Determining the Origins of Human Rights

Sandra Fredman, University of Oxford Faculty of Law, has published Are Human Rights Culturally Determined? A Riposte to Lord Hoffmann in The Jurisprudence of Lord Hoffmann (P. S. Davies and J. Pila, eds.; Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2015). Here is the abstract.

The relationship between issues which go to our ‘common humanity’ and those which are ‘culturally determined’ is a vexed one. Between a commitment to a thoroughgoing relativity and pure universalism lie many stopping points. Lord Hoffmann’s primary target is the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The aim of this chapter, however, is to examine his arguments in the light of the increasingly lively transnational judicial conversation about the resolution of similar human rights questions in different jurisdictions. I argue that it is a mistake to address the question as if there were only two options: a universal right answer to human rights disputes or an answer which is culturally determined, precluding any further common ground. Instead, the interpretation of both the substance and limitations of human rights should be a deliberative process. There can be no aspiration to achieve absolute answers which apply in all contexts over all time but to engage in constant reasoned attempts to develop the understanding of human rights. It is through the process of deliberation, consensus building, and accountability that human rights take on a dynamic role in society.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.

Lord Hoffmann's Jurisprudence

Hart Publishing has issued a volume dedicated to the philosophy and work of Leonard Hoffmann. Here's the description of the book, from the publisher's website.

Lord Leonard Hoffmann remains one of the most important and influential English jurists. Born in South Africa, he came to England as a Rhodes scholar to study law at the University of Oxford. After graduating from the Bachelor of Civil Laws as Vinerian Scholar, he was elected Stowell Civil Law Fellow of University College. There followed an extremely distinguished judicial career, including 14 years as a member of the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords (from 1995 to 2009).

In 2009, Lord Hoffmann returned to the Oxford Law Faculty as a Visiting Professor. In this volume, current and past colleagues of Lord Hoffmann from the University of Oxford examine different aspects of his jurisprudence in diverse areas of private and public law. The contributions are testament to the clarity and creativity of his judicial and extra-judicial writings, to his enduring influence and extraordinary intellectual breadth, and to the respect and affection in which he is held.

The Jurisprudence of Lord Hoffmann: A Festschrift in Honour of Lord Leonard Hoffmann is co-edited by Paul S. Davies, Associate Professor of Law, Oxford University, and Justine Pila, University Lecturer, St. Catherine's College, and is due out in July, 2015. More here.