Abstract
LL.M. (Human Rights Law)
The idea of “development” being a legitimate universal human entitlement is not a new
phenomenon. The emergence of this concept can be traced back to a number of universal norms which emerged from the United Nations (UN) legal framework since its creation in 1945.These norms include principles such as: greater democracy and representation in international relations; the economic complementarities of independent States; individuals as beneficiaries of social, economic and political development; respect for human rights; and the interrelationship between
human rights and development.1 These principles provided the background against which the first UN working group on the Right to Development started elaborating a legal framework aiming at providing a binding solution to the conflict between industrialized States and developing States concerning the distribution of the world’s resources in 1970. At that time, the atmosphere at the UN Commission on Human Rights was highly charged with ideological positioning. Socialist
countries pressed for peace and disarmament; developing States for development and an end to
apartheid; Western industrialized States for establishing damage control machinery to scrutinize
violations of civil and political rights.2 In 1977, the Commission on Human Rights submitted to
the U.N Secretary General its first proposal which considered the suggestion of the UN Working
group on the Right to Development. The proposal suggested that the “universal entitlement to development” was a prerogative of States on behalf of their populations.3 This proposal was rejected in 1979 by the conservative North American, European members of the U.N, and other committee members.