The Pro Homine Principle as an Enshrined Feature of International Human Rights Law

AuthorValerio Mazzuoli - Dilton Ribeiro
PositionFederal University of Mato Grosso, Brazil - Independent Scholar
Pages77-99
e Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law
ISSN: 2338-7602; E-ISSN: 2338-770X
http://www.ijil.org
© 2014 e Institute for Migrant Rights Press
tHE Pro Homine PrinCiPlE as an
EnsHrinEd fEaturE of intErnational
Human rigHts law
Valerio de Oliveira Mazzuoli
Federal University of Mato Grosso, Brazil
E-mail: mazzuoli@ufmt.br
Dilton Ribeiro
Independent Scholar
E-mail: diltonferraz@gmail.com
Aer the Second World War, human rights moved away from the margins and
became an important aspect of international law. is new paradigm was based
on the human being person at the centre of international human rights law. at
is, instead of the state-centric Westphalian system, international human rights
law is based on the human person as the source and end of law. Human rights
instruments are created, interpreted and applied taking into account the human
person. is pro homine framework ows from human rights instruments and
was created by states themselves. e Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man established this
pro homine framework, which was later claried by following internation-
al treaties and strengthened by decisions from the European Court of Human
Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court
of Justice.
Keywords: Human Rights, Regionalism, Individualism, International Legal Personal-
ity, Comparative Law, Legal Principle.
III Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law 77-100 (January 2016)
78
Mazzuoli & Ribeiro
I. INTRODUCTION
Human rights can be dened as the rights of humans,1 that is, a special
class of rights “that one has simply because one is a human being.2 Al-
though it is a herculean task to dene human rights, one which could
result in denitions which reect a scholar’s own theoretical position,
this term is intrinsically connected with the human person. is hu-
man-centrality of human rights paved its way through the state-based
international law. With the post-Second World War development of a
solid human rights system at the international level, the human-cen-
trality, that is, the pro homine principle is an increasing feature of a
once-state only club.3
Indeed, aer the horrors and atrocities that took place during
the dark years of the Holocaust, the international society responded
through the creation of a number of international treaties seeking to
protect the human person regardless of their nationality. Moreover,
individuals were granted the possibility to submit complaints and
seek reparation before international courts (e.g. the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights) and other adjudicative bodies (e.g. UN
Human Rights Committee). From this moment onwards (aer 1945),
international human rights law starts to eectively progress placing the
human person at the core of international law’s protection system and,
consequently, crystallizing the pro homine principle.
e pro homine principle is not a creation of international human
rights lawyers. It is not a deviance within international law without
any explanation or connection to reality. It is quite the opposite. e
pro homine principle is at the backbone of the post-Second World War
international law of human rights. Global and regional human rights
instruments, created by states themselves, establish a new system at the
international level centered on the human person as the source and
end of law.4 is system was then interpreted and strengthened by
1. J D, T C  H R 1 (1989).
2. J D, U H R  T  P 12
(1989).
3. For a state centric account of international law see L O, I-
 L: A T (1912).
4. See V  O M, T I  D-

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