History of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) this Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages. The UDHR is widely recognized as having inspired, and paved the way for, the adoption of more than seventy human rights treaties, applied today on a permanent basis at global and regional levels (all containing references to it in their preambles).

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History of Advocacy

Advocacy began with the Church, however the the Church being found legally to be corrupt, lost its advocacy platform 1521 with the finding provided by Martin Luther. The frame work of advocacy passed to John Locke, the great philosopher behind the Glorious Revolution, his work culminating with the Bill of Rights 1689.

This Bill was incorporated into the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Right 1948. 

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The core of Human Rights advocacy is based on John Locke and his four pillars of Human Rights; Life, Health, Liberty and Possession. The term advocacy is used today was first introduced in article 71 of the newly formed United Nations Charter in 1945. 

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Advocacy, according to the UN, advocates support the issues concerning the public good. Advocacy is a vital role in improving peoples lives. Advocacy plays a critical role in driving change. Advocates working for practices and policies that benefit people and communities. Advocates often working in partnership with other organisations, including government agencies, to address complex challenges that require a collaborative approach. One of the key strengths of advocacy is the ability to work at a grass roots level and connect with people and communities directly. Advocates are independent of Government influence. 

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Australia

AUSTRALIAN H.V EVATT was the first president of the General Assembly if the United Nations in 1948 said of the adoption of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that it is the first step in a great evolutionary process. It is the first occasion on which the organised community of nations has made a declaration of human rights and fundamental freedoms. And it has the authority of the body of the United Nations as a whole and millions of people; men women and children all over the world, who will turn for help and guidance and inspiration to this document.” 

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Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901

Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901 is the supreme law Australia of the and overrides all other laws in Australia. The overthrowing the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901 or parts of it, is punishable by life in prison under the Crimes Act 1914 and other laws. Further if Parliament ignores the people and purports to change the system will find them in breach of their authority derived from the sovereignty coming from the will of the people. This constitutes Breach of Trust under their fiduciary duty of care, to uphold and protect the interests of the Australian people confirmed Internationally in the Article 21 :3 of the UDHR 1948.

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What does the word Commonwealth mean?

Commonwealth is an English term for a political community founded for the common good.

The noun “commonwealth”, means “public welfare, general good or advantage”, it dates from the fifteenth century. In the seventeenth century the definition of “commonwealth” expanded from its original sense of “public welfare” or “commonwealth” to mean “a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people”.

The people being the sole source of sovereign authority.

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What does the word Sovereignty mean?

Sovereignty - A person, body or state in which independent and supreme authority is vested being a republic or a democratic state Black's Law dictionary. The situation in Australia as a Commonwealth is a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people- meaning Sovereignty - Power of Australia comes from only the people of Australia. 

 

In Australian ‘ Commonwealth” was first proposed as a term for the Federation of the six Australian Crown colonies, at the 1891 constitutional convention held in Sydney. It eventually lead to the joining of the 6 states as one people under one flag.

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The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901 is the supreme law in Australia. All Australian legislation, State Laws, and State Constitutions must comply with the Commonwealth of Australian Constitution 1901 sect 109 or be void. Clause 5 of the Constitution 1901, states everyone is bound by the Constitution being binding in all courts, judges and people every state and every part of the Commonwealth of Australia.

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Australian Sovereignty lies with the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901, giving the nation International standing. Australian can only be accepted as a sovereign nation if the government is complying with the power vested in them by the Commonwealth of Australia as written in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution 1901 being the supreme law in Australia can only be changed by consent of the Australian people through referendum.

 

​Anyone under oath to foreign interest does not qualify under section 44 of the Constitution 1901, standing in conflict of interest.

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Australian Sovereignty acknowledged Internationally

• In 1919 Australia became a member of the International Labour Organisation, with membership only being open to acknowledged sovereign nations.​

• In 1920 Australia became a Member State of the League of Nations as a sovereign nation.

• In 1921 the British government again declared Australia to be an independent nation. As such in 1922 Australia refused a request from the United Kingdom for armed assistance with regard to Kemal Ataturk. 

• Again in 1923 the British Government confirmed that Australia as an independent nation, acknowledging Australia has the power to make international treaties for its own interest. 

• In 1926 it was declared that Australia was an independent nation state of the the community of the British Commonwealth of Nations

• In 1931 the UK formally legislated that it no longer had legislative power over Australia. 

• In 1945 Australia became a member State of the United Nations (UN), with Australian, H.V. Evatt becoming the first president of the UN Security Council.

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The Charter of the United Nations 1945 guarantees the Commonwealth of Australia, under Article 2 paragraphs

1 & 4 as well various resolutions, the right to enjoy sovereignty over their affairs ie the right to self determination, which is the most fundamental principle of the United Nations. 

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The Crown of the United Kingdom

Under the Law of the United Kingdom, the UK Crown cannot issue Letters Patent upon foreigners.

Australian acknowledged as as Sovereign Nation as acknowledged internationally.

 

The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901 upholds Human Rights through English Common Law inherited 26th January 1788, symbolised by the Union Jack on the Australian Flag

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The Constitution 1901 again upholding the rights as confirmed by The Bill of Rights 1689 of Life, Health Liberty and Possession. Eg. Property right of possession- Chief Justice Sir Samuel Barwick described section 51 (xxxi) as a great constitutional safeguard giving expressed provision for compensation for property if offended by Parliamentary legislation. As affirmed with the term fee simple in land title deeds. This protection of possession of property also affirmed under international law. The right of property affirmed originally under Magna Carta upholding right of possession of property upheld as the first tenant of human rights.

