“The Universal Declaration is the first comprehensive human rights instrument to be proclaimed by a universal international organization. Because of its moral status and the legal and political importance it has acquired over the years, the Declaration ranks with the Magna Carta, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the American Declaration of Independence as a milestone in mankind’s struggle for freedom and human dignity. Its debt to all these great historical documents is unmistakable.” Thomas Buergenthal et al., International Human Rights in a Nutshell 35–36 (3d ed. 2002).
universal declaration of human rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. An international bill of rights proclaimed by the United Nations in December 1948, being that body’s first general enumeration of human rights and fundamental freedoms. • The preamble states that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” The Declaration contains a lengthy list of rights and fundamental freedoms. For the full text of the Declaration, see Appendix D. [Cases: International Law 10.45(1).]
