KSLU Solved Question Papers
Human Rights Law and Practice
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 8
2019 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 8 Human Rights Law and Practice 2019 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2019 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2019 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.
Q1State the Human Rights provisions provided under the U.N. Charter.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the Charter (signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945, in force 24 October 1945), why it speaks of human rights, and the "golden thread" running through it; the provisions grouped by what they do: the Preamble; Article 1(3) (a purpose); Article 8 (equality of men and women in UN organs); Articles 55(c) and 56 (the members' pledge); the organs' tasks (Articles 13(1)(b), 62(1) to (4), 64, 68, 71, 76(c)); the limit in Article 2(7) and its Chapter VII exception (Security Council resolution 418 of 1977); Article 103; the legal force of the provisions (the Namibia advisory opinion of 1971; Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (Belgium v. Spain); Sei Fujii v. State of California); what was built on them; India (Gramophone Company of India Ltd v. Birendra Bahadur Pandey); an assessment; a conclusion.
The Charter and human rights
The Charter of the United Nations was signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945 and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Second World War and the Holocaust had shown that a State's treatment of its own people could threaten world peace. So, for the first time, a treaty joined by almost every State made human rights an international concern.
The Charter does not list the rights. Instead, it mentions human rights in several key places and gives the UN organs the task of promoting them. That is why it is said that the provisions on human rights run throughout the Charter like a golden thread. The thread appears in the Preamble, the Purposes and the duties of Members. It runs on through the work of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, and through the trusteeship system. Each place is examined below.
1. A statement of faith: the Preamble
The peoples of the United Nations declare their determination "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small".
2. A purpose of the Organisation: Article 1(3)
One of the four Purposes of the UN is to achieve international co-operation "in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion". Every organ must act for this purpose.
3. Equality inside the UN: Article 8
The UN shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to take part in its organs. Both serve on conditions of equality.
4. The members' pledge: Articles 55 and 56
- Article 55(c). The UN shall promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion".
- Article 56. All Members "pledge themselves to take joint and separate action in co-operation with the Organization" to achieve the purposes in Article 55.
These two articles are the main source of a legal duty on States.
5. Tasks for the UN organs
- The General Assembly (Article 13(1)(b)) shall initiate studies and make recommendations for assisting in the realisation of human rights for all.
- The Economic and Social Council has the widest human rights role. Under Article 62(1) it may make or initiate studies and reports on social, cultural, educational, health and related matters. Under Article 62(2) it may make recommendations for promoting respect for human rights. Article 62(3) lets it prepare draft conventions for the General Assembly, and Article 62(4) lets it call international conferences. Under Article 64 it may obtain regular reports from the specialised agencies and from Members. Under Article 68 it "shall set up commissions ... for the promotion of human rights". Under Article 71 it may consult non-governmental organisations.
- The Trusteeship system (Article 76(c)) must encourage respect for human rights in trust territories.
6. The limit: Article 2(7)
The UN may not "intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state". States long argued that the treatment of their own people fell within this clause. Practice has narrowed it. Serious and systematic violations are now treated as a matter of international concern.
The clause itself contains an exception: it "shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter VII". So once the Security Council finds a threat to the peace, domestic jurisdiction is no bar. By resolution 418 of 4 November 1977, acting under Chapter VII, the Council imposed a mandatory arms embargo on South Africa. It cited the regime's repression of the opponents of apartheid.
7. The priority of the Charter: Article 103
If a Member's obligations under the Charter conflict with its obligations under any other agreement, the Charter prevails. This gives the human rights purposes of the Charter a higher standing.
Are these provisions legally binding?
In international law, yes. The International Court of Justice gave its advisory opinion on Namibia on 21 June 1971 (ICJ Reports 1971, p. 16). It concerned South Africa's rule over Namibia. South Africa had extended its apartheid laws to the territory. The Court said South Africa had pledged under the Charter to observe human rights for all without distinction as to race. To enforce distinctions based only on race, colour, descent or ethnic origin was "a flagrant violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter" (paragraph 131).
Owed to all States. In Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (Belgium v. Spain), ICJ Reports 1970, p. 3, the Court distinguished obligations owed "towards the international community as a whole". It named among them the basic rights of the human person, including protection from slavery and racial discrimination. Every State has a legal interest in their protection, which gives the Charter's human rights pledge a reach beyond the victim's own State.
In national courts, not always directly. In Sei Fujii v. State of California, 38 Cal.2d 718, decided on 17 April 1952, a Japanese man's land escheated to the State under the Alien Land Law. He argued that the Charter's human rights provisions made the law invalid. The Supreme Court of California held that those provisions are not self-executing. They were not meant to override domestic law by themselves. It struck the law down under the Fourteenth Amendment instead. So the Charter binds the State, but a citizen may need national law to enforce it.
What was built on these provisions
| Charter provision | What grew from it |
|---|---|
| Article 68 | The Commission on Human Rights (1946), which drafted the Universal Declaration of 1948 |
| Articles 13 and 55 | The Universal Declaration, the two Covenants of 1966 and the core treaties |
| Articles 1(3), 55 and 56 | The High Commissioner for Human Rights (General Assembly resolution 48/141 of 1993) |
| Article 7(2) and 22 (subsidiary organs) | The Human Rights Council (resolution 60/251 of 2006) and its Universal Periodic Review |
| Article 71 | Consultative status of NGOs with ECOSOC |
India and the Charter
India was a founding member. Article 51(c) of the Constitution asks the State to foster respect for international law and treaty obligations. Indian courts read Charter values into Part III. The Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights echo the Charter's call for equality without distinction of race, sex, language or religion.
In Gramophone Company of India Ltd v. Birendra Bahadur Pandey, AIR 1984 SC 667, cassettes bound for Nepal passed through India, and the question was whether they were "imported". The Supreme Court explained that rules of international law are accommodated in Indian law even without legislation, unless they conflict with an Act of Parliament. Treaty obligations such as those in the Charter therefore shape how Indian courts read Indian law.
Assessment
Strengths. The Charter made human rights a purpose of the world organisation and a legal pledge of its Members. It gave the UN organs the power to study, recommend and draft treaties, and it opened the door to NGOs.
Weaknesses. The Charter does not define human rights or list them. It gives no court to individuals, and Article 2(7) is still raised by States to resist scrutiny. Its provisions are general, so their force depends on the instruments and bodies that followed.
Conclusion. Human rights run through the Charter like a golden thread. The Charter states its human rights provisions in the Preamble and Article 1(3). Article 8 applies equality inside the UN, and Articles 55(c) and 56 bind members to promote human rights jointly and separately. The organs act under Articles 13(1)(b), 62(2), 68, 71 and 76(c), within the limit of Article 2(7). Article 2(7) yields to Chapter VII, as resolution 418 of 1977 shows. The Namibia opinion shows that a State violating these provisions breaches the Charter, and Barcelona Traction makes basic rights a concern of all States. Sei Fujii shows that domestic courts may need national law to enforce them. Their real force lies in the Declaration, Covenants and bodies they produced.
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