The universality of human rights

Authors

  • Sylvia Helena Steiner Malheiros Universidade de São Paulo, USP, Brasil image/svg+xml

Keywords:

Human rights, Universality, Fundamental rights, Generations of rights, International law

Abstract

The text examines the foundation and scope of the universality of human rights, starting from the domestic enactment of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Inter-American Convention. It analyzes the evolution of the concept, from the French Declaration of 1789 to the Universal Declaration of 1948, and discusses the categorizations into first, second, and third generation rights, corresponding to freedom, equality, and solidarity. It argues that universality no longer rests on jusnaturalist abstraction, but on concrete universality positivized in domestic legislation and peremptory norms of international law. It concludes that the 1993 Vienna Conference enshrined the universal, indivisible, and interdependent nature of human rights.

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Author Biography

Sylvia Helena Steiner Malheiros, Universidade de São Paulo, USP, Brasil

Procuradora Regional da República em São Paulo, Pós-Graduanda em Direito Internacional Público na Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de São Paulo.

References

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Published

1995-04-01

How to Cite

MALHEIROS, Sylvia Helena Steiner. The universality of human rights. Brazilian Journal of Criminal Science, São Paulo, v. 10, n. 10, p. 144–150, 1995. Disponível em: https://publicacoes.ibccrim.org.br/index.php/RBCCRIM/article/view/3395. Acesso em: 20 oct. 2026.

Issue

Section

National Doctrine
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