Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and
of the equal and inalienable rights of all members
of the human family is the foundation of freedom,
justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights
have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged
the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world
in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech
and belief and freedom from fear and want has been
proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common
people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled
to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion
against tyranny and oppression, that human rights
should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development
of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have
in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental
human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
person and in the equal rights of men and women
and have determined to promote social progress and
better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves
to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations,
the promotion of universal respect for and observance
of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights
and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the
full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims
THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as
a common standard of achievement for all peoples
and all nations, to the end that every individual
and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration
constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and
education to promote respect for these rights and
freedoms and by progressive measures, national and
international, to secure their universal and effective
recognition and observance, both among the peoples
of Member States themselves and among the peoples
of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity
and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience
and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms
set forth in this Declaration, without distinction
of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or
social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the
basis of the political, jurisdictional or international
status of the country or territory to which a person
belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing
or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security
of person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude;
slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited
in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere
as a person before the law.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled
without any discrimination to equal protection of
the law. All are entitled to equal protection against
any discrimination in violation of this Declaration
and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy
by the competent national tribunals for acts violating
the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution
or by law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest,
detention or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair
and public hearing by an independent and impartial
tribunal, in the determination of his rights and
obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has
the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty
according to law in a public trial at which he has
had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence
on account of any act or omission which did not
constitute a penal offence, under national or international
law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall
a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was
applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference
with his privacy, family, home or correspondence,
nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone
has the right to the protection of the law against
such interference or attacks.
Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement
and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country,
including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy
in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case
of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political
crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and
principles of the United Nations.
Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
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Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation
due to race, nationality or religion, have the right
to marry and to found a family. They are entitled
to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage
and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the
free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled
to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone
as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
property.
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion; this right includes freedom
to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either
alone or in community with others and in public
or private, to manifest his religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media
and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the
government of his country, directly or through freely
chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to
public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis
of the authority of government; this will shall
be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which
shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall
be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting
procedures.
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right
to social security and is entitled to realization,
through national effort and international co-operation
and in accordance with the organization and resources
of each State, of the economic, social and cultural
rights indispensable for his dignity and the free
development of his personality.
Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice
of employment, to just and favourable conditions
of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has
the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and
favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and
his family an existence worthy of human dignity,
and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of
social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join
trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including
reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic
holidays with pay.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living
adequate for the health and well-being of himself
and of his family, including food, clothing, housing
and medical care and necessary social services,
and the right to security in the event of unemployment,
sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other
lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special
care and assistance. All children, whether born
in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social
protection.
Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education
shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental
stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.
Technical and professional education shall be made
generally available and higher education shall be
equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development
of the human personality and to the strengthening
of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship
among all nations, racial or religious groups, and
shall further the activities of the United Nations
for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind
of education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate
in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy
the arts and to share in scientific advancement
and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of
the moral and material interests resulting from
any scientific, literary or artistic production
of which he is the author.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international
order in which the rights and freedoms set forth
in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which
alone the free and full development of his personality
is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms,
everyone shall be subject only to such limitations
as are determined by law solely for the purpose
of securing due recognition and respect for the
rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the
just requirements of morality, public order and
the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be
exercised contrary to the purposes and principles
of the United Nations.
Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted
as implying for any State, group or person any right
to engage in any activity or to perform any act
aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and
freedoms set forth herein.
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