UNIVERSALITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS AS AN AGGREGATION OF LAW AND MORALITY

Abstract

The article substantiates the connection of the international concept of human rights in its origin and content with the European intellectual tradition and history. It is argued that this feature should not prevent the universalisation of such rights as a common standard for states and societies with different socio-political, cultural and religious backgrounds. The author emphasises that the issue of the universality of human rights goes beyond the scope of a separate theoretical problem, since international human rights standards claim to be directly applicable in the domestic sphere, having become one of the principles of international law. At the same time, the diversity of state policy in this area raises the question of the possibility and relevance of universal human rights. To substantiate the defining provisions of the article, the author uses classical methods of legal research: comparative analysis, formal and logical, historical, as well as the method of deconstruction (in terms of the origin of human rights) and critical ‘chain’ (with a view to assessing the nature of legal relativism and the ways to overcome it), and posthumanist methodology (in the course of substantiating the idea of universality of human rights on the basis of the systemic union of law and morality). The article substantiates that the origin of modern human rights is associated not only with the adoption of basic human rights documents, but also relies on the understanding of the events of the second half of the twentieth century, when international human rights standards became a driving factor in the evolution of international law in general, having a fundamental impact on the nature of the latter and spreading as an integral part of international legal discourse. Human rights ‘communicate’ morality to the law, strengthening the legitimacy of the legal norm; in turn, the law, relying on the universalism of these rights, endows moral prescriptions with legal force. By combining the power of law and the properties of morality, human rights recognised and protected by the State allow society to achieve the standards of a successful State recognised by a large part of humanity. It is proved that, despite the existing differences, universal human rights, which have been recognised at the international legislative level, are a common dimension that unites progressive humanity, testifying to its conscious rational choice of the path to success of an individual, society and the State.