| I think the rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights set out most of the necessary requirements for a free, open and just society .
This is a summary of the rights,some have restrictions or amendments but the basics are as below:
The right to your own life
Prohibition of torture or other degrading and inhuman treatment or punishment
Prohibition of slavery, servitude and forced labour
The right to liberty and security of person
The right to a fair trial, in public before an independent impartial tribunal and the presumption of innocence
The prohibition of retrospective criminalisation
The right to privacy in ones family, home and correspondence
The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion
The right to freedom of expression
The right to freedom of assembly
The right to marriage between people of adult age
The prohibition of discrimination
The prohibition of using any of these rights to seek the abolition or limitation of any other rights guaranteed in the Convention
The right to peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions
The right to education
The right to regular, free and fair elections
The right to a nationality
The right of free movement within the country and the right to leave the country
The right to an timely and effective remedy for violations of these rights.
There are a lot of finer details some of which I disagree with (for instance the right of marriage allows for states to distinguish between difference sex marriage and same sex civil partners - I'd prefer one state of marriage for both) but these cover the basic rights.
However I would add that there are other requirements other than a list of rights and prohibitions. The State also needs to be strong enough to provide the security and mechanisms to ensure that these rights are upheld.
There are also further requirements that I'd see in terms of political transparency and rights of access to official information. |