The World's Oldest Democracy and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) turned seventy years old last year (2018). The Declaration's original advocates asserted that the Declaration would be nonbinding. Subsequent international legislation, however, specifically the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, formalized the Declaration into international law, as did specific states' ratifications of the International Covenant. This essay examines several Articles of the Universal Declaration and asks whether, domestically, the United Kingdom, which was one of the main advocates of the Universal Declaration, is living up to its obligations. I conclude that on several key Articles, the United Kingdom is not fulfilling its obligations with respect to domestic policies.