statement by the international community of certain values that are said to be so universal in
character as to qualify as ‘‘human rights’’—rights all humans, irrespective of their geographical locations, are said to possess. The preamble entreats all individuals and organs of society
to ‘‘strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by
progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance.’’
11
Article 19 of this seminal document contains the broadly worded statement that ‘‘everyone
has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any
media and regardless of frontiers.’’
12
This statement’s significance should be understood in the wider context of the importance
that the UDHR itself has been accorded across all spheres of human activity. While the UDHR
has not been without controversy, today, almost sixty years after its adoption, it is still cited
and relied upon on a daily basis by individuals, organizations, and governments across the
globe. At the very least it has been used as a firm touchstone by which to measure the morality of individual and governmental action.
The inclusion of a broad, unfettered guarantee of freedom of expression in such a weighty
document is a clear statement of international acknowledgment of such a right. The U.S.
Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law goes as far as to say that a breach of the
UDHR may actually amount to a breach of the United Nations Charter, meaning that the protection of the right to freedom of expression may be a legal obligation on all states, irrespective of whether they have ratified any of the international human rights treaties described
below.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Most of the rights enumerated in the UDHR have now received concrete legal form in a series
of treaties created, monitored, and enforced under the auspices of the United Nations. Preeminent among these instruments is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), which provides in part the following:
Article 19
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either
orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special
duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall
only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
a. For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
b. For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public
health or morals.
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Mary Rundle and Malcolm Birdling
character as to qualify as ‘‘human rights’’—rights all humans, irrespective of their geographical locations, are said to possess. The preamble entreats all individuals and organs of society
to ‘‘strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by
progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance.’’
11
Article 19 of this seminal document contains the broadly worded statement that ‘‘everyone
has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any
media and regardless of frontiers.’’
12
This statement’s significance should be understood in the wider context of the importance
that the UDHR itself has been accorded across all spheres of human activity. While the UDHR
has not been without controversy, today, almost sixty years after its adoption, it is still cited
and relied upon on a daily basis by individuals, organizations, and governments across the
globe. At the very least it has been used as a firm touchstone by which to measure the morality of individual and governmental action.
The inclusion of a broad, unfettered guarantee of freedom of expression in such a weighty
document is a clear statement of international acknowledgment of such a right. The U.S.
Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law goes as far as to say that a breach of the
UDHR may actually amount to a breach of the United Nations Charter, meaning that the protection of the right to freedom of expression may be a legal obligation on all states, irrespective of whether they have ratified any of the international human rights treaties described
below.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Most of the rights enumerated in the UDHR have now received concrete legal form in a series
of treaties created, monitored, and enforced under the auspices of the United Nations. Preeminent among these instruments is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), which provides in part the following:
Article 19
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either
orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special
duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall
only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
a. For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
b. For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public
health or morals.
78
Mary Rundle and Malcolm Birdling