Introduction

Human rights and democracy are two elements that work together. In order for a nation to have effective human rights in place, then the country must be democratic. In order for a country to be termed as democratic it must be having some human rights laws. This paper will explore the human rights issue in Australia which is a democratic nation, in comparison to Sudan which is a non democratic nation. An understanding of human rights in the context of a democratic society and a non democratic society will be able to effectively shed light on the position of human rights in a society. The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the place of human rights in a democratic society. This paper will explore the relationship between democracy and human rights in the context of Australia which is a democratic nation and Sudan which is a non democratic society. This paper will also examine the relevance of a bill of rights in securing a modern constitution as advocated by this research paper will limit itself to the pace of human rights in a democratic system with regard to Australia which is a democratic nation. The paper will compare Australia with only one non democratic nation which is Sudan.

Literature review

Human rights refer to the basic rights that are accorded to individuals. Human rights comprise of civil and political rights such as the right to life, the right to equality before the law, the right to expression, it also includes the right work and the right to education.

The Universal Human Rights Declaration (UNHRD) adopted by the United Nations general assembly in the year 1948 and one of the reasons that it was adopted was to respond to the violence that was present after the World War 2.  Although it is referred to as a non binding declaration, it is a major component of the customary law which may be put to use when a situation calls for it. The UNHRD lays a very important ground in advocating more nations to enhance economic, civil and human rights. This declaration is a legal effort that is meant to restrict the behavior of states and remind them of their duties to the citizens. UNHRD was formed by some members of the Human Rights Commission. Lady Roosevelt was the chair lady and championed for the development of the International Bill of Rights in the year 1947. The members of the commission that were present at the time could not agree on this because there were issues on how it was to be formulated and how it would be enforced. The researchers that were called upon for the formulation of the document were law professors. The document was meant to include equality, brotherhood, principles of dignity as well as equality. The rights that concern individuals as well as those about how individuals ought to relate to other members of the society were to be included in the document as well as political order.

The researchers intended the rights to be enforced through legal means and procedures. Some parts of the UNHDCR were written by a committee that was comprised of experts on human rights and representatives from the continents and main religions. This document employed consultation with Mahatma Gandhi. The different types of human rights are related to each other therefore the commission decided to include social, cultural and economic aspects of human rights. This principle was later amended although at the previous meeting all the members had unanimously agreed on it.

Enforcement of the human rights law is dependent on a country or nation. The state is responsible the protection of the human rights of individuals, a nation should be able to put up proper measures to make sure that the rights of individuals are not violated. The International Court is one of the institutions that are set up to ensure that a given nation or state accords its citizens with the necessary human rights and to make sure that the rights of individuals are not demeaned. The International Court also deals with crimes against humanity such as genocide. The lack of consensus in the application of the human rights law brings up major issues in the enforcement of the Law. There is lack of power of the bodies that are supposed to implement the law.