Margin of Appreciation and National Security Essay

Margin of Appreciation and National Security - Essay Example Finally, the third generation of solidarity rights includes the collective rights to political self-determination and economic development†. Human rights help to protect people everywhere from political, legal and social abuses. The statements of human rights are addressed to governments, requiring compliance and enforcement on their part. Human rights deal with how people should be treated by governments and institutions. They are not moral norms applying to interpersonal conduct. According to Thomas Pogge, "to engage human rights, conduct must be in some sense official"3. Human rights apply to all countries and all people. The duties and responsibilities of ensuring human rights to a citizen are bestowed on the government of the country in which the person is located. â€Å"The international community is characterized by diversity, which is the cause of much controversy in the international human rights system since it stresses the universality of human rights.†4,5 In such a situation, the European Court for Human Rights (ECtHR or Court) enunciated a doctrine that allowed States a certain extent of latitude in the exercise of human rights according to the prevailing situation.6 This is known as the doctrine of margin of appreciation, different from the discretion allowed by the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights (ECHR or Convention) to member states in implementing human rights in internal laws.7 The Court places reliance on the doctrine of margin of appreciation to evaluate states’ extent of interference in human rights, particularly in situations where the rights are in conflict with the needs of the community. In the European context, the doctrine has assumed much greater importance in accommodating the prevailing d iversity by deciding on common perceptions applicable to all and allowing for diversity based on cultural and other factors. The doctrine is observed to have many similarities with the rational basis  test used in the American context.