International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 December 1966 in resolution 2200A (XXI) and entered into force on 23 March 1976, three months after the thirty-fifth ratification. It is the binding companion to the Universal Declaration on civil and political rights, its twin on economic, social and cultural rights having been adopted in the same resolution on the same day.

Its preamble states that the rights it contains derive from the inherent dignity of the human person, and that the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural ones. It also states that the individual, having duties to other individuals and to the community, is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance of these rights.

Article 1 is shared word for word with the economic and social Covenant. All peoples have the right of self-determination, freely determining their political status and pursuing their economic, social and cultural development; all peoples may freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources; and in no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence. States Parties, including those administering Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, must promote and respect that right.

The obligation in Article 2 is immediate, which is the structural difference from its twin. Each State Party undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognised, without distinction of any kind, and to adopt whatever laws or other measures are necessary to give them effect. It also requires an effective remedy for anyone whose rights are violated, notwithstanding that the violation was committed by persons acting in an official capacity, determination of that remedy by a competent judicial, administrative or legislative authority, the development of the possibilities of judicial remedy, and enforcement of remedies once granted. Article 3 requires the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all the rights set out.

Article 4 governs emergencies and is one of the most consequential articles in international human rights law. In time of public emergency threatening the life of the nation, officially proclaimed, a state may derogate to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided the measures are consistent with its other obligations under international law and do not discriminate solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin. Certain articles may never be derogated from: the right to life, the prohibition of torture and of medical or scientific experimentation without free consent, the prohibition of slavery and servitude, the prohibition of imprisonment for inability to fulfil a contractual obligation, the prohibition of retroactive criminal law, the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, and freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Any state derogating must immediately inform the other States Parties through the Secretary-General of the provisions derogated from and the reasons, and again when the derogation ends. Article 5 forbids reading the Covenant as authorising any act aimed at destroying its rights or limiting them further than it provides, and forbids restricting rights recognised in a state on the pretext that this Covenant does not recognise them or recognises them less fully.

The rights of the person occupy Articles 6 to 11. Every human being has the inherent right to life, protected by law, and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of it. The Covenant does not abolish the death penalty but confines it: in countries that have not abolished it, it may be imposed only for the most serious crimes, under the law in force at the time of the crime, and only pursuant to a final judgement of a competent court; anyone sentenced to death has the right to seek pardon or commutation; sentence of death may not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age and may not be carried out on pregnant women; and nothing in the article may be invoked to delay or prevent abolition. Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are prohibited absolutely, as is medical or scientific experimentation without free consent. Slavery, the slave trade and servitude are prohibited, and forced or compulsory labour is prohibited with defined exceptions for hard labour under a court sentence, normal work required of detainees, military or recognised alternative national service, service exacted in emergency or calamity, and normal civil obligations. Liberty and security of person are protected against arbitrary arrest or detention, with rights to be informed of the reasons at the time of arrest, to be brought promptly before a judge, to trial within a reasonable time or release, to challenge the lawfulness of detention before a court, and to enforceable compensation for unlawful arrest or detention. All persons deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, accused persons segregated from convicted ones and juveniles from adults, and the essential aim of the penitentiary system must be reformation and social rehabilitation. No one may be imprisoned merely for inability to fulfil a contractual obligation.

Articles 12 to 16 cover movement, expulsion, fair trial and legal personality. Everyone lawfully in a territory has liberty of movement and freedom to choose residence, everyone is free to leave any country including their own, and no one may be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter their own country. An alien lawfully present may be expelled only pursuant to a decision reached in accordance with law and, except where compelling reasons of national security require otherwise, must be allowed to submit reasons against expulsion and have the case reviewed. All persons are equal before the courts, and everyone facing a criminal charge or a suit at law is entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law, with the presumption of innocence and minimum guarantees including prompt notice of charges, adequate time for defence, trial without undue delay, counsel of one's choosing, examination of witnesses, free interpretation and freedom from compulsion to testify against oneself, with juvenile procedure taking account of age and rehabilitation, a right of review by a higher tribunal, compensation where a conviction is later reversed on new evidence, and protection against being tried or punished twice for the same offence. Criminal law may not be retroactive, and where a lighter penalty is later provided the offender benefits from it. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Articles 17 to 27 carry the freedoms and the political rights. They protect privacy, family, home and correspondence and honour and reputation; freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one's choice, freedom from coercion impairing that choice, and the liberty of parents to ensure their children's religious and moral education in conformity with their own convictions; freedom to hold opinions without interference and freedom of expression including to seek, receive and impart information regardless of frontiers, subject to restrictions provided by law and necessary for the rights of others, national security, public order, public health or morals; peaceful assembly; and freedom of association including the right to form and join trade unions, with nothing authorising measures prejudicing the guarantees of ILO Convention 87. Article 20 requires states to prohibit by law any propaganda for war and any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, which is a rare instance of the Covenant requiring a prohibition rather than protecting a freedom. The family is named the natural and fundamental group unit of society, marriage requires free and full consent, and spouses have equality of rights and responsibilities in marriage and at its dissolution with necessary protection for any children. Every child has the right to measures of protection required by their status as a minor, to be registered immediately after birth, to a name and to acquire a nationality. Every citizen has the right to take part in public affairs, to vote and be elected at genuine periodic elections and to have access to public service. Article 26 guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the law without discrimination on any ground. Article 27 protects persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities in enjoying their own culture, professing and practising their own religion and using their own language.

The supervisory machinery establishes the Human Rights Committee of eighteen independent experts elected by States Parties, with state reporting obligations and an inter-State complaint procedure available only where a state has separately declared it accepts that competence. Article 46 preserves the UN Charter and the constitutions of the specialised agencies, and Article 47 preserves the inherent right of all peoples to enjoy and utilise fully and freely their natural wealth and resources. The Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic.