Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity
and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of
the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and
peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted
in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of
mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings
shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from
fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration
of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to
have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny
and oppression, that human rights should be protected by
the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly
relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter
reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the
dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights
of men and women and have determined to promote social progress
and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve,
in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of
universal respect for and observance of human rights and
fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms
is of the greatest importance for the full realization of
this pledge,
Now, therefore,
The General Assembly,
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as
a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all
nations, to the end that every individual and every organ
of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind,
shall 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, both among the peoples
of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories
under their jurisdiction.
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal
in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and
conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit
of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights
and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction
of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of
the political, jurisdictional or international status of
the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether
it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any
other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty
and security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude;
slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their
forms.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture
or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition
everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are
entitled without any discrimination to equal protection
of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against
any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and
against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective
remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating
the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or
by law.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality
to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial
tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations
and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11
- Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right
to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according
to law in a public trial at which he has had all the
guarantees necessary for his defence.
- No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on
account of any act or omission which did not constitute
a penal offence, under national or international law,
at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier
penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable
at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence,
nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone
has the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.
Article 13
- Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and
residence within the borders of each State.
- Everyone has the right to leave any country, including
his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14
- Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other
countries asylum from persecution.
- This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions
genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from
acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the
United Nations.
Article 15
- Everyone has the right to a nationality.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality
nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16
- Men and women of full age, without any limitation
due to race, nationality or religion, have the right
to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to
equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at
its dissolution.
- Marriage shall be entered into only with the free
and full consent of the intending spouses.
- The family is the natural and fundamental group unit
of society and is entitled to protection by society
and the State.
Article 17
- Everyone has the right to own property alone as well
as in association with others.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom
to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone
or in community with others and in public or private, to
manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship
and observance.
Article 19
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.
Article 20
- Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly
and association.
- No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21
- Everyone has the right to take part in the government
of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
- Everyone has the right to equal access to public service
in his country.
- The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority
of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic
and genuine elections which shall be by universal and
equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by
equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has
the right to social security and is entitled to realization,
through national effort and international co-operation and
in accordance with the organization and resources of each
State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable
for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23
- Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of
employment, to just and favourable conditions of work
and to protection against unemployment.
- Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right
to equal pay for equal work.
- Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable
remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an
existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented,
if necessary, by other means of social protection.
- Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions
for the protection of his interests.
Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure,
including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic
holidays with pay.
Article 25
- Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate
for the health and well-being of himself and of his
family, including food, clothing, housing and medical
care and necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond his control.
- Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care
and assistance. All children, whether born in or out
of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26
- Everyone has the right to education. Education shall
be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental
stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical
and professional education shall be made generally available
and higher education shall be equally accessible to
all on the basis of merit.
- Education shall be directed to the full development
of the human personality and to the strengthening of
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It
shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship
among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall
further the activities of the United Nations for the
maintenance of peace.
- Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education
that shall be given to their children.
Article 27
- Everyone has the right freely to participate in the
cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and
to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
- Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral
and material interests resulting from any scientific,
literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and
international order in which the rights and freedoms set
forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29
- Everyone has duties to the community in which alone
the free and full development of his personality is
possible.
- In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone
shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined
by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition
and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and
of meeting the just requirements of morality, public
order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
- These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised
contrary to the purposes and principles of the United
Nations.
Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted
as implying for any State, group or person any right to
engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the
destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth
herein.