It is not easy to give a general definition (encompassing all rights, all kinds of rights) and at the same time short and easy to understand. To try to get closer to a definition, we will start by reviewing what we do with rights and provide examples of rights as we review.
For instance:
Juana, of legal age, has the right to vote.
Pedro, a minor, does not have the right to vote.
A blind person has the right to enter any restaurant with his guide dog.
A neighbor does not have the right to turn the music on after midnight.
Policemen have the right to ask us for an identity card.
These examples teach us two things:
That rights always have a person as its owner, although it is debated whether (some) animals also have (some) rights.
That when someone has a right, they have a capacity to act: vote, enter with their dog, etc.
How do you get a right? Well, it depends on the right that is. Let's see some examples:
The city council has granted me the building license to build a swimming pool while it has been denied to my neighbor due to the danger of collapse.
The police grant a license to carry weapons to jewelers on the basis of their profession, but deny it in many other cases.
The Mexican government is debating whether to grant the right to vote from the age of sixteen, but at present it only grants it to those over eighteen.
My father has given me the right to come and go from home whenever I want, while your mother has denied you.
These examples show us that:
Rights are granted or denied by a competent authority to those who request them.
Many rights are restricted : not everyone can have them, only those who meet certain conditions. Few are the rights that we all have and also without conditions.
Just as we win, are granted or granted rights, we can also lose them:
When caught cheating, he lost his right to take the exam.
The judge deprived him of his right to see his children for having mistreated them.
In some countries, those who commit a crime are deprived of their right to vote while serving a sentence.
Those who lose all their points lose their right to drive.
These examples show us that:
Rights are lost or we are deprived of them by some competent authority and for some reason.
Not only can we lose a right because it is taken away from us, we can also lose it voluntarily (although usually in this case we can also recover it voluntarily):
Pedro renounced his right to inherit from his uncles in favor of his sister.
I'll help you put up a jewelry store if you waive your right to apply for a gun license.
Those who enter the armed forces renounce their right to strike.
These examples tell us that:
The usual thing is to give up a right in exchange for something (which is considered more valuable).
Having a right means having the ability to do something, but having the ability does not mean having to exercise it: we are capable of spending a minute without lifting a single finger, but we rarely do so. The same happens with rights:
My neighbor decided to exercise his right to vote, while I did not vote.
My cousin decided to exercise her right to take a driving license test, while I did not show up.
You have decided to exercise your right to study a career while I have decided to exercise my right to work.
It is clear that:
Exercising a right that you have is voluntary , whoever has it freely decides whether to exercise it or not. If you do not exercise it freely, then we say that you have been forced to do something against your will.
Not exercising a right that you have does not mean losing that right; you just don't do (now) what that right allows you to do (at another time).
There is a difference between not exercising and renouncing a right: whoever renounces a right not only does not exercise (in the future) that right, but they no longer have it (although they can recover it).
The exercise of a right always has limitations .
If you have a right, you can exercise it if you want. But often, in order to exercise a right, it is not enough that you want to do it, it is also necessary that others do not prevent you.
Although your boss would have preferred you to work, he must respect your right to strike.
Even if the traffic department distrusts young people, it must respect their right to have a driver's license.
Although your family would have preferred you to continue studying, they must respect your right to work.
In each of these examples, there are those who could prevent or hinder the exercise of the rights of others, but it is their obligation not to do so.
It is important to realize that for every right someone has, there is a reciprocal obligation that other people have:
Workers' right to strike.
Adults' right to get their driver licences.
People's right to choose their future.
Employer's reciprocal obligation: letting workers strike not firing o substituting them.
Traffic department reciprocal obligation: issuing driver licenses to everyone that passes the exam.
Parent's reciprocal obligation: not imposing their plans onto their daughters and sons.
When the duty to allow those who have a right to exercise it is not fulfilled, we say that this right is violated:
By not processing her application, the registration office violated María's right to vote in the elections.
By preventing him from entering with his guide dog, the waiter violated the right of the blind person to enter the restaurant.
By refusing to process her license, the police officer violated the jeweler's right to have a gun.
By firing them without prior notice, the employer violated the workers' right to strike.
It is important to distinguish between the reciprocal obligation to a right, and the obligations attached with the exercise of a right:
The reciprocal obligation is held by people other than the owner of the right. For example, the reciprocal obligation to the right of a blind person to enter a restaurant with its guide dog is for the owner of the restaurant to let them both enter.
The obligations attached to the exercise of a right are held by the owner of the right. For example, the blind person who wants to enter into a restaurant with her guide dog has her own obligations: have the dog vaccinated, do not leave it unattended in the restaurant, etc.
Choose a right , and then give examples with people and situations that illustrate:
Who have it
What conditions must they meet and who gives it to them
What limitations does your exercise have
When can they lose it
Why could they give it up
What is the complementary duty to that right
A situation where you respect your exercise
Another situation in which that right is violated
For each of the following rights, state who has them and what is the reciprocal obligation and who must comply with it :
Right to register myself in the city of my choice.
Right to change the telephone operator taking my telephone number with me.
Right to a legal defense when I am accused of a crime.
Right to asylum in another country when in mine they persecute me for my ideas.
Right to take a free taxi.
Right to have a driving license.
Right to enter the store I prefer.
Right to say what I think.
Right to work in the trade of my choice.
Right to strike at my work.
Right not to suffer abuse in class.
Right to a minimum wage.
Right to healthcare.
Right to install air conditioning in my house.
Right not to have anyone read my letters and private messages.
We can say that under the common name of "rights" three very different types of rights are actually grouped:
Freedoms
Negative guarantees
Positive guarantees
Many of the rights that we have given as examples are freedoms. Each of these rights gives us an ability to do or not to do (to act or not to act) following our wishes freely. Exercising a freedom is a voluntary decision, although for this it is necessary that other people respect us and that is the complementary obligation to that right.
There are other rights that instead of giving us the ability to do something, what they do is guarantee that other people will not interfere in our life, preventing us from doing what we want or harming us in some way. These rights prohibit others from doing certain things that, if they did, would work against us.
Finally, there are rights that guarantee that other people (usually authorities) will do something for us. These rights put an obligation unto others to do something for us .
3. Classify the list of rights from the previous exercise (#2) according to these three categories.
Which ones are freedoms?
Which ones are positive guarantees?
Which ones are negative guarantees?
As we have already seen, there are many rights. In addition to classifying them into freedoms, positive and negative guarantees, it is convenient to look at several key characteristics:
Is it a right granted by some authority ( acquired right ) or is it a natural right that we simply have to exist, without having to ask for it or earn it ( natural right )?
Is it a universal right , which we all have, or is it a particular right , which only some have?
Is it a right that we can lose (is it alienable ), or is it a right that we cannot lose (inalienable)?
Is it a right that we can renounce (waive) or is it a non-renunciable right ?
Most of the rights we have put as an example so far are:
Acquired : you have to ask for them to be granted.
Individual : not everyone can have them, only some people who meet certain conditions have them.
Alienable : if you stop meeting the conditions to have a right, you lose it.
Waivable : if you wish, you can waive your right.
However, there are also rights that have the four opposite characteristics:
Natural : we do not have to ask for them, we have them naturally.
Universal : everyone has them, without anyone because of their race, religion, sex, culture, beliefs or opinions can be excluded.
Inalienable : no authority can take them away from you.
They are non-renounciable: not even you yourself can renounce to them.
These very particular rights are the Human Rights: