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B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 8 Human Rights Law and Practice 2016 Jun Question Paper with Solutions

KSLU Solved Question Papers

Human Rights Law and Practice

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 8

2016 Jun Examination

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Mumbai

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First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.

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munotes.in is an independent study resource for students of Karnataka State Law University. It is not affiliated with Karnataka State Law University, and is not endorsed by it.

The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.

The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2016 Jun examination.

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Contents

The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2016 Jun examination, in the order it was set.

MarksPage

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MarksPage

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The Paper as Set

The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2016 Jun examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.

Duration 3 hours  ·  Total marks 100  ·  13 questions answered

How to use this volume

Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.

Read the original question paper

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Q1Define Human Rights. What are the sources of International Human Rights Law ?[16]

Answer

For full marks, cover: a definition of human rights (UDHR Preamble; section 2(1)(d) of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993); the meaning of "sources"; Article 38(1) of the ICJ Statute as the starting list; (1) treaties: the UN Charter, the International Bill, the core UN treaties and regional treaties, with pacta sunt servanda and reservations; (2) custom; (3) general principles; (4) judicial decisions and writings, with examples (Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras, the Namibia opinion); (5) soft law: General Assembly declarations, Vienna 1993, General Comments; the higher norms (jus cogens, erga omnes, Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (Belgium v. Spain)); a table of the sources; how the sources work in national courts (Sei Fujii v. State of California); how they reach Indian law (Gramophone Company of India Ltd v. Birendra Bahadur Pandey, Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan); a conclusion.

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Human rights defined

Human rights are the rights every person has because he or she is a human being. They rest on the "inherent dignity" of all members of the human family, in the words of the Universal Declaration's Preamble. In Indian law, section 2(1)(d) of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 defines them as the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity. They must be guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants, and enforceable by courts in India.

Meaning of sources

The sources of international human rights law are the forms in which its rules are found and from which they draw binding force. The standard list is in Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. It names international conventions, international custom and general principles of law. As subsidiary means, it adds judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists. Human rights law uses all of these, and adds important "soft law".

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1. Treaties (conventions)

Treaties are the main source today. They bind States that ratify them, under the rule pacta sunt servanda (agreements must be kept). Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 restates that rule.

  1. The UN Charter 1945: Articles 1(3), 55 and 56 make respect for human rights a duty of every member.
  2. The International Bill of Human Rights: the ICCPR and ICESCR of 1966 and their Optional Protocols.
  3. Core UN treaties: for example the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 1965, CEDAW 1979 and the Convention against Torture 1984. Others are the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006.
  4. Regional treaties: the European Convention 1950, the American Convention 1969 and the African Charter 1981.

A State may limit its consent by a reservation, but not one incompatible with the treaty's object and purpose (Vienna Convention, Article 19(c)). Under Article 31 of the same Convention, a treaty is interpreted in good faith. Its terms take their ordinary meaning, read in context and in the light of its object and purpose.

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2. Custom

Custom is general State practice accepted as law (opinio juris). It binds every State, even one that has ratified nothing. The prohibitions of genocide, slavery, torture, prolonged arbitrary detention and systematic racial discrimination are customary. So is much of the core of the Universal Declaration.

3. General principles of law

These are principles common to the major legal systems, such as good faith, fair hearing, equality before law and the duty to repair a wrong. They fill gaps where no treaty or custom applies.

4. Judicial decisions and writings (subsidiary means)

Decisions of courts and expert bodies show what the law is. They are not "sources" in the strict sense, but they are powerful evidence of it.

