Rights and duties

Law

2022

We explain what rights and duties are in legal sciences, how they differ from each other and characteristics of each one.

Both rights and duties form a vital part of the exercise of citizenship.

What are the rights and duties?

In Legal Sciences and Lawdistinguishes between rights and duties. On the one hand, rights are the freedoms and guarantees that the society confers on individuals, while duties are the obligations and responsibilities that the citizens they give back to society. Both concepts are a vital part of the exercise of citizenship.

Rights

Normally, people have the rights that are established in the law, in accordance with the provisions of the legal text of the Constitution or the Magna Carta of each country. These rights can be:

  • Assets, that is, are things that individuals are enabled to do or receive Will.
  • Liabilities, that is, are things that people are guaranteed whether they want to or not, and whether or not they are aware of it.

For example, the right to free expression empowers people to speak their minds and express their opinions without suffering persecution censorship, Meanwhile he right to life It guarantees them that no one can take their lives or subject them to conditions in which they lose their lives with impunity.

In addition, there are collective and individual rights, Fundamental rights (that is, essential and very first), natural rights (acquired simply by existing) and subjective rights (obtained through contract).

Homework

On the other hand, society imposes on people a set of obligations and responsibilities according to what is established in the law and what is included in the constitutional texts. The State is responsible for demanding compliance with these mandates, through law enforcement and public order agencies, depending on who is affected by them and to what extent.

Like rights, duties can be of different types, and mainly two categories are distinguished:

  • Positive duties, which oblige the individual to perform a certain action in a specific way. For example, the duty to pay taxes is a positive duty that affects all people of working age and active economic status, always in proportion to their income.
  • Negative duties, which on the contrary prevent you from performing a certain action. For example, the prohibition of stealing constitutes a negative duty, since the law requires citizens not to commit this crime.

Many legal obligations are born with the signing of a contract or some legal agreement, while other duties are part of the rules of coexistence of society and exist outside of individuals. Homework can also be morals, when they do not depend on the law but on the custom wave culture of a people, as is the case of the prohibition of incest.

Differences between rights and duties

Disobedience of duties usually carries sanctions such as fines or criminal convictions.

The differences between rights and duties can be summarized as follows:

Homework Rights
They are obligations and responsibilities whose compliance is required by the State, regardless of the will of the individual. They are freedoms and guarantees that the State offers to individuals. Its fulfillment may in some cases depend on the will of the people.
Disobedience of duties usually carries proportional sanctions, such as fines or criminal convictions. The rights may be optional in some cases and inalienable in others, but no one except the law can prevent their fulfillment.
They can be legal or moral, depending on whether they are required by law, or by customs and tradition. They can be natural (acquired at birth), subjective (acquired by contract) or customary (acquired by custom).
They can consist of obligations (positive duties) or restrictions (negative duties). They may consist of permissions to do (active rights) or guarantees of certain conditions (passive rights).
They affect all members of society equally, although in a proportionate and consensual manner. In some cases they affect all members of society equally, in others only those who sign a contract or meet certain requirements.

Examples of rights

The following are examples of rights:

  • The right to life, that is, not to be killed with impunity.
  • The right to free transit, that is, to go where we want whenever we want, as long as we do not violate the property of others.
  • The right to free expression, that is, to say what we think and communicate through artistic, formal or any other means without suffering censorship or persecution.
  • The right to identity, that is, to have a nationality and the proper legal documents that prove our citizenship.
  • The Right to private property, that is, to dispose of an asset through purchase, inheritance or transfer, and to freely dispose of it.
  • The right to work, that is, to exercise their own trades with dignity and in exchange for a proportional remuneration, without suffering discrimination of any kind.
  • The education rights, that is, to receive a basic formal instruction that allows them to live in society and allows them to continue their training later if they so wish.
  • The right to freedom, that is, not to be unjustly imprisoned or to suffer kidnapping, slavery or be reduced to an oppressive condition in which one's own destiny cannot be freely disposed of.
  • The right to self-determination of peoples, that is, to the nations choose by peaceful and legal means their own destiny without foreign intervention.

homework examples

The following are examples of duties:

  • The duty to pay tribute, that is, to pay taxes proportional to our socioeconomic level to contribute to the financing of the State.
  • The duty to respect traffic regulations when driving, so as not to put at risk either one's own life or that of others.
  • The duty to tell the truth when we are under oath and when we are accountable to the State.
  • The duty to respect the property of others.
  • The duty to pay the debts contracted and to honor the contractual obligations.
  • The duty to respect the freedoms of others and the rights of others.
  • The duty of preserving the environment.
  • The duty to report to the authorities when a crime is being committed.
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