STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

Statement of Individual Rights

This report presents a comparative view of individual rights, based on a wide array of constitutional concepts. In the second part of the report, we provide an insight of the philosophical underpinnings, including natural law and legal positivism. Finally we draw a list of basic individual rights, the proposed ideas of which are to be included as a part of the constitution for our hypothetical Island Nation.

“Human rights” has been the subject of scholars, philosophers, politicians, human right activists and all those concerned with the societal and human justice throughout the world. Many consider the Ten Commandments, set in the Old Testament as one of the basic texts of what might be called "the prehistory of human rights." The work for human rights also gained momentum in roman and Greek periods. Greek and Roman scripts show codes of the same gender, with their sole purpose being establishment of performance standards for society (Moyn 2010).

The Magna Carta 1215

Since the start of the 13th century the nobility of the English adopted a rebellious attitude towards the excesses of the kingdom and its absolute powers on people. Following a series of multiple abuses, the rebellious barons emigrated to France where it was written, in the Cistercian abbey came up with what was called as Magna Carta of Liberties of England. On June 12, 1215, the English lords imposed through their sovereign John Lackland, a long text of 63 articles, written in Latin, and regarded it as the first constitutional document of England and the foundation of their liberties (Freeman 2010). This document listed the privileges granted to the Church of England, the City of London, merchants and feudal dignitaries of the regime, and specific assurances with which any individual was concerned given the freedom he enjoyed with the other people. An excerpt from Magna Carta explicitly stated: "No freeman shall be arrested or detained otherwise than under a legal opinion of his peers or the law of the country.” The Magna Carta is the first text set against the arbitrariness of the Crown and sets out specific protections of individual liberties. It was subsequently reiterated and expanded during the reign of Edward I on November 5, 1297.

Bill of Rights 1689

Imposed by the Parliament on the prospective Queen Mary II Stuart (daughter of James II) and her husband, William of Orange, the Bill of Rights (Bill of Rights) completes the English Revolution of 1688. It was the first time that a real contract was established between the rulers and people to declare sovereign powers of the royal. Mary and William were not crowned until they signed this agreement that ended the concept of divine right kingship in England (Freeman 2002). The Bill of Rights recalls the numerous violations of the laws and freedoms committed by James II, and list the rights granted to the town since 1215. The first article sets out a basic principle: the real authority has no force of law; the ...