The Limits of Moral Limitations: Reconceptualizing 'Morals' in Human Rights Law

摘要

Each of the major human rights instruments from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights onwards has reserved the state's ability to curtail some rights in the name of interests in national security, public health, public order, and morals. These instruments do not define "morals," however, and the growing recognition that sexual rights are human rights has made the deferential application of these limitation clauses increasingly untenable. As regional and international institutions struggle to make sense of moral limitations, this Article argues that constitutional morality, a concept developed by domestic courts in the Global South, offers a promising doctrinal tool to adjudicate disputes over sovereignty and sexual rights.