AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

Resources on Article 15

What does the “right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress” mean for scientists and human rights actors in how they conduct their work?  Who has the responsibility to see that the right is enjoyed by all? How does this right relate to other human rights, including intellectual property rights? These and other questions are considered in a growing body of literature about the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress.

Below is a bibliography we have compiled of international and regional human rights documents, articles, books, meeting reports, and links relating to the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications in specific circumstances.

This bibliography will be regularly updated. If you are aware of any relevant materials that should be listed below but currently are not, please contact us.

• International human rights documents
• Regional human rights instruments
• Articles, books, reports and statements
• Relevant organizations

 

International human rights documents

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• International human rights instruments
• General Comments of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Relevant resolutions
• Other official UN documents
• Meeting materials

International human rights instruments

Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, 2005 (UNESCO) (see in particular Article 15)
English | French | Spanish

International Declaration on Human Genetic Data, 2003 (UNESCO) (see in particular Article 19)
English | French | Spanish

Declaration on the Use of Scientific and Technological Progress in the Interest of Peace and for the Benefit of Mankind, 1975
English | French | Spanish

UN Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, 1974
English

Proclamation of Tehran, International Conference on Human Rights, 1974(see in particular para 18)
English

International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 (see in particular article 15)
English | French | Spanish

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 (see in particular Article 27)
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | German | Italian | Russian | Spanish | over 350 other languages

General Comments of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

General Comment No. 17 to the ICESCR, “The right of everyone to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic productions of which he or she is the author,” (Article 15, paragraph 1(c), of the Covenant), 12 January 2006 (see in particular paragraph 4)
English | French | Spanish

General Comment No. 6 to the ICESCR, “The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons,” 8 December 1995, (see in particular paras 39 and 42)
English

Relevant resolutions

Human Rights Council Resolution. “Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights,” UN Doc. A/HRC/11/L.16/Rev.1, 17 June 2009

UN Commission on Human Rights resolution, "Human rights and the environment as part of sustainable development," UN Doc. E/CN.4/RES/2005/60, 20 April 2005
English | French | Spanish

UN Commission on Human Rights resolution, "Human rights and the environment as part of sustainable development," UN Doc. E/CN.4/RES/2003/71, 25 April 2003
English | French | Spanish

Commission on Human Rights Resolution, “Human Rights and Bioethics,” UN Doc. E/CN.4/RES/2001/71, 25 April 2001
English

Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (2000), “Intellectual Property Rights and Human Rights,” UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/RES/2000/7, adopted 17 August 2000
English | French | Spanish

UN General Assembly resolution, “Human rights and scientific and technological progress,” UN Doc. A/RES/48/140, 7 March 1994
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

UN General Assembly resolution, “Human rights and scientific and technological progress,” UN Doc. A/RES/46/126, 17 December 1991
English

Other official UN documents

UN General Assembly, Note by the Secretary-General, “The right to food,” UN Doc. A/63/278, 21 October 2008
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

UN General Assembly, Note by the Secretary-General, “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, 2001-2010,” UN Doc. A/63/127, 15 July 2008
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

ECOSOC, “Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,” UN Doc. E/2004/89, 30 June 2004
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

UN Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Report of the Secretary-General, “Intellectual property rights and human rights,” UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/12/Add.1, 3 July 2001
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “The impact of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights on human rights,” UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/13, 27 June 2001
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Secretary-General, “Second International Consultation on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights (Geneva, 23-25 September 1996),” UN Doc. E/CN.4/1997/37, 20 January 1997
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

UN Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Report of the Secretary-General, “The impact of the activities and working methods of transnational corporations on the full enjoyment of all human rights, in particular economic, social, and cultural rights and the right to development, bearing in mind existing international guidelines, rules and standards relating to the subject-matter,” UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1996/12, 2 July 1996
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

UN General Assembly, Report of the Secretary-General, “Progressive Development of the Principles and Norms of International Law Relating to the New International Economic Order,” UN Doc. A/48/268, 26 July 1993
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

Meeting materials

UNESCO, Experts’ Meeting on the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress and its Application, Venice, Italy, 16-17 July 2009

• Venice Statement
• Presentation, Chapman, Audrey R. “The Core Content of the REBSP”
• Presentation, Donders, Yvonne. “The Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress: State Obligations”

UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “Summary Record of the 2nd Meeting, Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Monday, 30 April 2007,” UN Doc. E/C.12/2007/SR.2, 5 October 2007
English | French

UNESCO Experts’ Meeting on the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress and its Application, Amsterdam, 7-8 June 2007

• Background
• Introduction
• Report
• Presentation, Schabas, William A. “The Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific and Technological Progress and Its Applications.”

