Available in Russian
Author: Angelika Nussberger
DOI: 10.21128/1812-7126-2025-2-4-24
Keywords: human rights history; human rights interpretation; European Convention on Human Rights; living instrument doctrine; Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Human rights have been codified over the centuries. They cannot be separated from the historical context in which they were created. Discussions in the 21st century, for example about the rights of animals or the rights of nature, seem to shake the fundamental convictions on which human rights are based and may suggest that human rights are outdated. But while uncertainties and innovative approaches cannot be ignored, it is not possible to confirm a complete change in the basic perceptions underlying human rights codifications and treaties. While the historical context is important, examples such as the Magna Carta show that abstract ideas can be unearthed and given an abstract, nontemporal meaning. This is also true of modern codifications, where some provisions remain dead letter, while others shape society. Another factor that can create a distance between the human rights of the past and the present is language. Attempts to rewrite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and adapt it to a gender- and hierarchy-sensitive understanding have not proved fruitful; it is better to accept the compromises of the time in their original form. Ultimately, the longevity of human rights may be a result of their adaptability, as exemplified by the living instrument doctrine of the European Court of Human Rights. It is thus possible to pour “new wine” into “old wineskins” and make human rights work, despite the paradoxical interdependence between the timeless and the time-bound.
About the author: Angelika Nussberger – Professor at the University of Cologne, Director of the Academy of European Human Rights Protection, Vice-President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, former Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights, International Judge at the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cologne, Germany.
Citation: Nussberger A. (2025) Ustarevayut li prava cheloveka? [Can human rights become obsolete?] Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.34, no.2, pp.4–24. (In Russian).
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