Overview of the Human Rights Framework
A brief history and explanation of international human rights law
Northeastern University School of Law
Center for Global Law and Justice
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré View More
Human Rights Law
Human rights are the fundamental rights to which all individuals are entitled in virtue of being human. Human rights law — which is embedded in treaties, conventions, declarations, judicial decisions, and customary principles — aims to protect and promote these fundamental rights, which include civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.
Thematic Research Guides
The following guides focus on each of the separate human rights protected under international law. These guides explain the scope of each right, summarize significant case law interpreting the right, and identify useful sources for further research.
- Assembly & Association
- Citizenship & Nationality
- Conflict & International Humanitarian Law
- Due Process & Judicial Protection
- Equal Protection & Non-Discrimination
- Humane Treatment & Personal Integrity
- International Criminal Law
- Liberty
- Life
- National Security & Counter-Terrorism
- Opinion & Expression
- Political Rights
- Privacy
- Religion
- Business & Human Rights
- Cultural Rights
- Economic, Social & Cultural Rights
- Education
- Environmental Rights
- Family
- Food & Water
- Health
- Housing
- Property
- Work & Labor Rights
- Asylum & the Rights of Refugees
- Children’s Rights
- Immigration and Migrants’ Rights
- Indigenous Peoples
- LGBTI Persons (Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity)
- Persons with Disabilities
- Women’s Rights
Related Areas of Law
International Humanitarian Law
International humanitarian law (IHL), also known as the laws of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal framework applicable to situations of armed conflict and occupation.
International Criminal Law
International criminal law is a body of law that penalizes egregious crimes (war crimes, genocide) that are carried out by States or are trans-national or multi-jurisdictional in nature.
Refugee and Asylum Law
Refugee and asylum law is a body of law that aims to protect the rights of individuals fleeing persecution on the basis of, for example, race, religion, political opinion, or nationality.
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