This article is written by Maturi Krishna Keerthana of 4th Semester of ICFAI Law School
Abstract
This article gives a detailed knowledge on what are covenants, what are international covenants and to understand the 3 generations of human rights, and mainly focuses on 1st generation that is 1966 and a brief knowledge on the 2nd and 3rd generations of human rights and a detailed knowledge the optional protocols followed or adapted during the covenant of 1966
Keywords: civil and political rights, covenants, optional protocol, ICCPR, ESCR
Introduction:
On December 16, 1966, the United Nations enacted two covenants: the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, both in conformity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a committee was created to write a Covenant for their implementation. Countries such as the United governments highlighted liberty rights, whilst other communist governments emphasised economic, social, and cultural rights. Due to the deadlock in their interests, the UN authorised the committee to craft two distinct Covenants.[1]
What is a covenant
A covenant is a legal commitment or pledge to perform or refrain from performing something, which is often specified in a contract or deed. Covenants play an especially significant role in contract and property law.
International covenants
Human right generations are divided into 3 generations
- The international covenant on civil and political rights
1st generation – international covenant on civil and political rights: 1966 (ICCPR)
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is an international human rights agreement that was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966. The United Kingdom chose to adhere with the ICCPR on March 23, 1976. It empowers people to exercise a wide range of human rights, including the prohibition of torture and other cruel, degrading, or humiliating treatment or punishment. personal space, home, and family life rights to a fair trial, freedom of opinion, religion, and speech Non-discrimination and equality have been endorsed by 167 countries.
Civil and political rights are human rights that are frequently referred to as “liberty rights.” These rights also imply that the state does not infringe on the liberty of any human being.
Historically, these rights allowed for the recognition of the human being and its liberties, especially in terms of citizenship rights and physical integrity preservation.
There is also individual liberty: freedom of expression and ideas, freedom from torture and captivity, and the ability to vote.
Because the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights was largely persuasive and lacked enforceable powers, the ICCPR was a trailblazer in the field of human rights enforcement. As a result, the ICCPR was designed to have legal force, in the sense that governments that sign and ratify the treaty must thereafter abide by its terms and would be held accountable for abuses of those rights. Many of the countries that signed on to the ICCPR also agreed that the Human Rights Committee would investigate accusations by individuals and organisations that the state had violated their rights. Article 28 of the ICCPR established an eighteen-member Human Rights Committee.[2]
India and ICCPR:
India has signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The freedom to protest, publicly question, and press the government to answer is guaranteed under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution.
All citizens have the right to free speech and expression, according to Article 19 (1) (a).
Article 19 (1) (b) states that all citizens have the right to gather peacefully and without weapons.
The State, on the other hand, has the jurisdiction to place reasonable limitations on the exercise of the right of assembly on two grounds: India’s sovereignty and integrity, and public order, which includes the maintenance of traffic in the affected region.[3]
2nd Generation The international covenant on economic social cultural rights (ESCR)
There are 5 sections and 31 articles. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966) is included in the International Bill of Human Rights, together with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966). The Covenants recognise that “the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom, as well as freedom from fear and want, can be realised only if conditions are created in which everyone may enjoy his civil and political rights, as well as his economic, social, and cultural rights,” according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Covenant went into force in 1976 and has been ratified by 160 nations by May 2012.[4]
3rd generation Solidarity rights
Third-generation human rights go beyond civil and social rights, as expressed in many progressive pieces of international law, including the 1972 Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and other broadly aspirational “soft law. “They are rights that seek to expand beyond the framework of individual rights to address collective concepts such as community or people. They are sometimes referred to as Solidarity human rights. However, the term, like the often-used term “green” rights, is primarily unofficial and hence embraces an extremely broad spectrum of rights including Collective and group rights Right to self-determination, economic and social growth, a healthy environment, and natural resources Communication rights and the right to communicate Participation in cultural heritage is a right. Intergenerational equality and sustainability are rights.[5]
What are optional protocols
Treaties on human rights are occasionally followed by “Optional Protocols” that either allow for treaty processes or address a substantive problem related to the treaty. Optional Protocols to human rights treaties are treaties in their own right, and governments that have signed, acceded to, or ratified the original treaty may sign, accede to, or ratify them.
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
Article 1: A State Party to the Covenant who becomes a Party to this Protocol acknowledges the Committee’s competence to accept and assess communications from people subject to its jurisdiction who claim to have been victims of a breach of any of the Covenant’s rights by that State Party. Any communication concerning a State Party to the Covenant that is not a Party to the present Protocol should not be received by the Committee.[6]
Article 2: Individuals who allege that any of their Covenant rights have been violated and who have exhausted all available domestic remedies may submit a written submission to the Committee for examination, subject to the limitations set out in article 1.[7]
Article 3: Any message submitted under the current Protocol that is anonymous, or that the Committee considers to be an abuse of the right to submit such communications, or to be incompatible with the requirements of the Covenant, shall be deemed inadmissible by the Committee.[8]
Article 4: Subject to the provisions of article 3, the Committee shall bring any communications brought to it under the present Protocol to the attention of any State Party to the present Protocol accused of violating any provision of the Covenant.
