COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF EUROPEAN CHARTER WITH UNO DECLARATION PART 1

COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF HUMAN RIGHTS CONCEPTION OF U.N.O. AND E.U.

 

European Union supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all concept of its Charter is consequently an enrichment of 1948 Declaration even EU did not consider necessary to rewrite the article 15 of the Declaration whose scope is beyond the field of Union. The articles 39 and 40 of the Charter have the same spirit as the equivalent article of the Declaration but they are limited to the territory of Union. The Charter of EU gives more details on article too briefly mentioned in the Declaration and it is very important to stress that the Charter adds 23 new ideas in form of articles. The Charter constitutes thus a substantial progress of Human Rights and a necessary adaptation to the social and technological changes which have occurred from 1948 to 2000.

 

21 December 2008 

Didier BERTIN

 

UNO – 1948

EU - 2000

Article 1

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 20 - Equality before the law

 

Everyone is equal before the law.

 

Article 1- Human dignity

 

Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.

 

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

 

Article 2 - Right to life

 

1. Everyone has the right to life.

2. No one shall be condemned to the death penalty, or executed.

 

 

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 - Prohibition of slavery and forced labour

 

1. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.

2. No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.

3. Trafficking in human beings is prohibited.

 

 

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

 

Article 4 - Prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

 

No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

 

Article 3 - Right to the integrity of the person

 

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity.

2. In the fields of medicine and biology, the following must be respected in particular:

. The free and informed consent of the person concerned, according to the procedures laid down by law,

. The prohibition of eugenic practices, in particular those aiming at the selection of persons,

. The prohibition on making the human body and its parts as such a source of financial gain,

. The prohibition of the reproductive cloning of human beings.

 

 

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

 

Article 46 - Diplomatic and consular protection

 

Every citizen of the Union shall, in the territory of a third country in which the Member State of which he or she is a national is not represented, be entitled to protection by the diplomatic or consular authorities of any Member State, on the same conditions as the nationals of that Member State.

 

 

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 21

 

Non-discrimination

1. Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic

features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority,

property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited.

2. Within the scope of application of the Treaty establishing the European Community and of the

Treaty on European Union, and without prejudice to the special provisions of those Treaties, any

discrimination on grounds of nationality shall be prohibited. 

 

Article 47 - Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial

 

Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article.

Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised, defended and represented.

Legal aid shall be made available to those who lack sufficient resources in so far as such aid is necessary to ensure effective access to justice.

 

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 48 - Presumption of innocence and right of defence

 

1. Everyone who has been charged shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.

2. Respect for the rights of the defence of anyone who has been charged shall be guaranteed.

 

Article 49 - Principles of legality and proportionality of criminal offences and penalties

 

1. No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence under national law or international law at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than that which was applicable at the time the criminal offence was committed. If, subsequent to the commission of a criminal offence, the law provides for a lighter penalty, that penalty shall be applicable.

2. This Article shall not prejudice the trial and punishment of any person for any act or omission which, at the time when it was committed, was criminal according to the general principles recognised by the community of nations.

3. The severity of penalties must not be disproportionate to the criminal offence.

 

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 7 -Respect for private and family life

 

Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications.

 

Article 8 - Protection of personal data

 

1. Everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her.

2. Such data must be processed fairly for specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person concerned or some other legitimate basis laid down by law. Everyone has the right of access to data which has been collected concerning him or her, and the right to have it rectified.

3. Compliance with these rules shall be subject to control by an independent authority.

 

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 45 - Freedom of movement and of residence

1. Every citizen of the Union has the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.

2. Freedom of movement and residence may be granted, in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community, to nationals of third countries legally resident in the territory of a Member State.

 

 

 

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 18 - Right to asylum

 

The right to asylum shall be guaranteed with due respect for the rules of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees and in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Article 19 - Protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition

1. Collective expulsions are prohibited.

2. No one may be removed, expelled or extradited to a State where there is a serious risk that he or she would be subjected to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

 

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 9 - Right to marry and right to found a family

 

The right to marry and the right to found a family shall be guaranteed in accordance with the national laws governing the exercise of these rights.

 

 

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 17 - Right to property

 

1. Everyone has the right to own, use, dispose of and bequeath his or her lawfully acquired possessions. No one may be deprived of his or her possessions, except in the public interest and in the cases and under the conditions provided for by law, subject to fair compensation being paid in good time for their loss. The use of property may be regulated by law in so far as is necessary for the general interest.

2. Intellectual property shall be protected.