Human rights and three special aspects of the rule of law in the modern society

The principal object of the present research may be seen as an attempt to highlight certain specific and special aspects of the modern concept of the rule of law, particularly in the context of its relevance and pertinence to the contemporary demands and developments in the area of fundamental human rights and freedoms. In this line of thought, three specific areas have been identified that have received considerable attention and importance in the conceptual and normative development in the field of the modern legal edifice of human rights, international and domestic, particularly in the last few decades. These 'special' aspects are to be found-.;a. in the concept of human rights in the administration of justice:;b. in the principles and practices relating to human rights in certain exceptional situations commonly called 'states of emergency' ; and.;c. in the indispensable pertinence and significance of the doctrine of independence and impartiality of the judiciary to these modern features of the rule of law.;While the foundation of these cardinal norms of human rights are to be found in the Universal Declaration of human rights, 1948, they have been given the sanction of binding treaties by incorporating them into subsequent major human rights instruments, particularly- the UN's Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the three regional treaties. These legal norms of international human rights law have then been further elaborated by the adoption of a wide range of global, regional and subsidiary instruments in the recent time. Moreover, the importance and urgency of these particular areas of human rights have been reiterated and re-emphasised by the constant devotion and continued efforts of numerous international institutions, organisations and individual scholars by means of studies; survey, research, conferences, seminars, symposia etc. And finally, over the last half a century or so, since the first treaty provision was made in this regard (i.e., the ECHR in 1950), a considerable amount of jurisprudence has been developed in the case law of the monitoring organs in these relevant fields.