Rights: Inherent Freedoms Beyond Borders, Discrimination and Barriers - Essay Sample

Introduction

Rights are socio-ethical and legal principles of entitlements that are inherent to any human beings regardless of their nationality (United Nations, 2015). These set of freedom principles are devoid of person's sex, their ethnic or national origin, language, religion, or any other status that people are free to enjoy the freedoms without discrimination. Importantly human rights are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent and therefore have no barriers in their existence. The guarantee and expression of human rights, which are universal, is through the implementation of the rule of law (United Nations, 2015). The implementation of the rule of law comes in the form of treaties, general principles, customary law, and different sources of international law practice.

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In Canada, the protection of human rights is not only through the federal system but also via provincial and territorial law which stems from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Act. John Humphrey, the Canadian lawyer, and scholar played the central role in formulating the Act to give guidelines on the extent to which protection of human rights occur. Humphrey developed two articles approved by the federal level of government that qualified it to be a rule to govern the state. The Canadian Human Rights Act developed in 1977 protects Canadian citizens from any form of discrimination at a time of employment at the federal government (United Nations, 2015). The Act also protects employees at first Nation government's stage or who service the private companies regulated by the highest government of the land (Human rights at work, 2008). It gives the employees an entitlement against harassment or any form of discrimination based on either one or more groups of discrimination like age, sexual orientation, and race. The Canadian charter of rights and freedoms is another article that protects human rights in Canada. Enacted in 1982 as part of the constitution, it protects the rights and privileges of the Canadian people to ensure equal treatment at all times (Human rights at work, 2008). The charter gives freedom to the citizens on speech and expression, assembly and religion.

The universal nature of human rights gives it the international outlook and makes it the cornerstone of international Human Rights. The universality principle first expounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, reiterates in several international human rights conventions, resolutions, and declarations. For instance, the world conference on Human rights held in Vienna I 1993, noted the state must protect and promote all rights and fundamental freedom regardless of their cultural, economic, and political systems. The treaties ratified by quite several states across the world reflect the consent of the states creating legal obligations and creating solid expression to the universality of human rights.

The Current Economic and Political Structure Affecting Human Rights in Canada

In Canada, vulnerable or marginalized groups protected with the Canadian Human Rights laws are likely to face low economic and social conditions or statuses. Poverty in this country has a direct link to inequality, more so for the case of women who are single mothers and elderly women without direct support from their family members. The vulnerability extends to radicalized groups aboriginal persons and people with different kinds of disabilities. Housing is a major factor of influence because of the social and economic condition of an individual which may, in turn, contribute immensely to the treatment that one may experience. For the state to properly solve human rights challenges faced by the victims of such circumstances of housing, it is impractical to ignore the role that poverty plays in instigating experiences of discrimination.

The group of public assistance receipt fails to address the broader issue of poverty. The challenge arises when it makes the commission be able to address certain forms of discrimination based on the social and economic conditions of the said people (United Nations, 2015). Interestingly, the code in housing picks a certain class of individuals to protect under the law. Therefore the people living in poverty and are not in the recognition of public assistance, for instance, he working poor, may not be eligible for public services or assistance. The maltreatment extends people without homes and any kind of persons regarded as not eligible for such assistance. Besides, the code may not allow the commission to address the systemic and systematic issue of poverty due to what the Canadians perceive to be the current language of the code. A practical example is where the code gives the commission limited opportunity to sort out through discrimination complaints the situation of a poor person. Such commissioning may rise due to the degree of the lowness of social assistance benefits and lack of adequate food or housing facilities. The highest degree of manifestation of poverty in Canada is homelessness, with homeless people lacking most of the basic needs to keep them healthy, for example, support networks and income. Moreover, such people also lack social amenities and a sense of self belonging, for instance, the lack of a healthy environment for children and health services. The Ontario cities of Canada document the disaster of homelessness in this country and have extensive work conducted by entities like the Toronto disaster relief committee. The committee, together with the City of Toronto's yearly report, cards speaks elaborately on this social-economic menace of homelessness.

