UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Adopted and proclaimed
by General Assembly Resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 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 freedoms,
- 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.
THE
ARTICLES
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
1.
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.
2. 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 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 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 to 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 in 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.
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