UN Commission on Human Rights, “Report of the working group established in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/32 of 3 March 1995 on its tenth session,” UN Doc. E/CN.4/2005/WG.15/2, 1 September 2005
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

Meeting on Priorities for Research to Advance Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 9-11 March, 2005

• Report
• Final statement
• List of participants

Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, 1993 Vienna Conference on Human Rights (see in particular para 11).
English

International Symposium on the Effects on Human Rights of Recent Advances in Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain, 25-28 March 1985

• Conclusions and recommendations

Regional human rights instruments

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League of Arab States, Arab Charter on Human Rights, 2004
English

Council of Europe, Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, 1997
English | French | German | Italian | Russian

Organization of American States, Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Protocol of San Salvador), 1988 (see in particular Article 14)
English | Spanish

Conference of American States, American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, 1948 (see in particular Article 13(1))
English | Spanish

Charter of the Organization of American States, 1951 (see in particular Chapter VII and Article 38)
English | Spanish

Articles, Books, Reports and Statements

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• Key Materials
• General
• Access to knowledge
• Cultural rights
• Energy
• Environment
• Food
• Health
• Information technology
• Intellectual property
• Scientific freedom
• Self-determination

Key Materials

AAAS Board of Directors, "On the human right to the benefits of scientific progress," Statement, April 16, 2010

Chapman, A. (2009), "Towards an Understanding of the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress and Its Applications," Journal of Human Rights, 8

Claude, Richard P. (2002), “Scientists’ Rights and the Human Rights to the Benefits of Science,” in Chapman, A and Russell, S (eds) (2002), Core Obligations: Building a Framework for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Intersentia

Schabas, William A. (2007), "Study of the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific and Technological Progress and Its Applications," in Donders Y. and Volodin V. (eds) Human Rights in Education, Science and Culture: Legal Developments and Challenges, UNESCO, pp. 273-308

General  

Chapman, A. (2007), “Development of Indicators for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The Rights to Education, Participation in Cultural Life and Access to the Benefits of Science,” in Donders Y. and Volodin V. (eds) Human Rights in Education, Science and Culture: Legal Developments and Challenges, UNESCO, pp. 111-152

Claude, Richard P. (2002), Science in the Service of Human Rights: An Introductory Class for Science, Technology and Public Health.

Claude, Richard P. (2002), Science in the Service of Human Rights, University of Pennsylvania Press

Dickson, David (December 10, 2008), "'Right to Science' Deserves More Support," SciDev.net

Donders, Yvonne, “The Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress and its Applications,” Speech by Yvonne Donders, Deputy Director of the Amsterdam Center for International Law, on the Occasion of Human Rights Day, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. UN Doc. SHS/RSP/HRS-GED/2007/PI/H/3, 10 December 2007

Monshipouri, Mahmood, Englehart, Neil, and Nathan, Andrew J. (2003), Constructing Human Rights in the Age of Globalization

Rubenstein, Leonard, and Younis, Mona (November 28, 2008), "Scientists and Human Rights," Science

Scott, Christina, and Dickson, David (March 2009), "Science is a human right," Science in Africa

Marks, S. (1977), “UNESCO and Human Rights: The Implementation of Rights Relating to Education, Science, Culture and Communication,” Texas International Law Journal 13(1): 35-68

Symonides, Janusz (1998), "The Implementation of Cultural Rights by the International Community," Gazette, 60(1): 7-25

Weeramantry, C.G. (ed.) (1990), Human Rights and Scientific and Technological Development, The United Nations University

Wyndham, Jessica (December 10, 2008), "How can we uphold the right to science?," SciDev.net

Access to Knowledge

Danner, Richard A. (2007) “Applying the Access Principle in Law: The Responsibilities of the Legal Scholar,” 35 International Journal of Legal Information 355

Land, Molly Beutz (2009) “Protecting Rights Online,” 34 Yale Journal of International Law

Vadi, Valentina (2008) “Sapere Aude! Access to knowledge as a human right and a key instrument of development,” 12 International Journal of Communications Law and Policy 345

