Canadian Human Rights Commission – Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – 8 December 2008

Colleen Sheppard, research Director, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, Faculty of law, McGill University

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honor to be a part of this celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On behalf of McGill University, I want to thank the Canadian Human Rights Commission for organizing this important event. It is also wonderful to see the human rights exhibit that honours the contribution of John Peters Humphrey to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Organized by the Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Association of Canada and the McGill University Archives, the exhibit makes possible the sharing of this human rights legacy with the broader public and human rights communities.

Of course, it is also deeply rewarding to be here on behalf of McGill University, because John Peters Humphrey taught at the Faculty of Law at McGill for 10 years before he became Director of the Human Rights Division at the United Nations (between 1946 and 1966) and for almost 30 years afterwards. As well, the McGill University Archives has played an important role in protecting and maintaining the documentation that sustains our collective memory about these important events.

In thinking about the significance of John Peters Humphrey’s engagement with human rights, I wanted to use the theme of "relationships" to highlight three critical relationships that shaped his contribution to human rights. First, as the Universal Declaration’s Preamble teaches us, there is an integral relationship between respect for human rights and "peace i n the world." John Humphrey was of the view that human rights were essential pre-conditions to a peaceful, just and equitable world. As he put it "There is a fundamental link between human rights and peace" – "There will be peace on earth when the rights of all are respected."

Second, there is an important relationship between different types of human rights. The Declaration includes not only civil and political rights, but also fundamental economic and social rights. Included in the first handwritten draft by John Humphrey was the right to education, the right and duty to perform socially useful work, the right to good working conditions and a fair standard of living, the right to adequate food and housing, social security, the right to leisure, culture and enjoyment of the arts, the right to share in the benefits of science and the right to medical care. All of these rights were included in final draft. Indeed, the parallels between the two documents are striking. While some thought that the inclusion of economic and social rights – was the result of political lobbying by countries espousing socialism, these social and economic rights were included at the outset by John Humphrey. They resonated with his views (shaped in part in the Depression era in Canada) about the importance of a robust social welfare state. Indeed, they were also in line with Eleanor Roosevelt ’s ideas and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Depression-era four freedoms, which included "freedom from want." Still, it is remarkable that these economic and social rights were recognized 60 years ago. And yet, they remain deeply contested and present continuing challenges for those concerned with human rights.

A third relationship exemplified in John Humphrey’s life work in human rights is the relationship between ideas or ideals and action – between scholarly work and public service. John Humphrey’s career included significant engagement both in the academic world of teaching and scholarship, and in the international civil service. He was a true professional – pushing the frontiers of knowledge in academia and then at the UN and working to actualize ideals and legal theory through public service. His work "behind the scenes," overseeing the production of the 400-page background document on constitutions and human rights declarations around the world, his preliminary draft of the Declaration (much of which found its way into the final document), his endless hours of work mediating, negotiating, organizing, and coordinating the work of the Human Rights Division -- all of this concrete work in the international civil service was essential to the final adoption and approval of the Declaration.

Of significance, however, is the way in which public service work of this nature is often not fully recognized. Indeed, it almost did not come to light. Following John Humphrey’s return to McGill in the late 1960s, McGill law librarian John Hobbins, while looking for Professor Humphrey’s lecture notes on Roman law for another professor, chanced upon the Humphrey ’s UN documents, including his handwritten draft of the Universal Declaration. Upon reviewing the documents, John Hobbins realized how central John Humphrey’s contribution had been. He then set out to document and publicize the key role John Humphrey had in the initial drafting of the Declaration. While John Humphrey’s contribution is now widely recognized, there was considerable dispute and debate when John Hobbins first published his findings.

After his career at the UN, John Humphrey taught seminars in international law, international organizations and the international protection of minority rights at the Faculty of Law until shortly before his death in 1995. Even after his return to academic life, he continued to be involved in human rights activism. He was appointed to the UN Sub-commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities, worked with a number of NGOs, and was one of the founders of Amnesty International (Canada) and the Canadian Human Rights Foundation, now known as Equitas – the International Centre for Human Rights Education. Throughout John Humphrey’s life, therefore, he was deeply committed to connecting inspirational ideas about human rights to pragmatic, effective strategies and action to ensure their recognition and realization.

There are many more relationships that weave throughout the fabric of John Humphrey’s engagement with human rights, such as the link between international and domestic human rights, the connection between the past and the present, the need to remember, to commemorate and to know our history as we shape our future. But at this time of global violence and continued war -- at this time of pervasive, structural and systemic poverty and economic need -- at this time when both ideals and action are needed, it is important to reflect upon how John Humphrey’s work advancing human rights was premised upon the integral relationship between human rights and peace, the need to protect both civil and political and economic and social rights and an active commitment to both the theory and practice of human rights.

Thank you.