Structure of Fundamental Rights Catalogues

If one asks the question, why “Writing Constitutions Vol II” is called “Fundamental Rights” and not “Human Rights” the answer is found in this chapter, which provides a systematic overview of the human rights listed in international human rights conventions. It also explains the division between civil liberties, political rights, judicial rights, economic rights as well as social and cultural rights. The chapter thereby covers four regional human rights documents, namely the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), the European Charter of Fundamental Rights (EuCHFR), the American Charter of Human Rights (ACHR), the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights (AfrCHPR/Banjul Charta) in its subdivisions, norms and scopes of protection. The structure of fundamental rights in national constitutions depends on various parameters, such as legal tradition, the influence of international and regional human rights, coherence and readability, new phenomena to be regulated by constitutional drafters or even the judicial enforcement before a Constitutional Court. This is illustrated by the author by a systematic overview of different human rights constitutions in several countries.