Dignity and International Human Rights Law
An Introduction to the Punta del Este Declaration on Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere
ICLARS Series on Law and Religion Series

The Punta del Este Declaration, and this book dedicated to elaborating upon it, is devoted to exploring the ways that human dignity for everyone everywhere can be a useful tool in helping to address the challenges and strains facing human rights in the world today.

In 2018, an initiative was instigated to revitalize the human rights project by way of engaging the notion of human dignity. This resulted in the Punta Del Este Declaration on Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere (Punta Del Este Declaration), a declaration co-authored by over 30 human rights experts from all over the world. The Punta Del Este Declaration simplifies and brings coherence to the concept of human dignity in 10 brief statements that capture the many dimensions and aspects of human dignity and the practical ways that human dignity is useful in the promotion of human rights. This book provides an overview of how the notion of human dignity has been used to strengthen human rights. It discusses how human dignity playsmany different roles in human rights discourse and has the force to revitalize the human rights project; it is the foundational principle upon which the human rights project is built. But it is also the telos, or end goal, of human rights. At the same time, it is an important evaluative mechanism for assessing how well a country is doing in the implementation of human rights.

The book will be a valuable resource for all those working in the areas of International Human Rights Law, Legal Philosophy, and Law and Religion.

Foreword by Ján Figeľ

Chapter One: Seventy Years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Towards Strengthening the Protection of Human Rights

Chapter Two: An Introduction to the Punta del Este Declaration and Its Preamble

Chapter Three: Article One: Foundation, Objective, and Criterion

Chapter Four: Article Two: Generating Agreement and Building Common Understanding

Chapter Five: Article Three: Defining and Specifying Human Rights

Chapter Six: Article Four: Duties and Responsibilities

Chapter Seven: Article Five: Education

Chapter Eight: Article Six: Seeking Common Ground

Chapter Nine: Article Seven: Implementing and Realizing Human Rights in Legislation

Chapter Ten: Article Eight: Reconciliation and Adjudication

Chapter Eleven: Article Nine: Potential Difficulties Involving Competing Human Rights Claims

Chapter Twelve: Article Ten: Most Egregious and Most Feasible

Chapter Thirteen: Conclusions and The Way Forward

Appendix A. The Punta del Este Declaration on Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere

Appendix B. African Perspectives on Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere

Brett G. Scharffs is the Rex E. Lee Chair and Professor of Law; Director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University, USA.

Ewelina U. Ochab is a human rights advocate, author and co-founder of the Coalition for Genocide Response.