Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent
dignity and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of the human family is
the foundation of freedom, justice and peace
in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human
rights have resulted in barbarous acts which
have outraged the conscience of mankind, and
the advent of a world in which human beings
shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and
freedom from fear and want has been
proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the
common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to
be compelled to have recourse, as a last
resort, to rebellion against tyranny and
oppression, that human rights should be
protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the
development of friendly relations between
nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations
have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith
in fundamental human rights, in the dignity
and worth of the human person and in the
equal rights of men and women and have
determined to promote social progress and
better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged
themselves to achieve, in cooperation with
the United Nations, the promotion of
universal respect for and observance of
human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these
rights and freedoms is of the greatest
importance for the full realization of this
pledge,
Now, therefore,
The General Assembly,
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of
Human Rights as a common standard of
achievement for all peoples and all nations,
to the end that every individual and every
organ of society, keeping this Declaration
constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching
and education to promote respect for these
rights and freedoms and by progressive
measures, national and international, to
secure their universal and effective
recognition and observance, both among the
peoples of Member States themselves and
among the peoples of territories under their
jurisdiction.
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal
in dignity and rights. They are endowed with
reason and conscience and should act towards
one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights
and freedoms set forth in this Declaration,
without distinction of any kind, such as
race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or
social origin, property, birth or other
status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made
on the basis of the political,
jurisdictional or international status of
the country or territory to which a person
belongs, whether it be independent, trust,
non-self-governing or under any other
limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty
and security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or
servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall
be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or
to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition
everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are
entitled without any discrimination to equal
protection of the law. All are entitled to
equal protection against any discrimination
in violation of this Declaration and against
any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective
remedy by the competent national tribunals
for acts violating the fundamental rights
granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to
a fair and public hearing by an independent
and impartial tribunal, in the determination
of his rights and obligations and of any
criminal charge against him.
Article 11
- Everyone charged with a penal
offence has the right to be presumed
innocent until proved guilty according
to law in a public trial at which he has
had all the guarantees necessary for his
defence.
- No one shall be held guilty of any
penal offence on account of any act or
omission which did not constitute a
penal offence, under national or
international law, at the time when it
was committed. Nor shall a heavier
penalty be imposed than the one that was
applicable at the time the penal offence
was committed.
Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
interference with his privacy, family, home
or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his
honour and reputation. Everyone has the
right to the protection of the law against
such interference or attacks.
Article 13
- Everyone has the right to freedom of
movement and residence within the
borders of each State.
- Everyone has the right to leave any
country, including his own, and to
return to his country.
Article 14
- Everyone has the right to seek and
to enjoy in other countries asylum from
persecution.
- This right may not be invoked in the
case of prosecutions genuinely arising
from non-political crimes or from acts
contrary to the purposes and principles
of the United Nations.
Article 15
- Everyone has the right to a
nationality.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived
of his nationality nor denied the right
to change his nationality.
Article 16
- Men and women of full age, without
any limitation due to race, nationality
or religion, have the right to marry and
to found a family. They are entitled to
equal rights as to marriage, during
marriage and at its dissolution.
- Marriage shall be entered into only
with the free and full consent of the
intending spouses.
- The family is the natural and
fundamental group unit of society and is
entitled to protection by society and
the State.
Article 17
- Everyone has the right to own
property alone as well as in association
with others.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived
of his property.
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or
belief, and freedom, either alone or in
community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief
in teaching, practice, worship and
observance.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers.
Article 20
- Everyone has the right to freedom of
peaceful assembly and association.
- No one may be compelled to belong to
an association.
Article 21
- Everyone has the right to take part
in the government of his country,
directly or through freely chosen
representatives.
- Everyone has the right to equal
access to public service in his country.
- The will of the people shall be the
basis of the authority of government;
this will shall be expressed in periodic
and genuine elections which shall be by
universal and equal suffrage and shall
be held by secret vote or by equivalent
free voting procedures.
Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the
right to social security and is entitled to
realization, through national effort and
international co-operation and in accordance
with the organization and resources of each
State, of the economic, social and cultural
rights indispensable for his dignity and the
free development of his personality.
Article 23
- Everyone has the right to work, to
free choice of employment, to just and
favourable conditions of work and to
protection against unemployment.
- Everyone, without any
discrimination, has the right to equal
pay for equal work.
- Everyone who works has the right to
just and favourable remuneration
ensuring for himself and his family an
existence worthy of human dignity, and
supplemented, if necessary, by other
means of social protection.
- Everyone has the right to form and
to join trade unions for the protection
of his interests.
Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and
leisure, including reasonable limitation of
working hours and periodic holidays with
pay.
Article 25
- Everyone has the right to a standard
of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family,
including food, clothing, housing and
medical care and necessary social
services, and the right to security in
the event of unemployment, sickness,
disability, widowhood, old age or other
lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond his control.
- Motherhood and childhood are
entitled to special care and assistance.
All children, whether born in or out of
wedlock, shall enjoy the same social
protection.
Article 26
- Everyone has the right to education.
Education shall be free, at least in the
elementary and fundamental stages.
Elementary education shall be
compulsory. Technical and professional
education shall be made generally
available and higher education shall be
equally accessible to all on the basis
of merit.
- Education shall be directed to the
full development of the human
personality and to the strengthening of
respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship
among all nations, racial or religious
groups, and shall further the activities
of the United Nations for the
maintenance of peace.
- Parents have a prior right to choose
the kind of education that shall be
given to their children.
Article 27
- Everyone has the right freely to
participate in the cultural life of the
community, to enjoy the arts and to
share in scientific advancement and its
benefits.
- Everyone has the right to the
protection of the moral and material
interests resulting from any scientific,
literary or artistic production of which
he is the author.
Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and
international order in which the rights and
freedoms set forth in this Declaration can
be fully realized.
Article 29
- Everyone has duties to the community
in which alone the free and full
development of his personality is
possible.
- In the exercise of his rights and
freedoms, everyone shall be subject only
to such limitations as are determined by
law solely for the purpose of securing
due recognition and respect for the
rights and freedoms of others and of
meeting the just requirements of
morality, public order and the general
welfare in a democratic society.
- These rights and freedoms may in no
case be exercised contrary to the
purposes and principles of the United
Nations.
Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be
interpreted as implying for any State, group
or person any right to engage in any
activity or to perform any act aimed at the
destruction of any of the rights and
freedoms set forth herein.