Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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 freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged
themselves to achieve, in cooperation 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.
Article I
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
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.
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 the 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.
G.A. res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810
at 71 (1948)
Adopted on December
10, 1948
by the General Assembly of the United Nations (without
dissent) |