Preamble section 6:

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Introduction

Professor Louis Henkin

To what extent have constitutions around the world accepted and embodied the Human Rights idea?

The sixth recital of the Preamble, building on the recital that directly precedes it, provides that all UN Member States now signing the Universal Declaration have already “pledged themselves” to promote “universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The most effective means by which states may fulfil this obligations is to entrench human rights standards into national constitutions and legislation to ensure that individuals are able to assert claims before appropriate bodies (whether judicial or administrative) in order to secure the legal protection of their human rights. The discussion that follows examines the influence of the Universal Declaration, subsequent norms, and international monitoring and enforcement mechanisms on national laws, practices and constitutions: what Louis Henkin has termed the “universalizing” and “internationalizing” of human rights.

Peter Danchin, Columbia University