The Universal Declaration of Human of Human Rights Today: Can it still be relevant in the 21st Century?

This episode considers the relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rightstoday, in spite of the political compromises which surrounded its drafting, resulting inambiguous norms which rely on domestic legal systems for meaning as well aseffective implementation.As the previous episodes have shown, impulses towards individual rights andfreedoms have always been conflicting and conflicted, and have never exhibited aconsistent, linear, upward development. Human dignity as expressed as rights tofreedom and equality has never been an immutable concept, and is not so now.If so, how useful can the Declaration be today?This episode focuses on three facts: the contribution of the Declaration to theprocesses of human rights; its contribution to coping with today’s human rightsflashpoints; and its relevance in addressing new horizons in international law.The episode contains further excerpts of the interview the presenter conducted withJohn Humphrey, the Canadian scholar who constructed the initial draft of theDeclaration, as well as interviews with Ambassador Hans Corell (the former UNUnder-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs) and with the Hon Michael Kirby (formerJustice of the High Court of Australia).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.