  1. Regional courts. In Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras, judgment of 29 July 1988, the Inter-American Court dealt with the enforced disappearance of a university student in 1981. It held that the duty to "ensure" rights obliges States to prevent, investigate and punish violations and to compensate victims. That reasoning is now cited worldwide as a statement of State obligations.
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  1. Treaty bodies. The views of the Human Rights Committee on individual communications, and its General Comments, explain the Covenant's meaning.
  2. The International Court of Justice. In its Namibia advisory opinion of 21 June 1971, the Court considered South Africa's apartheid laws in Namibia. It said that distinctions based only on race, colour, descent or ethnic origin were "a flagrant violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter". The opinion showed that the Charter's human rights clauses impose real legal duties.
  3. Writings of leading jurists also help to identify the law.

5. Soft law

Some important human rights texts are not binding treaties, yet they shape the law.

  1. General Assembly declarations, above all the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, and later declarations on minorities, disabled persons and development.
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  1. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action 1993, which declared all rights universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.
  2. General Comments and Recommendations of treaty bodies, such as CEDAW General Recommendation 19 on violence against women.

Soft law often hardens into treaty or custom over time.

The higher norms

  1. Jus cogens. Under Article 53 of the Vienna Convention, a treaty conflicting with a peremptory norm is void. The bans on genocide, slavery, torture and racial discrimination are generally accepted as such norms.
  2. Erga omnes obligations are owed to the international community as a whole, so every State has an interest in their protection. In Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (Belgium v. Spain), ICJ Reports 1970, p. 3, Belgium claimed for its shareholders in a Canadian company, and the claim failed for want of standing. But the Court drew the distinction. It named obligations owed to all States, among them "the basic rights of the human person, including protection from slavery and racial discrimination".

The sources at a glance

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SourceWhom it bindsExamples
TreatiesStates that ratify themICCPR, ICESCR, CEDAW, CRC, European Convention
CustomAll StatesBans on genocide, slavery, torture
General principlesAll States, to fill gapsFair hearing, good faith, reparation
Judicial decisions and writingsEvidence of the law onlyVelásquez Rodríguez; the Namibia opinion
Soft lawNot binding in itselfUniversal Declaration, Vienna Declaration, General Comments
Jus cogensAll States; overrides treatiesBans on genocide, slavery, torture, racial discrimination
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How the sources work in national courts

A source of international law binds the State in international law. Whether a person can rely on it in a national court depends on that country's law. In Sei Fujii v. State of California, 38 Cal.2d 718, decided on 17 April 1952, a Japanese man's land was taken under California's Alien Land Law. He relied on the human rights clauses of the UN Charter. The Supreme Court of California held that those clauses were not self-executing and could not by themselves override State law. It struck the law down under the Fourteenth Amendment instead.

How the sources reach Indian law

India is dualist for treaties: a treaty needs implementation by Parliament (Article 253). But courts read international sources into fundamental rights.

Custom and general international law. In Gramophone Company of India Ltd v. Birendra Bahadur Pandey, AIR 1984 SC 667, cassettes on their way to Nepal passed through India, and the question was whether they had been "imported". The Supreme Court held that rules of international law are accommodated in Indian law without legislation, unless they conflict with an Act of Parliament.

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Soft law. In Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461, Sikri C.J. said the Universal Declaration "may not be a legally binding instrument but it shows how India understood the nature of Human Rights". In Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1997 SC 3011, there was no Indian law on sexual harassment at work. The Supreme Court held that an international convention consistent with fundamental rights must be read into them, relying on Article 51(c). Using CEDAW, it laid down guidelines that bound everyone until Parliament legislated.

Conclusion. International human rights law draws on treaties, custom and general principles, as Article 38(1) of the ICJ Statute provides. Judicial decisions and writings serve as evidence of the law. Treaties such as the Covenants and regional conventions are the main source, and custom binds every State. Soft law such as the Universal Declaration shapes them all. A few rules rank as jus cogens. Barcelona Traction makes certain human rights obligations owed to all States. National courts apply the sources according to their own law, as Sei Fujii shows. Indian courts accommodate custom (Gramophone), use the Universal Declaration as a guide (Kesavananda Bharati) and read treaties into Part III (Vishaka).

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