TAMPUS, MARY GRACE G.

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND IHL APRIL 27, 2018

 Whether or not the GA Resolution/ UDHR is a treaty

The GA Resolution or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an international document
embodying the basic rights and freedoms of all human beings is not a treaty with legal force.
However, it is the basis of all the other human rights conventions and has a significant moral
force.

The declaration has served to become the foundation for two binding UN human rights
covenants: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Declaration was seen to be as a ‘common standard’
for nations to attempt to reach. Its authority was seen as primarily moral and political.

 How will the GA Resolution/UDHR be binding

Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not a treaty, it therefore does not create any
legal obligations for countries and therefore not binding. However, the declaration is considered
a significant milestone in internationalization of human rights. It introduced a series of principles
and rights to signatories that states would have to adhere to and has already become a
profound influence on the development of international human rights law.

However, at the international level, the Universal Declaration has become part of the United
Nations legal corpus and has been recognized as a binding instrument by publicists and judicial
and quasi-judicial bodies. At the national level, it has been incorporated into many domestic
legal systems following dynamics related to four trans-regional areas (Common Law, Latin
America, Europe and Africa). This double evolution has changed the intrinsic status of the UDHR,
which is now part of the non-conventional sources of mandatory law, though some legal
systems deny its binding force. Its applicability is therefore based on the formulation of the
rights it contains. To sum, UDHR has nothing more than suggestive force, by including its terms
in other treaties or agreements which are taken into force of law.

 Can you compel countries to observe and follow what was stated in the Declaration, and how
so? Discuss.
Generally, considering that the Declaration is not treaty it does not create any legal obligations
for countries thus they cannot be compelled to observe and follow the articles in the
Declaration. However, considering that the Declaration became a common standard among
nations upholding human rights, it became a yardstick by which nations and peoples can
measure their own and each other’s progress as to supporting human rights.

Though the Declaration as such is not binding, most of its rights had already received a
significant degree of recognition by 1948 in the constitutions of many nations, if not in their
practices. Since that time, most of its rights have been incorporated in domestic legal system of
most countries. In sum, the declaration has been considered as a customary law which by
TAMPUS, MARY GRACE G.
HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND IHL APRIL 27, 2018

definition, customary law is a consistent practice of states followed by them from a sense of
legal obligation, hence, if a violation is made then the violating state shall then be penalized or
to be made liable unless, if the violating state had consistently objected to the said custom while
it was merely in the process of formation.

 What is the weight of the UDHR

The UDHR has inspired more than 80 international human rights treaties and declarations, a
great number of regional human rights conventions, domestic human rights bills, and
constitutional provisions, which together constitute a comprehensive legally binding system for
the promotion and protection of human rights.

In fact, the Declaration has become a customary law and considering that the purpose of
international law is the regulation of relationship between the states then customary law
affirmed among the international community then binds states.

 Manner and procedure by which you can withdraw from obligations to a treaty
Withdrawal from obligations to a treaty pertains to the unilateral act by which a nation that is
currently a party to a treaty ends its membership to the said treaty. In the case of multilateral
agreements, withdrawal generally does not affect the treaty’s continuation in force for the
remaining parties. For bilateral agreements, withdrawal by either party results in the
termination of the treaty of both parties.

Under the Vienna Convention, a state party may withdraw from a treaty, if:
1. In conformity with the provisions of the treaty; or
2. At any time by consent of all the parties after consultation with the other contracting States

in Article 54 of the said convention. If the treaty contains no provision regarding withdrawal, the
State cannot withdraw from said treaty, unless:

1. It is established that the parties intended to admit the possibility of withdrawal; or

2. A right to withdrawal may be implied by the nature of the treaty

as provided in Article 56 of the Vienna Convention.