ABSTRACT
The division of human rights into separate categories squared with the split between criminal justice and social justice as the modern human rights movement took off the ground in the 1970s, coinciding with the resurgence of retributivist philosophy. In terms of the normative and institutional architecture of human rights, a watershed moment came in the mid-1990s. Feminist, sexuality, and identity movements rose to prominence, articulating their demands in the language of human rights. The imprint of that experience shows up frequently in the travaux preparatoires and the text of a number of provisions of the Universal Declaration (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly those dealing with individual liberty and the administration of justice. With the UDHR already adopted, the Commission turned to the draft Covenant on Human Rights at its fifth session and the sixth session, where members proposed new articles and clashed over the ‘colonial clause’ and the ‘federal clause’.
