Human rights and a person's name : legal trends and challenges

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Authors

De Varennes, Fernand
Kuzborska, Elzbieta

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press

Abstract

The absence of a specific right to one’s own name in early international human rights treaties seems perplexing in the twenty-first century until one appreciates the historical and legal contexts which initially made this omission almost unavoidable. The growing importance of human rights in international law, of the obligation to recognize and respect individual identity, as well as the generality of certain human rights standards such as the prohibition of discrimination, the right to private life, and the right to a name, have led to an evolution in the understanding and interpretation of these standards in more recent years. It is now increasingly accepted in international law and state practice that individuals are generally entitled to state recognition and use of their own names—including names in a language which may not be official.

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Keywords

Human rights, Right to one’s own name, Individual identity, Prohibition of discrimination, Right to private life, Right to a name

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

De Varennes, F & Kuzborska, E 2015, 'Human rights and a person's name : legal trends and challenges', Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 977-1023.