Steps to be taken

Sixty years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “in the world there are still too many flagrant violations of fundamental rights. A number of injustices continue troubling consciences and even in democratic Countries, considered the upholders of human rights, current situation isn’t optimum”. These words by Silvio Marcus-Helmons, Emeritus professor at the Catholic university of Lavanio and member of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, were published in the latest issue of the “Bulletin of the Social Doctrine of the Church” of the International Observatory Cardinal Van Thuân (n.1. January-March 2008) “The great thrust of generosity which had followed the horrors of World War Two has diminished”, the Professor claimed. “States have to face a number of political and financial problems. Terrorism invaded the world…”.It entered from a narrow door. “Human rights protection – Marcus-Helmons wrote – was initially introduced in Community legislation in an indirect way. It entered through a narrow passage into a system whose primary objective was related to the economic sphere”. The Treaties of Paris and Rome had “technical” objectives. However, “despite the initial objective wasn’t that of establishing a universal regime of human rights, these rapidly took grounds within the Community’s legal framework”. This situation was sparked-off by “a series of regulations adopted by the Council of Ministers” criticized “by people who believed that their fundamental rights hadn’t been recognized”. They turned to the Court of Justice. “The petitions were based on the Constitutional law of the single States, which envisages the protection of fundamental human rights”. This showed “the contradiction between community regulation and the Constitution of Member States”. The Court’s decision was that “in case of infringement of individual fundamental rights, community regulations were to be viewed as secondary after domestic legislation”. This was a dangerous statement before the supremacy of community legislation. In fact, before long, the Court accepted that “international instruments aimed at the protection of human rights, which Member States upheld or adhered to, supply guidelines which need to be taken into consideration within the Community’s legal framework”. The Christian imprint. Three representatives of Christian Democracy witnessed the birth of European Communities within their different Countries: Robert Schumann in France, Konrad Adenauer in Germany and Alcide De Gasperi in Italy. “This Christian imprint which characterized Europe’s founding fathers – pointed out Marcus-Helmons on the “Bulletin” of the Van Thuân Observatory – is nothing more than the reflection of a deeper reality. European culture as a whole had its roots in Christianity and its entire evolution had been impregnated with it. Even though the idea of granting individual rights dated back to ancient times; even though the concept of democracy was developed in ancient Greece, nonetheless, the foundations of human rights and the principle of parliamentary democracy owe their consecration to the proclamation of the primacy of human dignity. This stems directly from the Christian message, which affirms the transcendence of the human person and his vocation to eternity”. Codified rights. Among the fundamental Charters, in 1950 the Council of Europe established “the European Convention of human rights and fundamental liberties”, to which the six founding States adhered along with those which gradually joined the European Union. Today this has been corroborated by the “European Unions’ Charter of Fundamental Rights”, approved in the year 2000 by the Nice summit but which was granted “binding power” only with the Lisbon Treaty (2007). “In full awareness of its spiritual and moral patrimony, the Union is founded on indivisible and universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity. It is founded on the principle of democracy and of the Rule of Law. It places the human person at the centre of its action and thus constructs the Union’s citizenship, creating a space of freedom, security and justice”; “different kinds” of rights requiring “different kinds of protection”. Its many-sidedness is one of its “weaknesses”, said Marcus-Helmons. However they do not eliminate “the fundamental trait of the Charter for Europe’s construction”. Another weak spot should be noted in the “lack of coordination”. The first article claims “in a categorical way the inviolable character of human dignity”, while article 13 “acknowledges the full freedom of scientific research”. But it is “precisely because of scientific research that human dignity today risks being exposed to major threats”.