UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN
RIGHTS
1948
Preamble
Whereas 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,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted
in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and
the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech
and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the
highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled
to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and
oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of
friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the
Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity
and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women
and have determined to promote social progress and better standards
of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve,
in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal
respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms
is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, therefore,
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Proclaims the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as
a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to
the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this
Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education
to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive
measures, national and international, to secure their universal and
effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member
States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
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 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set
forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as
race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national
or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security
of person.
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
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a
person before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without
any discrimination to equal protection of the law.
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 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
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to
be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a public
trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.
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
that penal offence was committed.
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 of attacks.
Article 13
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence
within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any
country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries
asylum from persecution. 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 15
Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall
be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change
his nationality.
Article 16
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.
Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and
full consent of the intending spouses. The family is the natural and
fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society
and the State.
Article 17
Everyone has the right to won property alone as well as
in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of
his property.
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or
belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in
public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice,
worship and observance.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression;
this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and
to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media
and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly
and association. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21
Everyone has the right to take part in the government
of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Everyone has the right of equal access to public service
in his country.
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government;
this will shall be expresses in periodic and genuine elections which
shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret
vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social
security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and
international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and
resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights
indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment,
to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for
equal work.
Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable
remuneration ensuring for himself and his family and existence worthy
of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of
social protection. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade
unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including
reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate
for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including
food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary socieal services,
and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond
his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care
and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall
enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be
free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary
education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education
shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally
accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Education shall be directed to the full development of
the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance
and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall
further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of
peace. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that
shall be given to their children.
Article 27
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural
life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific
advancement and its benefits. Everyone has the right to the protection
of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary
or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order
in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be
fully realized.
Article 29
Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the
free and full development of his personality is possible. In the exercise
of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations
as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition
and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the
just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare
in a democratic society. These rights and freedoms may in no case be
exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying
for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or
to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and
freedoms set forth herein.
