Your Rights and Responsibilities

Section 1-Part II: The individual and the law

the nature of individual rights and responsibilities

Rights

are entitlements or permissions that can be either legal or moral in nature

legal rights are enforceable by law through the courts – for the right to exist it must be contained in and protected by the law

moral rights derive from one’s own morals, values or ethics and are not enforceable by law

Human Rights

respect for the equal worth, dignity and freedom of the individual

freedom of speech (limited)

freedom of religion and secular government

freedom of association

support for parliamentary democracy and the rule of law

equality under the law

equality of men and women

equality of opportunity

Values in Australia

Responsibilities

are legal or moral obligations or duties that a person may have to another person

legal responsibilities are enforceable by law

where there is a right, there will often be a corresponding responsibility

Theories of Rights

Positivism - that law is given to us by a legal authority

Natural Law - that rights have been given to us by a higher authority (God) that is higher than any of law

Photo Rights in Australia

Rights are either protected by common law, statute law or the constitution

Statute Law Common Law

Defined

protected by statute is the right not to be excluded or restricted on the basis of race, colour or

ethnic origin

rights are protected by common law, particularly in

contract law and tort law

Example Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)

Donoghue v Stevenson 1932

The Australian Constitution

The Australian Constitution protects certain specific individual rights:

s 80: the right to a trial by jury

s 116: freedom of religion

s 117: the right not to be discriminated against on the basis of one’s state of residence

s 51: the right to compensation if one’s property is compulsorily acquired for any purpose in respect of which the Commonwealth government has the power to make laws.

In the 1990s, the High Court begun interpreting the constitution to include implied rights rather than just expressed rights e.g. implied right of freedom to political communication

Indigenous Rights and the Constitution

Consumer Rights

Environmental Rights

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Civil and Political Rights

Self Determination

Categories of Rights

Which of these are individual rights and which are collective rights?

Bill of Rights

A bill of rights is a formal document that officially enshrines the minimum human rights that every citizen is entitled to, and binds the government to comply with those rights.

Australia does not have a bill of rights, but most other developed countries do

Victoria and the ACT have adopted their own state charters of rights, but the Commonwealth has refused

Recent Commonwealth inquiry into a bill of rights found 87 per cent of the public would support its introduction (2011)

Bill of Rights in Australia

Michael Kirby

Treaties become binding on the citizens of an individual nation either automatically upon ratification, if the treaty is self-executing, or once the nation has passed domestic legislation(Australia)

Declarations are different to treaties because they simply state the parties intentions e.g UDHR 1948

Rights under International Law

Go on click me!

Australia and Human Rights

UN in Australia 2012UN official questions the legality of Detention Centres

Limitations of international law protecting rights

Nation-states sign international law not individuals

Nation States may ignore or refuse to sign international law (due to State Sovereignty) which may impede on human rights with their country

Self Determination

The right to determine one’s own acts without external influence; the freedom of the people of a given territory to determine their own political status or independence from their current state

Example: East Timor - UN 1999

Saggin Trousers legislation, USA