Advantages And Disadvantages Of Human Rights

Human rights are rights that are believed to belong to every person whether or not they have a psychological or physical condition. These rights ensure that these people are treated as someone without a psychological or physical condition. A Bill of Rights is a declaration of individual rights and freedoms, usually issued by a national government. There are two types of Bill of Rights. A constitutional Bill of Rights is a set of rights that is incorporated into a constitution. A statutory Bill of Rights is based on the government passing legislation containing the rights, and can be amended or repealed simply by passing a new law. Unlike most similar liberal democracies, Australia does not have a Bill of Rights to protect human rights, however

When in actual fact the constitution currently only provides protection over five explicit individual human rights. This means that the constitution does not protect fundamental rights and freedoms such as the right to life, freedom from torture, the right to equality before the law, or the right to liberty and security of the person. If a Bill of Rights was introduced to the Australian legal system, it would basically just outline the important rights of all Australian residents in a single document rather than using various pieces of legislation and common law precedents that govern the protection of human rights. An advantage of introducing a bill of rights would be that the Bill of Rights would provide full protection of human rights that are not currently protected by the Australian Constitution. This would be considered an advantage as the Bill of Rights will provide more protection for human rights as the constitution only provides full protection for five explicit rights. A disadvantage of introducing the Bill of Right would be that the Bill of Rights would begin to erode the key features of the Australian constitution, for example the power sharing arrangements between the federal and state governments. If A Bill of Rights was introduced into the Australian legal system, it would potentially provide more protection over all rights. However the introduction of the Bill

The Human Rights Commission (2014) state that ‘ Australia was a founding member of the UN and played a prominent role in the negotiation of the UN Charter in 1945. Australia was also one of eight nations involved in drafting the Universal Declaration.’ An advantage of introducing a Bill of Rights would be that all the basic rights and fundamental freedoms stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would be incorporated into Australia’s legal system. A disadvantage would be that the Bill of Rights would interfere with Australia’s international obligations, for example the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The State Library of New South Wales (2011) states that ‘Australia is currently party to seven of the nine core international human rights.’ If a Bill of Rights was introduced into the Australian legal system, it would mean that all the basic rights and fundamental freedoms stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would be protected by the Australian legal system. Although this would also make it harder for Australia to continue to try and incorporate all nine core international human rights instruments in their legal system. A recommendation would be to try and incorporate all nine core international human rights instruments before considering the idea of a Bill of Rights.