Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities

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Context

"The universal declaration of the human responsibilities is the main reference text of Alliance-Respons. Its contents were the object at first of the Charter of the human responsibilities, developed by the workgroup on the ethics of the Alliance for a responsible and united world and adopted by four hundred participants of citizens’ world Assembly in Lille, in December 2001. From 2002 till 2012, it is this text, translates in numerous languages, that allowed to discuss principles of the responsibility in twenty-first century and to verify that these principles find an echo in the most diverse circles, since basic communities in India or in Colombia up to the administrators of heritage.

At the approach of the summit Rio+20 of 2012, a new step was crossed : develop with jurists a shorter text the principles of which can be gradually taken back in Codes of Business Ethics and in national or international legal jurisprudence. The universal declaration of the human responsibilities, amended marginally with the aim of the negotiation on the climate, COP21, in December, 2015, is the fruit of this evolution." (http://www.alliance-respons.net/bdf_fiche-document-186_en.html)


Text

Via http://base.alliance-respons.net/docs/universal_declaration_of_the_human_responsability015.pdf


Excerpt: Principles of Universal Responsibility

"Principle 1. All human beings are 'endowed with reason and conscience', as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, making them responsible for others, for communities near and far, and for the earth, each according to one's power.

Principle 2. The exercise of power, however it may be acquired, is legitimate only if the said power is accountable for his/her actions to those over whom this power is exercised and if it goes together with rules of responsibility that measure up to the power of influence being exercised.

Principle 3. Such responsibility involves taking into account the immediate or deferred effects of all acts, preventing or offsetting ensuing damage, irrespective of whether these acts were perpetrated voluntarily or whether they affect subjects of law. It applies to all scales of time and space.

Principle 4. No one is exempt from exercising responsibility for reasons of helplessness if he or she has made no effort to unite with others or, in the case of ignorance, has made no effort to inform himself/herself.

Principle 5. The responsibility of both public and private institutions does not exonerate the responsibility of their leaders and vice versa.

Principle 6. The biosphere and all its components are commons placed under humanity's protection. Responsibility for protecting these commons is exercised in proportion to the benefit gained from their use.

Principle 7. Such responsibility is imprescriptible when damage is irreversible."