Encyclopedia of human rights

The protection of human rights within and across states has undergone unprecedented development since the Second World War, not least as a result of the UN’s goal of promoting and supporting “respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion”. Over the past seven decades or more, not only has domestic legal, constitutional and statutory provisions on human rights, as well as the body of international law, grown enormously, but international and intra-state instruments and institutions for the protection and observance of rights have also been established. One of the major results of this development is that human rights are no longer considered a matter of internal sovereignty for states, and that states have a responsibility to the international community to ensure the enjoyment of human rights by their citizens and by foreigners within their territory. Our volume contains one hundred and two studies written on the topic of human rights, which encompass not only the first, second and third generation human rights, but also the history of the development of human rights, the antecedents of the history of ideas, the organizational and institutional frameworks for the protection of rights, some outstanding treaties and documents, as well as legal concepts related to the topic of human rights; but the volume also includes certain rights that are not considered traditional, as well as controversial fundamental rights, and even discusses issues such as the issue of animal rights. Instead of the various grouping criteria often used in connection with human rights, the studies in the volume are listed in alphabetical order – due to the encyclopedic processing. The writings on each right start from international norms and deal with domestic regulations, international judicial forums and various committees, and the practice of the Constitutional Court. The encyclopedia is the result of the joint work of sixty-seven authors. With such a large number of authors, it is natural that the studies are diverse, which is partly due to the author's freedom and partly to professional discussions related to various rights. Within each article, if a right, concept or institution is mentioned that has a separate study in the volume, the → before the italicized word refers to it. At the end of each article, a bibliography consisting of a few entries helps the reader to study the topic further. The bibliography at the end of the volume, which contains commentaries and summary works related to the topic as a whole, is also intended to help the reader to become informed about human rights. Since there are human rights concepts, organizations, institutions, documents, etc., on which no separate studies have been prepared, but which are also discussed in the individual articles, the list of reference words at the end of the volume provides guidance for searching for them. The editor of the encyclopedia, on behalf of all the authors, would like to express his gratitude to the two reviewers of the volume, Professors István Kukorelli and Miklós Lévay. He would also like to thank the members of the editorial board, Professors András Bragyova and Gábor Kardos, without whom this encyclopedia would not have been possible.