On August 26, 1789 was in France the first Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ( Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen adopted). The statement was composed by the French Marquis de Lafayette and the Count Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès. The document contained the foundations for the later Constitution of France.
The Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen arose from the Enlightenment movement and was strongly influenced by the declaration of independence of the United States and also leaned on French legal tradition. The declaration states, among other things, that the people are sovereign and that social privileges do not arise through birth, but through personal abilities. The highest authority now rests with the nation. The king’s power is only a derivative of it, and freedom enables citizens to revolt against oppression.
Furthermore, the document states that other religions must be tolerated and that taxes must be distributed fairly among the different classes.
The text consists of an introduction and seventeen articles. On August 26, 1789, after amendment and discussion, the declaration was adopted by the French Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly). The main task of this body was to draw up a French constitution. Because this was a fairly complex and time-consuming process, there was a need to establish a number of basic principles earlier.
In the two years after the adoption of the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen’, the old institutions of the ancien régime were abolished under the leadership of the middle class in parliament . Also, the new constitution was written that made France a constitutional monarchy . In September 1791, the new constitution was officially ratified. The pithy Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was added as a preamble to that constitution.
Influential
Even when new constitutions were adopted in France, the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen’ was repeatedly approved. After the Second World War , a number of universal rights were added, such as the equalization of men and women. Also outside France people often orientated themselves on the document. Jabik Veenbaas writes about this in an introduction to his translation of the influential work Human Rights by Thomas Paine:
“In every international declaration of rights and every national constitution drawn up after World War II, the memory of the old declaration was present.”
However, this does not mean that the document was never criticized. For example, shortly after its adoption, the Anglo-Irish philosopher and founder of modern conservatism Edmund Burke published a critical book on the French Revolution . An influential thinker regarded the revolution as a disastrous development and he did not like the way the National Assembly was formed at all. According to him, the far-reaching democratization would lead to great chaos. peat boss:
“Before the Declaration of Human Rights, he had nothing but scornful words. He saw this as a pretext to rid society of its binding structures, of the crown, the Church and the nobility. According to Burke, the sudden imposition of those abstract human rights would result in chaos and bloodshed. In his view, the formation of a state was an organic process and justice and freedom should not be imposed from theory, but should grow gradually and naturally from tradition and history, as had happened in England.”
It soon became apparent that Burke’s bleak prediction hadn’t been completely wrong. In the period following the introduction of human rights, 40,000 people were beheaded in France. In short, the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was accompanied by an unprecedented system of state terror .
English translation of the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen’:
Declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen (Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen, 26 August 1789)
The deputies of the French people, assembled in national assembly, regard ignorance, forgetting, or disregard for human rights as the sole causes of general unhappiness and the depravity of governments; therefore they have resolved to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man, that the whole of society may always have at its disposal this declaration and may constantly remember its rights and duties; so that the acts of the legislative and executive powers at all times with the ultimate aim of all politicalprovisions can be compared and thus better monitored; so that the demands of the citizens, based on simple and irrefutable principles, may in future always be aimed at preserving the Constitution and the common good
Accordingly, the National Assembly, in the presence and protection of the Supreme Being, recognizes and declares the following human and citizen rights:
1 – People are born free and with equal rights and remain so. Social differences can only be based on the common good.
2 – The aim of any political association is the preservation of the natural and inalienable rights of man; these rights are freedom, property, security and resistance to oppression.
3 – The origin of all sovereignty lies essentially with the people. No body, no individual can exercise authority that does not expressly arise from it.
4 – Freedom consists in being able to do everything that does not harm another. Thus the exercise of the natural rights of every human being has only those limits which assure the other members of society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be established by law.
5 – The law only has the right to prohibit acts that are harmful to society. Anything not prohibited by law cannot be prevented, and no one can be compelled to do what the law does not ordain.
6 – The law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right, personally or through their representatives, to participate in its creation. It must be the same for everyone, whether it protects or punishes. Since all citizens are equal in its eyes, they may equally be admitted to all dignities, places and public offices according to their abilities and without distinction other than that of their virtues and talents.
7 – No one can be charged, detained or imprisoned except in cases determined by the law and in the forms which it has prescribed. Anyone who arbitrarily pursues, promotes, commits or causes acts to be committed must be punished; but any citizen summoned or imprisoned by a law must obey at once; by resisting one is guilty.
8 – The law can only impose strict and indeed necessary penalties, and no one can be punished except by a law enacted and enacted prior to the offense and lawfully applied.
9 – Every person is considered innocent until he is found guilty; therefore, if his arrest is unavoidable, any use of force not intended to capture the suspect must be strictly suppressed by law.
10 – No one may be harassed because of his views, not even religious ones, insofar as their expression does not disturb the public order established by law.
11 – The free exchange of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious human rights; every citizen can therefore speak, write and print freely, except in cases defined by law in which he abuses this freedom.
12 – The guarantee of human and citizen rights requires a police force; this power is thus instituted for the benefit of all and not for the private use of those to whom it is entrusted.
13 – For the maintenance of the police and for the expenses of the administration, a general tax is necessary, it must be distributed equally among the citizens in proportion to their resources.
14 – Citizens have the right, themselves or through their representatives, to examine the need for a public tax, to approve it, to check its use and to determine its components, basis, collection and duration.
15 – Society has the right to demand accountability from any public official for his administration
16 – Any society in which the rights are not guaranteed, nor the separation of powers established, has no constitution.
17 – Since property is a sacred and inviolable right, no one can be deprived of it unless public necessity, established by law, requires it and subject to just compensation to be determined in advance.