There are some Fundamental distinction between
Human Rights and fundamental rights:
01. Fundamental rights are
peculiar. These are the rights that differentiate a citizen from a resident or
a visitor. They are the basic rights necessary for our existence as a member of
a particular state. Human rights on the other hand are those inalienable
rights that we possess as a human being.
02. The source of a fundamental
right is the Constitution whereas the source of human rights is the
international law.
03. The issue of context cannot be
removed in the determination of fundamental rights but human rights enjoy a
sort of universal context. For example the right to live is universal but the
right to live in a state is fundamental according to the rules set up by the
state to guide such right.
04. Human rights are more basic in
nature than fundamental rights and apply to all human beings on the face of the
earth whereas fundamental rights are country specific.
05. Fundamental rights are
enforceable in a court of law and they create justiciable rights in favour of
individuals and the courts can enforce them against the government. Again, the
courts are competent to declare as void any law that is inconsistent with any
of the fundamental rights.
On the other hand, human rights
are not enforceable in a court of law and they do not create any justiciable
rights in favour of individuals.
06. Fundamental rights are
mandatory in nature whereas human rights are declaratory in nature as they have
expressly been excluded from the preview of the courts.
07. The fundamental rights create
negative obligation on the state, i.e., the state is required to refrain from
doing something. Human rights, on the other hand, impose positive obligation on
the state i.e., to implement these principles the state will have to achieve
certain ends by its actions.
08. The human rights may be
described as inchoate fundamental rights while the fundamental rights are
full-fledged i.e. the former requires legislation to become effective while the
latter need not requires such legislation.
09. Fundamental rights are
primarily aimed at assuring political freedom to citizens by protecting them
against excessive state action while human rights are aimed at securing social
and economic freedom by appropriate state action.
10. While there is no consensus on
universal human rights, fundamental rights are specific and have legal sanction
11. Human rights are relatively new
while fundamental rights enshrined by constitutions of various countries are
older.
12. All fundamental rights are
human rights but all human rights are not fundamental rights.
13. Fundamental rights are like
genus, human rights are like species. Human rights are the whole of which
fundamental rights are a part.
