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Human Rights: Tensions Between Negative and Positive Duties of States

Human Rights: Tensions Between Negative and Positive Duties of States Human Rights: Tensions Between Negative and Positive Duties of States Christian Tomuschat In our time, human rights are generally seen as an integrated whole. Al- though most writers acknowledge that different classes of human rights may be distinguished – on the one hand ‘classic’ liberal rights which embody ‘negative’ duties of the state, on the other hand economic and social rights which embody ‘positive’ duties of the state – a growing tendency attempts to play down the existing differences, arguing that essentially all human rights bear similar features. Attention is drawn to the fact that even liberal freedoms, i.e., civil rights, presuppose for their effectiveness the protective machinery of the state – in particular the police and a well-ordered judiciary. In other words, a government can never lean back, remaining entirely passive: Just in order to maintain law and order, a considerable effort is necessary, expenditure both in fi nancial terms and in human statecraft. It is true, however, that if and when the state machinery assumes the burden of fully ensuring the well-being of its citizens in all fi elds of life, an additional effort is necessary which requires ascending to a higher level of complexity in discharging http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Austrian Review of International and European Law Online Brill

Human Rights: Tensions Between Negative and Positive Duties of States

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
eISSN
1573-6512
DOI
10.1163/15736512-90000043
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Human Rights: Tensions Between Negative and Positive Duties of States Christian Tomuschat In our time, human rights are generally seen as an integrated whole. Al- though most writers acknowledge that different classes of human rights may be distinguished – on the one hand ‘classic’ liberal rights which embody ‘negative’ duties of the state, on the other hand economic and social rights which embody ‘positive’ duties of the state – a growing tendency attempts to play down the existing differences, arguing that essentially all human rights bear similar features. Attention is drawn to the fact that even liberal freedoms, i.e., civil rights, presuppose for their effectiveness the protective machinery of the state – in particular the police and a well-ordered judiciary. In other words, a government can never lean back, remaining entirely passive: Just in order to maintain law and order, a considerable effort is necessary, expenditure both in fi nancial terms and in human statecraft. It is true, however, that if and when the state machinery assumes the burden of fully ensuring the well-being of its citizens in all fi elds of life, an additional effort is necessary which requires ascending to a higher level of complexity in discharging

Journal

Austrian Review of International and European Law OnlineBrill

Published: Jan 1, 2013

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