Nordisk Tidsskrift for Menneskerettigheter Vol. 23 Nr. 2:2005:

English abstracts

Bjørnar Borvik: Grunnlova § 100 og vernet mot rasistiske ytringar

The Norwegian Constitution’s Article 100 (freedom of expression), originally dated 1814, was amended 30 September 2004. A main issue in the debate prior to the enactment of the new provision was the proper relationship between free speech and the protection against hate speech. Racial discrimination protection enjoys no constitutional protection, but hate speech is criminalised in Article 135a of the Penal Code. In 2002, the Norwegian Supreme Court, in what has become known as the Boot Boys case, favoured free speech over protection against hate speech. The Parliament majority, when adopting the new Article 100, criticised this judgment. This article discusses the extent to which the new Article 100 changes status quo as established by the Supreme Court in 2002

Keywords: Constitutional law; freedom of expression, hate speech, conflicting rights

Michael Freeman: New Priorities in Human Rights Research

The concept of human rights derives from natural-law philosophy that is concerned with supposedly unchanging rational truths rather than historical change. Nevertheless conceptions of human-rights are necessarily influenced by actual historical changes. This article surveys changes in the human-rights agenda since the foundation of the United Nations and proposes a set of priorities for human-rights research at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Keywords: research priorities; institutional effectiveness; human-rights strategies; global justice; vulnerable groups; cultural diversity.

Frederik Thuesen Pedersen: En kontroversiel rettighed: Negativ foreningsfrihed og solidaritet på det senmoderne arbejdsmarked

A. Controversial Right. Negative Freedom of Association and Solidarity on the Late Modern Labour Market: Recent sociological theories argue that human rights represent a new form of solidarity in the international society. Setting out from the sociological theories of Bryan Turner and Jürgen Habermas, the article attempts to characterize this solidarity as borderless, inclusive and reflective. However, human rights have often beensaid to clash with solidarity on the issue of negative freedom of association. Political controversies relating to closed shop agreements in the Danish labour market and upcoming Danish cases at the European Court of Human Rights bring this issue into sharp relief. The article defends the thesis that these disputes represent a clash between different kinds of solidarity rather than a conflict between human rights and solidarity as such.

Keywords: Human rights, solidarity, freedom of association, labour market, trade unions, individualism

Manuel Jimenez Fonseca: The Ambivalent Meaning of Development – A Call for Political Commitment?

The right to development is a tool to improve the standard of living of individuals who suffer. Yet, the meaning of development is contentious. This article explores the context in which the term was coined and the different ideologies that emerged to explain it. It provides knowledge to assess the meaning of development within the human right to development. The right draws on ideas and theses from three different and contrary theories about development. Thus, the right offers no coherent program. Contrary policies can be defended invoking the right. Awareness of this contradiction breaks the illusion of objectivity of human rights, giving each actor a political responsibility that will be more helpful in the complex scenario in which development is put into practice.

Keywords: Right to development, human rights, development theory, modernisation, dependency, alternative development