Defining Features of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and One Section of the Charter Summarizing and Interpreting It While Providing Examples, Where Relevant

The Charter of Rights and Freedom in Canada spell out those rights and freedom that the Canadian citizens believe are a necessity in a free and democratic state. The charter speaking about human rights and freedom is part of the Canadian constitution governing the three-tier government. This constitution that governs the Canadian state is a set of rules containing the basic contents about ways the state operates. For instance, it separates the jurisdictions and functions of the federal government from that of both the provincial and territorial governments.

The universality of certain contents of the provisions of the constitution of Canada makes it the supreme law of the land and so all other laws become consistent with its contents. Since the charter spelling the bill of human rights and freedom is part of the constitution, it becomes the most important part of the constitution. Importantly, the rights and freedom that Canadians may enjoy as spelled out in the constitution may not absolute as much as they form the most essential part of the laws. These entitlements may be limited to safeguard other rights or essential national matters or values (Graham, Restifo & Nelson, 2015). For example, in this case, maybe having the freedom of expression suppressed by law to contain issues like propaganda or minor pornography from destroying the morals of the society.

Taking into consideration section six of the charter speaking about human rights and freedom, we get the regulations concerning the mobility of the Canadian citizens and how they enjoy this freedom. This mobility section provides that every Canadian citizen has the right to enter the country, stay within the boundaries of the state and leave at will without any restrictions. It further provides that every human being has the freedom to move and gain a livelihood in any part of the state freely without any objection or restriction by anyone. An example of what the part of this provision stipulates is that once a person is a Canadian and they will stay within the boundaries of the state, they have the intentions and the status of permanent residency. For this reason, they are free to move to and take up any residency or property ownership in any province of the state. Furthermore, these citizens have the liberty to pursue or take up on any income-generating activity to generate a living in any province within Canada. However, the rights defined in this section are subject to limitations to ensure that as these citizens enjoy their fundamental freedoms they do not infringe on the rights of other citizens. For example, any binding laws are subject to justifiable residency requirements for one to be able to qualify for the receipt of social services publicly provided by the state in that particular province.

The Defining Features of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and One Article for the Declaration Summarizing and Interpreting It, Providing Examples, Where Relevant

The universal declaration of human rights defines the homogeneity and universality of human rights in all measures by articulating the fundamental rights and freedom for any human being. The adoption of the declaration happened at the General assembly of the United Nation's assembly on the 10th of December 1948 (Stachowska, 2013). The declaration recognizes the inherence of dignity of every human being in the foundation of justice, freedom, and peace across the globe. For universality, it declares that every human being is universal and equal in the presence of one another. The declaration does not spell out the social space of human beings but includes both political and civil rights, for instance, right to a decent life, free speech, liberty, and privacy. Besides, the declaration also highlights the socio-cultural and economic rights, like the right to education, social security, and health.

The declaration adopted by the founders of the United Nations did is not a treaty and therefore, does not create legal obligation directly to the United Nations member states. Nevertheless, the document is acting as a universal expression of the fundamental values shared by everyone in the international community. Moreover, it is having a profound force and influence on the social, economic and political development of the entire universe. The human rights law also gains relevance in the international community because of the shield it enjoys from the declaration charter. Due to divergence in opinion, some states consider arguing that the declaration becomes binding as part of the international customary law because several countries are revoking its contents now for the last 60 years. Besides, this declaration is seeing the rise to a significant range of other international treaties and agreements considered to be legally binding to those countries that ratify them to be laws of the land.

Taking into consideration article two of the universal declaration of human rights, confirming the entitlement of the rights and freedom makes the regulations binding in the rule of law. The article states that the declaration gives mandate and authority to the entitlement of all human beings to the rights and freedom stipulated in it. Moreover, people should enjoy these rights and freedom without any form of distinction, for example, language, sex, color, religion, race or divergent opinions. Elsewhere, the enjoyment of these rights and freedom should not have boundaries due to the universality nature that they exhibit. For example, there should be no restriction based on nationality or social origin, birthplace, property ownership and any other form of status. In terms of social and political engagements, the declaration disputes discrimination on the basis jurisdictional, political or international status of a person and a country or territory in which they belong. Whether it is about trust independence, non-self...