Introduction:
To live in a place, where equality, peace, security and dignity are guaranteed is a good fortune to those who found a just society. Though it is not an easy task to establish a just society, but it is not an impossible idea. A just society requires a society of law abiding citizens who work together for the betterment of the society, where laws are human rights informed and social policies are effective.
The paper will focus on the notion of a just society supported by Rawls theory of justice (1999), concept of human rights supported by Donnelly (1989) and Freeman’s (2002) arguments and counter arguments, human rights laws as requirement for just society supported by Vieru’s (2010) arguments , importance of citizen’s virtue in
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The main international human rights laws includes the international bill of human rights, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966. Though there are international agreements on human rights, but agreement on the implementation of human rights standards would require agreement on values. Because every society has its different values. Implementation of human rights varies according to the organization, resources and values of different societies. Practice of human rights values is more important rather than theoretical values (Freeman, 2002, p.58). Therefore Freeman suggests that the human rights law’s application depends on every society’s values and national …show more content…
Citizens are an important component of a society. In a just society the equal rights of the citizens are ensured. In a society where citizens do not participate in the political process to promote the public good and hold political authorities accountable, just society is not possible there.
All human rights laws will fail if the citizens are not willing to obey those laws. Moreover, enforcement of the social policies also depends on the voluntary cooperation of the citizens. The state will be unable to provide health care services if the citizens are not willing to maintain a healthy diet with respect to their own health (Kymlicka, 2002, p.285 ). Consequently, social policies to meet the need of the child, disable, women and elderly cannot be effective if the citizens are not willing to share this responsibility by providing some care for their relatives.
In Bangladesh there are more than two hundred environmental laws and several policies for the protection of the environment. But environmental destruction is increasing day by day. The state cannot protect the environment by legal rules and policies as long as the citizens do not practice reduce, reuse and recycle in their own consumer