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2 - The Origins of the Right to Science

The American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man

from Part I - The Right to Science, Then

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2021

Helle Porsdam
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen
Sebastian Porsdam Mann
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen

Summary

Cesare P.R. Romano begins by noting the distinction between the “right to benefit from advancements in science and technology” (i.e. the Right to Science) and the so-called “rights of science” (e.g. right to academic freedom, to conduct research, to reap the fruits of one’s own inventions etc.). Romano proceeds to discuss the roots of these two sets of rights. The roots of the rights of science run deep, all the way to Bacon and Galileo, and intertwine with other more well-known rights, such as the right to education and freedom of expression. The roots of the Right to Science are relatively more recent and can be traced to the work of the Inter-American (I-A) Juridical Committee, the expert body that drafted the American Declaration of Human Rights. This chapter tells the story of the debates between the members of the I-A Committee on the right to science, the various wordings they considered, and the influences and considerations that shaped their choices. Finally, it explains how and why the wording of Art. XIII of the American declaration morphed into Art. 27 of the Universal Declaration and, later, Art. 15.1.b, 15.2-4 of the ICESCR.

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