12 - THE DEVELOMENT of HUMAN RIGHTS

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The GREEKS

The Greeks fights against tyranny began in 800-600 B.C:

Spartans developed their distinctive laws and traditions

510 B.C. Athens freed the people from tyranny and Spartan military

force was established.

508 B.C. Athenian democracy (two kings – “the council of elders”)

The ROMANS

The Roman Law from the Twelve Tables 449B.C. until 529 A.D.

Magistrates restricted certain power – the people were represented by jurists.

The Natural law (ius gentium) – “the law of the peoples” was instilled that people had rights and were protected by common sense / ideas / traditions.

Magna Carta (1215)

The Magna carta was a document signed by King John of lackland with his barons and their French and Scot allies at Runneymede and Surrey England in 1215. They instilled the Great Charter, it established a Council of 25 barons to keep John under close control when it came down to levying taxes and extracting possessions and property. It also established justice for the people. John appealed to the Pope declaring it unjust. However, the Magna Carta has influenced the English Law down to the present day. It’s one on the most celebrated documents in English history.

It is recognized as a corner-stone of the idea of liberty and citizenship. The Magna Carta contains 63 clauses, but only 3 are still in law /enacted today. One is based on freedom and rights of the English Church, the others confirm the liberties of London and the other towns.

It disclosed the limits of the rulers, and introduced the new idea of a lawful process and the idea of a jury.

The main points of this document are: 1) no one is above the law, not even the king; 2) right to a fair trial; and 3) people taxed should be represented.

The Petition of Rights (1628)

The Bill of Rights (1689)

The Bills of Rights is the paper of the rights of the English people approved through the parliament in 1689 and its consists in a list of the most important rights that the English people had. A commission was assigned to control the finances of the parliament excluding any interference of the King in the ministration of justice. The Bill of rights also declared that the King couldn’t suspend any law without the consent of Parliament. An important law is that the commission of ecclesiastic was illegal.  Then it was also illegal levying money for the crown by pretence without any consent from government. Moreover, freedom of speech in Parliament ought not to have been questioned in any place outside of Parliament. Furthermore, elections of members of Parliament should be free. What’s more, levying taxes without any ground or consent of parliament was illegal. Another point to be made is that the Protestant may have had an army force for their defence.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher and he developed some European liberal thoughts, like the right of man as an individual and the natural equality of all men.

With Thomas Hobbes, social life becomes a political life formed freedom, independence and equality. His method is based on his own vision of the state in fact he thought that the state gives peace and life to people but also offering it with governmental protection. So the state’s power is not only a supreme duty but the first and the most important interest for man. For this reason, the Hobbes’s political  philosophy is centred on peace.

The most important book written by Hobbes is “Leviathan or the Matter” that was published in 1651. It describes the structure of society and the legitimate government and is considered the most influential example of social contract between man and government. During the Civil War, he wrote this book to establish the state of nature that could only be brought forward by a strong and undivided government. 

…………………………..

John Locke (1632-1704)

John Locke was an English philosopher of the Enlightenment Period and he was considered one of the first English empiricist. His work effected the work of political philosophy.

His political philosophy was based on human rights, he expressed the radical view that the government is morally obliged to serve people by protecting their life, liberty and property. In fact, he claimed that every man had the right to life, property and liberty. According to him, these were man’s natural rights and to guarantee these rights, people established a pact of union namely man united in a civil society.

He affirms that people had to submit themselves to a government which had to protect these natural rights. If a government violated these rights, it became a tyranny and  people could have legitimately rebelled.

Locke’s ideas influenced the American Revolution and they reflected in the American Declaration of Independence. In its claim, he explained that all men are created equal and so they had the same rights to life, liberty and happiness.