Marriage and the Family, Rights of Parents and Children: Reflections on the International Bill of Human Rights and the Convention of the Rights of the Child

Abstract

Important international human rights documents recognize the right to marry and found a family as well as the rights and duties of parents and children. In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the foundational text for the modern human rights movement. It was followed by two Covenants in 1966: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Inter­ national Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). These documents became known collectively as the International Bill of Human Rights. While the UDHR differs from the two Covenants because it was origi­nally intended to be a statement of good intentions and not a document intended to create legal obligations between State Parties, it remains the linchpin for understanding documents such as the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

This paper offers some brief reflections on the written texts of the International Bill of Human Rights and the CRC. It provides an interpreta­tion in light of certain truths about humanity and society. It argues that these documents, when considered as an integral whole, reveal an interconnect­edness of the nature and meaning of the human person, his or her human dignity, as well as the rights of the family, parents and children.