Posted by David Kopel:
The Human Right of Self-Defense
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_04_29-2007_05_05.shtml#1177957499
Paul Gallant, Joanne Eisen, and I have a [1]new article (PDF)
forthcoming in the BYU Journal of Public Law. Here's the abstract:
Does a woman have a human right to resist rape or murder? Do people
have a human right to resist tyranny? The United Nations Human
Rights Council has said �no��that international law recognizes no
human right of self-defense. To the contrary, the Human Rights
Council declares that very severe gun control�more restrictive than
even the laws of New York City--is a human right.
Surveying international law from its earliest days to the present,
this Article demonstrates that self-defense is a widely-recognized
human right which no government and no international body have the
authority to abrogate.
The issue is especially important today, as many international
advocates of international gun prohibition are using the United
Nations to deny and then eliminate the right of self-defense. For
example, the General Assembly is creating an "Arms Trade Treaty"
which could define arms sales to citizens in the United States as a
human rights violation, because American law guarantees the right
to use lethal force, when no lesser force will suffice, against a
non-homicidal violent felony attack.
The Article analyzes in detail the Founders of international
law--the great scholars in the fourteenth through eighteenth
centuries who created the system of international law. The Article
then looks at the major legal systems which have contributed to
international law, such as Greek law, Roman law, Spanish law,
Jewish law, Islamic law, Canon law, and Anglo-American law. In
addition, the article covers the full scope of contemporary
international law sources, including treaties, the United Nations,
constitutions from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, and much more.
The Article shows that international law�particularly its
restraints on the conduct of warfare�is founded on the personal
right of self-defense.
As always, thoughtful comments are welcome. You don't have to read all
119 pages in order to comment, but you do need to read enough to be
able to offer a comment about the article itself, rather than abstract
thoughts about the gun issue in general.
References
1. http://davekopel.com/2A/LawRev/The-Human-Right-of-Self-Defense.pdf
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