MEANING AND TYPES OF RIGHTS

Meaning of Rights

Their is considerable disagreement about what is meant precisely by the term rights. It has been used by different groups and thinkers for different purpose with different and sometimes opposing definitions. So the precise definition of the term is controversial.

In spite the lack of agreement on its definition, it is generally accepted that rights are recognized and enforced by the state or without recognisation by the state.

One popular definition of rights is given by Laski. According to him, rights "are those conditions of social life without which no man can seek, in general, to be his best".

Today, rights are simply called by some people as entitlements. It is an entitlement in the sense that when we say an individual has certain rights, it means that he is entitled to have something.

Types of Rights

Rights are broady classified into Moral and Legal rights. Legal rights are further divided into into Civil and Political rights.

1. Moral rights

Moral rights are those claims which are based on the moral code of the community.

Moral rights do not have legal sanction behind them but they are sanctioned by the prevalent ethnical conception of the society. For instance, a wife has a moral right to be symphathetically treated by her husband; a teacher has a moral claim to be respectfully treated by his students.

When a moral claim backed by a powerful public opinion recieves legal guarantee, it passes into a legal rights.

2. Legal rights

Legal rights are those rights which are recognized and enforced by the state.

In every state there is provisions for constitutional remedy against any encroachment on legal rights. Rights to freedom of speech and expression is an example of legal rights in India.

It may be noted that in Political Science we study legal rights only.

3. Civil rights

Civil rights are those rights in the absence of which a person cannot enjoy a civic life.

They are the indispensable conditios of civilized existence. The mental and spiritual development of man is possible through the enjoyment of these privileges. Rights to life, rights to liberty, rights to family and right to property are examples of civil rights.

In most states they are embodied in a constitutional document and almost every modern state has elaborate machinery for safeguarding the civil rights of its citizen against encroachment by individuals or the government.

4. Political rights

Political rights are rights that enable a citizen to participate in the affairs of the government.

Right to vote, to contest election, rights to public office and right to petition are examples of political rights.

Through the exercise of political rights the people determine the choice of government. Universalisation of political rights is the sine qua non of democracy. Gettel says, "When political rights are widely diffused, the government of the state is democratic, hence political liberty is practically synonymous with democracy".

Main features of Rights:

1. Rights exist only in society. These are the products of social living.
2. Rights are claims of the individuals for their development in society.
3. Rights are recognized by the society as common claims of all the people.
4. Rights are rational and moral claims that the people make on their society.
5. Since rights are here only in society, these cannot be exercised against the society.
6. Rights are to be exercised by the people for their development which really means their development in society by the promotion of social good. Rights can never be exercised against social good.
7. Rights are equally available to all the people.
8. The contents of rights keep on changing with the passage of time.
9. Rights are not absolute. These always bear limitations deemed essential for maintaining public health, security, order and morality.
10. Rights are inseparably related with duties. There is a close relationship between them “No Duties No Rights. No Rights No Duties.” “If I have rights it is my duty to respect the rights of others in society”.
11. Rights need enforcement and only then these can be really used by the people. These are protected and enforced by the laws of the state. It is the duty of a state to protect the rights of the people.