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Your rights and responsibilities Part II: The individual and the law

Rights and responsibilites

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Page 1: Rights and responsibilites

Your rights and responsibilities

Part II: The individual and the law

Page 2: Rights and responsibilites

the nature of individual rights and responsibilities

Rights

are entitlements or permissions that can be either legal or moral in nature

legal rights are enforceable by law through the courts – for the right to exist it must be contained in and protected by the law

moral rights derive from one’s own morals, values or ethics and are not enforceable by law

Page 3: Rights and responsibilites

values in australia

respect for the equal worth, dignity and freedom of the individual

freedom of speech

freedom of religion and secular government

freedom of association

support for parliamentary democracy and the rule of law

equality under the law

equality of men and women

equality of opportunity

Page 4: Rights and responsibilites

Responsibilities

are legal or moral obligations or duties that a person may have to another person

legal responsibilities are enforceable by law

where there is a right, there will often be a corresponding responsibility

Page 5: Rights and responsibilites

Rights are either protected by common or statute law

Statute LawStatute Law Common LawCommon Law

Defined

protected by statute is the right not to be

excluded or restricted on the basis of race,

colour or ethnic origin

rights are protected by common law, particularly in contract law and tort law

Example

Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)

Donoghue v Stevenson

1932

Page 6: Rights and responsibilites

the main distinction between moral and legal rights is that legal rights are enforceable by law, but moral rights are not

people can debate moral rights from different ethical viewpoints and may disagree on their existence or scope

a legal right is embodied in law and its existence cannot be disputed, although it can be amended through law reform

legal and moral rights

Page 7: Rights and responsibilites

one example of a controversial moral right claimed by some is the right to euthanasia, or the right to choose the manner and place of one’s own death

this is not a right recognised under Australian law

Euthanasia

Page 8: Rights and responsibilites

A bill of rights is a formal document that officially enshrines the minimum human rights that every citizen is entitled to, and binds the government to comply with those rights.

Bill of rights

Page 9: Rights and responsibilites

Australia does not have a bill of rights, but most other developed countries do

Victoria and the ACT have adopted their own state charters of rights, but the Commonwealth has refused

a recent Commonwealth inquiry into a bill of rights found 87 per cent of the public would support its introduction

Page 10: Rights and responsibilites

rights in australia

Page 11: Rights and responsibilites

Bill of Rights in Australia

Page 12: Rights and responsibilites
Page 13: Rights and responsibilites

Children in detention centres

Page 14: Rights and responsibilites

Individual’s rights and responsibilities in relation to the state

At times individual rights and their responsibilities come into conflict with the state

Smoking bans on Sydney beaches

1960/70s conscription in Vietnam War

Many individual rights have been challenged since Sept 11 2001, in order to protect citizens from terrorism

Page 15: Rights and responsibilites

Saggin Trousers legislation, usa

Page 16: Rights and responsibilites

freedom of expression

The Australian Constitution protects certain individual rights:

s 80: the right to a trial by jury

s 116: freedom of religion

s 117: the right not to be discriminated against on the basis of one’s state of residence

s 51: the right to compensation if one’s property is compulsorily acquired for any purpose in respect of which the Commonwealth government has the power to make laws.

Page 17: Rights and responsibilites

In the 1990s, the High Court begun interpreting the constitution to include implied rights rather than just expressed rights

Page 18: Rights and responsibilites

Defamationthe act of making statements or suggestions that harm someone’s reputation in the community.

Example Case: Mercedes Corby v Jodie Power

Page 19: Rights and responsibilites

defamation Chaser’s War on Everything take on Mercedes Corby

Page 20: Rights and responsibilites

International protection of rights

Treaties become binding on the citizens of an individual nation either automatically upon ratification, if the treaty is self-executing, or once the nation has passed domestic legislation(Australia)

Declarations are different to treaties because they simply state to parties intentions e.g UDHR 1948

Page 21: Rights and responsibilites

UDHR 1948 animation

Page 22: Rights and responsibilites

Un in australiaUN official questions the legality of Detention Centres

Page 23: Rights and responsibilites

Limitations of international law protecting rights

Nation-states sign international law not individuals

Nation States may ignore or refuse to sign international law (due to State Sovereignty) which may impede on human rights with their country

Page 24: Rights and responsibilites

Self Determination

the right to determine one’s own acts without external influence; the freedom of the people of a given territory to determine their own political status or independence from their current state

Example: East Timor Intervention of the UN 1999

Page 25: Rights and responsibilites

rights of indigenous people

The United Nations declared a decade for World Indigenous Rights from 1995 to 2004

One way in which self-determination is demonstrated in Australian Indigenous communities is through the use of tribal law e.g circle sentencing