Human Dignity in National Constitutions: Functions, Promises and Dangers

Shulztiner, Doron; Carmi, Guy E.

doi:10.5131/ajcl.2013.0003

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Following the end of the second world war, the right to dignity became a major feature of majorly all national constitutions. 21 One of the primary goals of the UN is to "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small". 22 Flowing from this sense of value, not only is man seen as a creation most precious, the full expression of his value can only be attained when he enjoys the right measure of liberty, to be what he was made to be.…”

Section: It Further Provides Direction By Adding That;mentioning

confidence: 99%

Weaponisation of the war on terror and the sidestepping of human rights norms: Seeking a balance between the terrorism (prevention) (amendment) act 2013 and Nigeria’s obligation under international human rights law

Adegbite

2021

ucclj

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In an era of escalation in terrorism and terrorist related criminalities, the international system continues to innovate on how best to contain its scourge, particularly within the confines of established democratic norms. As a response to Security Council resolution 1373 adopted on 28 September 2001, United Nations (UN) member states began to craft domestic counterterrorism legislations to criminalise terrorist activities on their home-soil, as well as extraterritorially. Responding as other nations, Nigeria enacted the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013. However, the Act and others like it, have thrown up troubling questions about weaponization of the war on terror, and the need to balance the war with the protection of human rights. This article examines the continued sidestepping of human rights norms in the war against terror. It presents this conflict within the context of Nigeria’s domestic counterterrorism law, highlighting some dangerous provisions in the Act which directly impugns on its obligation under International Human Rights Law (IHRL). It advocates an urgent review in the Act that will reflect the current mood of the UN human rights system, as well as the country’s obligation under IHRL

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Section: It Further Provides Direction By Adding That;mentioning

confidence: 99%

Weaponisation of the war on terror and the sidestepping of human rights norms: Seeking a balance between the terrorism (prevention) (amendment) act 2013 and Nigeria’s obligation under international human rights law

Adegbite

2021

ucclj

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“… 1. Shulztiner and Carmi (2014) find that while only five countries mentioned “human dignity” in their constitutions before 1945, 162 countries did so at the close of 2012. …”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Both in contemporary legal discourse and judicial applications worldwide, human dignity (HD) stands nowadays as an overarching value. Its composite moral foundations have not prevented it from becoming a standard in adjudicating fundamental rights (Shulztiner and Carmi, 2014: 461). 1 Additionally, its capacity for diverse application has made recourse to it viable in a variety of circumstances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The expressive function of human dignity: A pragmatic approach to social rights claims

Matteucci

Repetto

2021

European Journal of Social Security

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In this article, we appraise an idea of human dignity (HD) as pragmatically oriented to support social rights claims. By analysing the role of dignitarian arguments in the constitutional-like case law of four European jurisdictions (France, the UK, Italy and Germany), we demonstrate that caution prevails about the possibility of using HD in each of these countries as an ultimate yardstick for upholding social policies. Such findings challenge the assumption that one can grasp HD as a legal notion through a foundational approach. In our view, neither HD reflects any natural or social essence of men and women, nor can it consequently be conceived as the source of universal fundamental rights. Instead, (1) we recommend a notion of HD as a status primarily conceived as a political-institutional (conventional) artefact. Thus, (2) we consequently sustain that dignity may pertain to states too, and we can see it as a way of reciprocating the duty to fair cooperation in a just society. In the same vein, (3) HD works best in the social realm when an expressive function, rather than a defining one, is recognised as its proper function. This aspect helps explain why HD is often called to support other principles in judicial argumentation. This notion of HD seems to us coherent with social rights as relying on a complex institutional arrangement centred on political responsibility and a commitment to social justice. Concerning the assessment of the conditions attached by the states to the enjoyment of welfare benefits, HD tells us that disproportionate sanctions, whose objective appears to be more a way of blackmailing welfare recipients than pursuing an ideal of fair reciprocity, do violate both the institutional dignity of public authorities and that of the persons affected.

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“…The right to dignity was chosen as, under Israeli law, it is a meta-right, related to the very essence of the human and connected to many other rights, including bodily rights, property rights and identity rights (Karp, 1995; Englard, 1999; Barak, 2001). Moreover, human dignity has become a widely utilised concept in many other jurisdictions, with 84 per cent of the world's countries including it in their constitution by the end of 2012, though, in most cases, not as an all-encompassing right as in Israel (Fyfe, 2007; Meltzer Henry, 2011–2012; Waldron, 2013; Shulztiner and Carmi, 2014). Finally, the right to dignity is a useful case-study to examine the rights of the dead, as the Israeli legal system recognises its survival postmortem 3…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The rights of the dead through the prism of Israeli succession disputes

Hacker

2015

International Journal of Law in Context

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This paper aims at contributing to the evolving debate over the rights of the dead by providing it with concrete empirical socio-legal context. A pioneering study of succession disputes, conducted in Israel, exposes a gap between a prominent judicial promise to respect the wishes and guard the dignity of the deceased testator, and the actual action taking place behind this rhetoric. The findings reveal that the testator's dignity and wishes are trampled during testamentary procedures, when demeaning allegations about his or her mental and physical competence are allowed, and personal and medical information is exposed, and when the judge approves settlements that diverge from the testator's last will in the name of familial reconciliation, even though in most cases there are no nuclear family ties between the rival parties. These findings are discussed in the light of an original typology mapping the theoretical controversies over posthumous rights, to highlight some of the possible normative implications of the project for the law on the books and law in action related to property division after death.

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Human Dignity in National Constitutions: Functions, Promises and Dangers

Cited by 20 publications

References 20 publications

Weaponisation of the war on terror and the sidestepping of human rights norms: Seeking a balance between the terrorism (prevention) (amendment) act 2013 and Nigeria’s obligation under international human rights law

Weaponisation of the war on terror and the sidestepping of human rights norms: Seeking a balance between the terrorism (prevention) (amendment) act 2013 and Nigeria’s obligation under international human rights law

The expressive function of human dignity: A pragmatic approach to social rights claims

The rights of the dead through the prism of Israeli succession disputes

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