Willinsky, J. (2005), "The Access Principle: The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship," MIT Press (see pp. 144-145)

Cultural Rights

Oloka-Onyango, J. (2005), "Who's Watching "Big Brother"? Globalization and the Protection of Cultural Rights in Present Day Africa," Human Rights Quarterly, 27:1245-1273

Symonides, Janusz (1998), "The Implementation of Cultural Rights by the International Community," Gazette, 60(1): 7-25

Energy

German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2008), “Fact sheet: Energy. A Human Rights-Based Approach in the Energy Sector,” in Applying Human Rights in Practice: Fact sheets on a human rights-based approach in development cooperation

Environment

Dommen, Caroline (1998), “Claiming Environmental Rights: Some Possibilities Offered by the United Nations’ Human Rights Mechanisms,” 11 Georgetown International Environmental Law Review

Rodriguez-Rivera, Luis E. (2001) “Is the Human Right to Environment Recognized Under International Law? It Depends on the Source,” 12 Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy

Weiner, Andy. (2003) “The forest and the trees: Sustainable development and human rights in the context of Cambodia,” 151 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1543

Food

Haugen, Hans Morten (2005), "The Right to Food, the Right to Benefit from Science and the TRIPS Agreement," in Eide, W. B. and Kracht, U. (eds), Food and Human Rights in Development, Intersentia, pp. 425-460

Health

Arriaga, Alexandra (2002), "HIV/AIDS and violence against women," Human Rights, 29(3): 18-21

Campbell, Angela (2000), "Children living with HIV: reshaping law and policy in Quebec to preserve and promote their rights," Health Law Journal, 8:141-176

Claude, Richard Pierre and Issel, Bernardo W. (1998), "Health, Medicine and Science in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Health and Human Rights, 3(2): 127-142

Cook, Deborah et. al. (2008), "Randomized Trials in Vulnerable Populations," Clinical Trials, 5: 61-69

Cook, Rebecca, J (1993) “International Human Rights and Women’s Reproductive Health,” 24 Studies in Family Planning 73

Donders, Yvonne M. (May 2008), “Social Responsibility in a Human Rights Context: The Right to Health and the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress,” Study prepared for the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO

Farmer, Paul (1999), "Pathologies of power: Rethinking health and human rights," American Journal of Public Health, 89(10): 1486-1496

Famer, Paul (2003), Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor

Faunce, T.A. (2005), "Will international human rights subsume medical ethics? Intersections in the UNESCO Universal Bioethics Declaration," Journal of Medical Ethics, 31:173-178

Government of Canada (July 2005), A Brave New World: Where Biotechnology and Human Rights Intersect, (see in particular Chapter 2.4.3).

Jones, Sinead B. (1999), "Cancer in the developing world: a call to action," British Medical Journal, 319: 505-508

Joseph, Sarah (2003), "Pharmaceutical corporations and access to drugs: The 'fourth wave' of Corporate Human Rights Scrutiny," Human Rights Quarterly, 25(2): 425-452

Langlois, Adèle (2008), "The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights: Perspectives from Kenya and South Africa," Health Care Anal,16:39-51

Lazzarini, Zita (2003), “Making Access to Pharmaceuticals a Reality: Legal Options Under TRIPS and the Case of Brazil” Yale Human Rights & Development Law Journal 6: 103

MacDowell, Enrique Gonzalez (2002), "Juridical Action for the Protection of Collective Rights and its Legal Impact: A Case Study," The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 30(4): 644-654

Macklin, Ruth (2005), "HIV/AIDS Vaccine Trials and Human Rights," INTERIGHTS Bulletin, 15: 64-66

Marks, Stephen P. (2002), "The Evolving Field of Health and Human Rights: Issues and Methods," The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 30(4): 739-754

Oxfam (2001), "Africa Summit on HIV/AIDS, TB and Other Related Infections," Presentation made as part of panel on drugs policy, April 26, 2001, Abuja, Nigeria

Shanner, Laura (1995), “The right to procreate: When rights claims have gone wrong,” McGill Law Journal 20: 823

Sheremeta, Lorraine and Knoppers, Bartha Maria (2003), "Beyond the rhetoric: population genetics and benefit-sharing," Health Law Journal, 11: 89-117

