Elizabeth Wicks, The Meaning of ‘Life’: Dignity and the Right to Life in International Human Rights Treaties, Human Rights Law Review, Volume 12, Issue 2, June 2012, Pages 199–219, https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngs002
Navbar Search Filter Mobile Enter search term Search Navbar Search Filter Enter search term SearchThis article investigates the right to life by analysing the meaning of the term ‘life’ protected within the right. It identifies dignity in human life as an underlying principle in the interpretation of the right to life by treaty bodies implementing international human rights treaties. Two important consequences of this implicit focus on dignity in human life are identified: an extension of the conditions necessary for life to continue (extending beyond an absence of death to encompass some basic economic and social needs) and a recognition that all forms of human life will need some basic level of protection regardless of the individual entity’s legal status. The article concludes that, while a state government will not always be required to act to preserve human life, it is required under international human rights law to govern the state in a way compatible with the idea of dignity in human life.
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