Fundamental Human Rights

In looking at fundamental human rights, it is imperative to note that these rights are supplemented in analysis by other laws. Foremost amongst these laws are the provisions of Chapter II of the Constitution and the provisions of the African Charter.

The idea of rights was originally embedded in the concept of natural law or natural justice. The Greeks conceived natural law as a body of imperative rules imposed on mankind by nature. Per Burns Weston, this idea of natural law then gave birth to the concept of natural rights which greatly influenced the French and American revolutions.

The concept of human rights at the international level was however late in development. It was not until after World War II that a major impact was made on the development of human rights on the international scene as it became apparent that national mechanisms for protection were inadequate. This led to the formation of the Charter of the United Nations in 1945 which had in its preamble, the basic task of promoting and protecting human rights. The universality and importance of human rights was reinforced by the Vienna declaration and programme of action in June 1993.

Meaning of fundamental human rights

According to Salmond, a right is an interest, respect for which is a duty and the disregard of which is wrong. He identifies four types of rights as rights, powers, liberties and humanities.

Black Law Dictionary defines a right is well defined as capacity residing in one man of controlling, with the assent and assistance of the state, the actions of others.

The court in Siddle v Majors defined fundamental rights as those which have their origin in the express terms of the constitution or which are necessary to be implied from those terms.

Per Eso JSC in Ransome-kuti v AG Federation, Fundamental right is a right which stands above the ordinary laws of the land and which is in fact, antecedent to the political society itself.

According to the Court in Asemota v Yesufu, fundamental right is an undoubted inalienable right which corresponds to a jus naturale, a natural law.

Worthy of note are the facts that these rights cannot be waived by the state or by the individual where the right is not for his sole benefit but in the control of the state or the courts and, fundamental human rights have a changing content or growing content and new rights are constantly being interpreted into old ones and some formerly thought to be not so important are being elevated to new heights.