Torres, Mary Ann (2002), "The Human Right to Health, National Courts, and Access to HIV/AIDS Treatment: A Case Study from Venezuela," Chicago Journal of International Law, 3(1): 105-114

Yamey, Gavin (2008), "Excluding the poor from accessing biomedical literature: A rights violation that impedes global health," Health and Human Rights, 10(1): 21-42

Yamin, Alicia Ely (2002), “Not just a tragedy: Access to medications as a right under international law,” Boston University International Law Journal, 21:352-70

Yamin, Alicia Ely and Maine, Deborah P. (1999), "Maternal Mortality as a Human Rights Issue: Measuring Compliance with International Treaty Obligations," Human Rights Quarterly, 21: 563-607

Information Technology

Hilbert, Martin R. (2001), “Latin America on its path to the digital age: where are we?” UN Doc. LC/L.1555-P, 1 June 2001
English

Tay, Alice. (21 October 1999), “Information highway must have a slow lane,” The Australian, Features section, p. 15

Intellectual Property

Anderson, Robert D and Wager, Hannu (2006), "Human Rights, Development, and the WTO: The Cases of Intellectual Property and Competition Policy," Journal of International Economic Law, 9(3): 707-747

Berger, Jonathan Michael (2002), “Tripping Over Patents: AIDS, Access to Treatment and the Manufacturing of Scarcity,” Connecticut Journal of International Law 17: 157

Bidault, Mylène (2000), “La protection des droits culturels par le Comité des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels,” UN Doc. E/C.12/2000/14, 2 October 2000
French

Chapman, Audrey R. (1999), “A human rights perspective on intellectual property, scientific progress and access to the benefits of science,” in Intellectual Property and Human Rights, (Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization), pp. 127-68

Chapman, Audrey R. (2000), “Approaching intellectual property as a human right: Obligations related to Article 15(1)(c),” UN Doc. E/C.12/2000/12, 3 October 2000
English | French | Russian | Spanish

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Statement (2001), “Follow-up to the day of general discussion on article 15.1(c)”, UN Doc. E/C.12/2001/15, 14 December 2001
English | French | Spanish

Cullet, Philippe (2007), "Human Rights and Intellectual Property Protection in the TRIPS Era," Human Rights Quarterly, 29:403-430

Dommen, Caroline (2000), “Economic, social and cultural rights and WTO work on intellectual property rights – Current processes and opportunities,” UN Doc. E/C.12/2000/20, 13 December 2000
English | French | Spanish

ECOSOC (2000), “Protecting the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional knowledge,” UN Doc. E/C.12/2000/17, 27 October 2000
English | French | Spanish

ECOSOC (2000), “Protection of Intellectual Property under the TRIPS Agreement,” UN Doc. E/C.12/2000/18.
English | French | Spanish

Green, Maria (2000), “Drafting history of Article 15(1)(c) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” UN Doc. E/C.12/2000/15, 9 October 2000
English | French | Russian | Spanish

Lim, Hoe (2001), “Trade and human rights: What’s at issue?,” UN Doc. E/C.12/2001/WP.2, 10 April 2001
English

Loff, Bebe and Heywood, Mark (2002), "Patents on drugs: Manufacturing scarcity or advancing health?," The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 30(4) 621-631

Martin, George and Vermeylen, Saskia (2005), "Intellectual Property, Indigenous Knowledge, and Biodiversity," Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, 16(3): 27-48

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2001), “The Impact of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights on human rights,” UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/13, 27 June 2001
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

Valencia Rodriguez, Luis (1993), “The right of everyone to own property alone as well as in association with others,” UN Doc. E/CN.4/1994/19, 25 November 1993
Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

Yu, Peter K. (2007), "Reconceptualizing Intellectual Property Interests in a Human Rights Framework," 40 University of California Davis Law Review 1039-1149

Scientific Freedom

Arsanjani, Mahnoush H. (2006), "Negotiating the UN Declaration on Human Cloning," The American Journal of International Law, 100(1): 164-179

Self-determination

Cristescu, Aureliu. (1981), “The right to self-determination: Historical and current development on the basis of United Nations instruments,” UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/404/Rev.1, 1 January 1981
English | French

Relevant Organizations

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UNESCO – Human Rights

"UNESCO's activities in the field of human rights research are aimed at further elucidation of the content of human rights, focusing on those for which the Organization has a special responsibility [including] the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications”

(page updated 08/11/2009)