Human Rights: A Historical Approach Renata Salgado Leme

Abstract

The article highlights the importance of establishing relationships and connections between Law and History, emphasizing that Law is a product of social, economic, political and cultural relations. It emphasizes that the statutes of fundamental rights emerged from the end of the 17th century and that, after the Second World War, a universal collective awareness arose about the need to protect and expand these rights. The text also highlights and comments on some Human Rights documents published since then: Bill of Rights, Declaration of Rights of the French Revolution, Geneva Convention on Slavery, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Declaration of the Rights of the Child, Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, American Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on Biological Diversity. The study also discusses the process of incorporating these rights into the Brazilian domestic legal system. Finally, it is concluded that the participation of legal professionals in the process of construction, expansion and defense of Human Rights is essential.