fundamental right

While the term itself occurs often enough in the 17th century already, it isn’t always with the same meaning and it is problematic to trace how it became a set term. While usage in the United States is an independent development, its codification in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is surely owed to German Grundrecht, already occurring in the Frankfurt Constitution. The drafting of the Constitution of India containing fundamental rights follows temporally close to, and not without motivational nexus, after the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, which included fundamental rights. The Constitution of Bangladesh, containing fundamental rights and the Constitution of Nepal containing fundamental rights in translation followed the neighbour’s example much later.

fundamental right (plural fundamental rights)

1. Synonym of human right, sometimes with subtle differences.