Individual Duty within a Human Rights Discourse

This text identifies and analyses legal duties arising for individuals under international and national (constitutional) law, while references are made from time to time to moral duties. As will become apparent, the meaning of the concept of duty, the manner in which duties are performed and the degree of emphasis and importance attached to them, varies across different cultures, belief systems and historical traditions, as well as political, socio-economic and legal systems. Such duties include the obligation to pay taxes, the responsibility to provide maintenance and a basic education for one’s children, the duty to undertake military service for a specified period and the duty to obey the constitution and other laws. Of particular interest is the controversial and emerging trend to recognize individuals as the bearers of duties under international law.