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The Bill of Rights 1689

The Bill of Rights 1689, an Act of the Parliament of England set out certain basic civil rights. The Bill is considered a basic document along with Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act 1679.​ 

The Bill of Rights was used to draft the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights 1948. It remains in effect within all Commonwealth realms.

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The Bill of Rights 1689 asserted by declaring that Government must be only by the consent of the people:

• The pretended power of suspending the laws and dispensing with (i.e. ignoring) laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament, is illegal;

• The commission for ecclesiastical causes is illegal; levying taxes without grant of Parliament is illegal;

• It is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal;

• Keeping a standing army in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law;

• Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;

• Election of members of Parliament ought to be free;

• The freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament;

• Excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted;

• Jurors in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders;

• Promises of fines and forfeitures before conviction are illegal and void;

• For redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the laws, Parliaments ought to be held frequently.

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The Bill of Rights stands as one of the landmark documents in the development of civil liberties in the United Kingdom and a model for later statements of rights including the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.

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The Bill of Rights 1689 remains in statute and continues to be cited in legal proceedings in Commonwealth realms. In May 2011, the Bill of Rights was inscribed in UNESCO's UK Memory of the World Register recognising that: all the main principles of the Bill of Rights 1689 are still in full force today, and the Bill of Rights continues to be cited in legal cases in the UK and in Commonwealth countries.

 

The Bill of Rights 1689 has a primary place in a wider national historical narrative of documents which established the rights of Parliament and set out universal civil liberties, starting with Magna Carta in 1215. It also has international significance, as it was a model for the US Bill of Rights 1789, and its influence can be seen in other documents which establish rights of human beings, such as the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.​​

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The Bill of Rights 1689 remains a part of Australian law. The ninth article, regarding freedom of speech, was inherited by Federal Parliament through the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901. 

It was later incorporated into the legislation of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 which "preserves the application of the traditional expression of this privilege, but spells out in some detail just what may be covered by the term 'proceedings in Parliament'".

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Habeas Corpus 1679 

Habeas Corpus first originated through the 39th clause of Magna Carta signed by King John 1215, which provided "No man shall be arrested or imprisoned except by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land,"

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The writ of Habeas Corpus was described in the eighteenth century by William Blackstone as a "great and efficacious writ in all manner of illegal confinement".

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If the custodian is acting beyond their authority, then the prisoner must be released. Any prisoner, or another person acting on their behalf, may petition the court, or a judge, for a writ of Habeas Corpus. Habeas Corpus gives us a legal guarantee of personal safety against undue authoritative action against personal freedom.​​​

The writ of Habeas Corpus as a procedural remedy is part of Australia's English law inheritance.

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Magna Carta 1215

Magna Carta was the first law upholding human rights, protects the the right of private property. Magna Carta was issued in June 1215 and was the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law and must answer to the law. 

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In 2015 the Houses of Parliament, along with the people of the UK, commemorated 800 years since the sealing of Magna Carta (1215) also known as The Great Charter.

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The entirety of Magna Carta (apart from chapter 26 referring UK Crown's application of letters patent) remains in force in the Australian.  An original copy of the Magna Carta document is held for public view in Parliament House Canberra.​​ ​

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Neither the Parliament nor a King can suspend Magna Carta due to the fact Magna Carta has a higher authority.

"Here is a Law which even the King must obey" Winston Churchill.

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In the naming address given by The Hon. Sir Gerard Brennan Ac KBE, Chief Justice at Langton Crescent below Parliament House, Canberra, of the Magna Carta Monument on 12th October 1997. 

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“Magna Carta was not an act of Parliament. There was no Parliament. Magna Carta was not born of revolution.

It was a bargain struck between King John and the Barons. Its terms were hammered out between them on the banks of the Thames at Runneymeade, between June 15th and June 19th 1215.

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There are three factors which make todays occasion significant.

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The first significant factor:

Is that the Barons particular grievance against the King were extended into provisions of benefit to the wider segment of people.  

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The second significant factor: 

Enduring influence of Magna Carta depended on events that were to occur more than 70 years later. On this day 12 October 1297 the Royal Seal of Edward the first was affixed to attested copies of Magna Carta.

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He directed his justices to administer the Charter as common law. No judgements were to be given hence forth that were contrary to the Charter else they would be “undone and hold for naught.

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The third significant factor: 

Sir Edward Coke called it “the Charter of Liberty, because it maketh freemen.

Today it is regarded as providing a traditional mandate for trial by jury, equal and incorrupt justice for all, no arbitrary imprisonment, and no taxes without consent of the people.

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At base, the importance of Magna Carta is that it contains the principle that the King, like all his subjects, is subject to the rule of law and in every step of our constitutional process. It is an incantation of the spirit of liberty. It is the talisman of a society in which tolerance and democracy reside. In which each man and woman is accorded his or her unique dignity, a society in which power and privilege do not produce tyranny and oppression".

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The above taken from the naming address of the Magna Carta Monument 12th October 1997 by The Hon Sir Gerard Brennan Ac KBE, Chief Justice at Langton Crescent below Parliament House Canberra.  ​​​​​​​​

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