Within six months, the receiving State shall offer written explanations or declarations to the Committee detailing the problem and any remedies adopted by that State.[9]
Article 5: The Committee shall evaluate communications received under the existing Protocol by taking into account any written information supplied to it by the individual and State Party in question. The Committee must not accept any letter from a person unless it is convinced that the same situation is not being examined or resolved by another international inquiry or settlement process, and the subject has exhausted all available domestic procedures. This should not be the case if the remedies are applied in an unacceptable length of time. The Committee shall have private sessions while examining communications under the present Protocol. The Committee will inform both the State Party in issue and the individual of its conclusions.[10]
Article 6: In its annual report required by article 45 of the Covenant, the Committee shall give a summary of its operations under the current Protocol.[11]
Article 7: Until the objectives of Resolution 1514(XV) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 14 December 1960 concerning the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples are met, the provisions of this Protocol shall in no way limit the right of petition granted to these peoples by the United Nations Charter and other international conventions and instruments under the United Nations and its specialised agencies.[12]
Article 8: Any state that has signed the Covenant is eligible to sign the present Protocol.
Any state that has joined or acceded to the Covenant has the right to ratify the present Protocol. Ratification instruments must be filed with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Any State that has ratified or acceded to the Covenant is eligible to sign the present Protocol. Accession will occur upon the deposit of an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The deposit of each instrument of ratification or accession must be notified to all States that have signed or acceded to the present Protocol by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.[13]
Article 9: The current Protocol will enter into force three months after the tenth instrument of ratification or accession is lodged with the United Nations Secretary-General. The present Protocol will enter into force three months from the date of the tenth instrument of ratification or accession by each State that ratifies or accedes to it after the tenth instrument of ratification or accession is deposited.[14]
Article 10
The articles of the present Protocol shall apply without limitation or exception to all portions of federal states.[15]
Article 11
Any State Party to the present Protocol may propose a revision and file it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Following that, the Secretary-General should send any proposed amendments to the States Parties to the present Protocol, with a request that they inform him whether they support holding a meeting of States Parties to discuss and vote on the proposal. If at least one-third of the States Parties agree to hold such a conference, the Secretary-General will convene it under United Nations auspices. Any modification adopted by a majority of the States Parties present and voting at the conference will be submitted for approval to the United Nations General Assembly. Amendments will become effective when they are accepted by the United Nations General Assembly and ratified by a two-thirds majority of the States Parties to the present Protocol in accordance with their individual constitutional processes. When the changes become effective, they will be binding on those states that have accepted them, with the remaining states bound by the terms of the present Protocol and any earlier amendments that they have accepted.[16]
Article 12
Any State Party may, at any time, submit a written protest to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General will be notified three months after the denunciation takes effect.
Denunciation is without prejudice to the current Protocol’s provisions continuing to apply to any communication filed under article 2 prior to the effective date of denunciation.[17]
Article 13
Regardless of notifications made under article 8, paragraph 5 of this Protocol, the Secretary-General of the United Nations is required to notify all States referred to in article 48, paragraph I of the Covenant of the following details: signatures, ratifications, and accession under article 8; the date of the current Protocol’s entry into force under article 9 and the date of any changes’ entry into force under article 11; and denunciations under article 12.[18]
Article 14
The existing Protocol, which is equally authentic in Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish, should be deposited in the United Nations archives. The Secretary-General of the United Nations must send certified copies of the present Protocol to all States referred to in article 48 of the Covenant.[19]
Conclusion:
Human rights are the fundamental foundation of all human beings’ existence; being treated with respect and having basic rights are essential for the advancement of the human race. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights laid the groundwork for a slew of human rights treaties, the most significant of which were the ICCPR and the ICESCR. Both Treaties established rights that all people must enjoy regardless of any and all causes. One of those two Treaties was addressed in length in this article. It follows that the rights enshrined in the ICCPR have also been enshrined in India under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. It guarantees the right to free expression, assembly, association, mobility, settlement, and the practising of any trade or profession, all of which are also guaranteed by the ICCPR.[20]
[1] A Critical Analysis of Covenants of 1966 available at <https://blog.ipleaders.in/critical-analysis-covenants-1966/#India_and_the_ICCPR> last visited on 24 June 2023
[2] A Critical Analysis of Covenants of 1966 available at < https://blog.ipleaders.in/critical-analysis-covenants-1966/#India_and_the_ICCPR> last visited on 23 June 2023
[3] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights available at https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/international-covenant-civil-political-rights-iccpr/ last visited on 24 June 2023
[4] International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights available at < https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/international-covenant-on-economic-social-and-cultural-rights > last visited on 23 June 2023
[5] Three generations of human rights available at < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_generations_of_human_rights> last visited on 23 June 2023
[6] Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/optional-protocol-international-covenant-civil-and-political (last visited on 20 June ,2023)
[7] Ibid
[8] ibid
[9] Ibid
[10] ibid
[11] Ibid
[12] Ibid
[13] Ibid
[14] Ibid
[15] Ibid
[16] Ibid
[17] Ibid
[18] Ibid
[19] Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/optional-protocol-international-covenant-civil-and-political (last visited on 20 June ,2023)
[20] Ibid
