most basic form, is the principle that no one is above the law. Thomas Paine stated in his pamphlet Common Sense: “For as in absolute governments, the king is the law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other”. The rule of law is an aspect of the British Constitution and it, therefore, can be considered an important part of British Politics. It states that the rights of individuals are determined by legal rules and not the arbitrary behaviour of authorities and there can be no punishment unless a court decides that there has been breach of law. Everyone, regardless of your position in society, is subject to the law. In continental Europe and legal thinking, hallmarks of adherence to the rule of law commonly include a clear separation of powers, legal certainty, the principle of legitimate expectation and equality of all before the law. The most important application of the rule of law is the principle that governmental authority is 5legitimately exercised only in accordance with written, publicly disclosed laws adopted and enforced in accordance with procedural steps that are referred to as due process. The principle is intended to be a safeguard against arbitrary governance, whether by a totalitarian leader or by a mob rule. Just over a decade ago, following the collapse of communism, it seemed to many observers to be the dawn of a new age, an age in which Western ideas of freedom, democracy, individual rights and capitalism would come to dominate, spreading their beneficent effects to the many blighted parts of the globe that had previously rejected them in the name of Do Human Right Exist? What is the Purpose of the Rule of Law? 8 Marxism, or traditional values, or anti-Westernism, or some other self-defeating ideal. Peace and prosperity were about to reign worldwide. However, things have quickly changed since then. There has since been a bewildering array of nationalist, ethnic, religious and political conflict, of genocide and other unthinkable atrocities that have threatened global stability at all levels exceeding what happened during the hottest moments of the Cold War period. Amidst this host of new uncertainties there appears to be widespread agreement, traversing all fault lines, on one point, that the rule of law is good for everyone. It is commonplace wisdom that the defining characteristic of Western political tradition is “freedom under the 6rule of law”. Western promotion of the rule of law is not limited solely to the enhancement of liberty but is equally justified on economic grounds as a means to provide secure environment for investments, property, contracts, and market transactions. Support for the rule of law is not exclusive to the West. It has been endorsed by government heads from a range of societies, cultures, and economic and political systems. Russian President Putin continues to place judicial reform and the full implementation of the principles of the rule of law among the country’s highest priorities. Robert Mugabe, embattled President of Zimbabwe, previously stated that “only a government that subjects itself to the rue of law has any moral right to demand of its citizens obedience to the rule of law. Seven months after taking office, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid identified as one of his major achievements: “we are beginning of the rule of law”. Mexican President Vicente Fox Do Human Right Exist? What is the Purpose of the Rule of Law? 9 Quesada declared that the lack of the rule of law is “the theme that worries Mexicans most”. The reasons they articulate for supporting the rule of law might differ, some in the interest of freedom, some in the preservation of order, many in the furtherance of economic development, but all identify it is essential. The greatest threat to civilization is from the competition of individuals and groups trying to achieve dominance over other individuals and groups. This results in total conflict and collapse of social organization leading to indiscriminate violation of human values and human rights. The rule of law cannot leave any particular group in charge, since control of law cannot be entrusted to some, it must be entrusted to all. This allows us to see that law is fair and ensure that justice is done.7 The rule of law is considered a prerequisite for democracy and has served as a common basis for human rights discourse between countries such as the People’s Republic of China and the West. It is considered as one of the key dimensions that determines the quality of good governance of a country and encompasses the additional requirements of guiding the individual’s behaviour and minimising the danger that results from the exercise of discretionary power in an arbitrary fashion. The apparent unanimity in support of the rule of law is a feet unparalleled in history. No other single political idea has achieved such global endorsement. The rule of law is brilliantly simple and unambiguous, making justice a simple matter with no special exemptions for anyone. And in a world where the concept and values of democracy has lived to oppose human exploitation by dictatorial leaderships, and the Do Human Right Exist? What is the Purpose of the Rule of Law? 10 abuse of human rights for personal or ideological gains by regimes, there needs to be a legal system to oppose the influence of arbitrary power and thus, the rule of law is just a perfect notion. 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartholomew, J, August 22, 2007, Human Right Do Not Exist, Retrieved January 10, 2009, from http://www.thewelfarestatewerein.com/archives/2007/08/human_rights_do.php Human Rights, First published Fri Feb 7, 2003; substantive revision Sat Jul 29, 2006 , Retrieved January 8, 2009, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rights-human/ Neuhaus, R, What Do We Mean by Human Rights, and Why?, Retrieved January 9, 2009, from http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1803 Ross, B, The ‘Rule of Law’, Retrieved January 10, 2009, from http://www.strike-the-root.com/51/ross/ross3.html Tamanaha, B, On the Rule of Law, Retrieved January 10, 2009, from http://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&id=p4CReF67hzQC&dq=rule+of+law&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=B7M7UL6u1M&sig=ylzcjRrs-H8XRSlob3rY1hHL8cY&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPP1,M1 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Tiananmen Square Protest of 1989, Retrieved January 9, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989 Wikipedia, The Rule of Law, Retrieved January 10, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_law Read More