Follow us on this journey in the world of democracy and its guiding principles!
Equality
Equality is one of the most important democratic principles and it ensures that all people are equal before the law as well as that they are equally represented in policy and decision-making processes. Equality in a democratic government is manifested as people not being discriminated against because of their ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
Human rights
Human rights have been enshrined on December 10, 1948, in a bill of rights by the United Nations called the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (UDHR). These rights are supposed to be universal in nature, meaning that all people, regardless of the country they live in, should be entitled to them. The very first article of the UDHR states that:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (UDHR, Article 1, 1948)
Following the UN’s paradigm, in 1950, the then newly established Council of Europe – a
European institution aiming to safeguard human rights in the old continentadopted its first convention, namely the “European Convention on Human Rights”.
The convention is implemented in all 46 Council of Europe member states, while the European Court of Human Rights is in charge of overseeing its proper implementation. Some of the most known human rights are freedom of expression,
the right to life, liberty and security and freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.