Abstract
This chapter traces the historical development of the concept of human rights and their status in international law. It first discusses human rights on the domestic plane, focusing on the key developments since the late eighteenth century, and then examines international law from the perspective of human rights over the period up to the Second World War. Finally, the chapter considers the efforts to create a universal system of human rights protection in the 1940s, culminating with the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
