Chapter 1 • International Human Rights Law and the Role of the Legal Professions: A General Introduction Effective protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms is conducive to both domestic and international peace and security. Effective protection of human rights provides a basic democratic culture enabling conflicts to be resolved peacefully. Economic progress depends to a large extent on good governance and effective protection of human rights. 2.4 The sources of law The third preambular paragraph of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “... it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law” (emphasis added). This means that, in order to enable the human person fully to enjoy his or her rights, these rights must be effectively protected by domestic legal systems. The principle of the rule of law can thus also be described as an overarching principle in the field of human rights protection because, where it does not exist, respect for human rights becomes illusory. It is interesting in this respect to note that, according to article 3 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, “every Member State ... must accept the principle of the rule of law”. This fundamental principle is thus legally binding on the 43 Member States of the organization, a fact that has also influenced the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.8 Consequently, judges, prosecutors and lawyers have a crucial role to fulfil in ensuring that human rights are effectively implemented at the domestic level. This responsibility requires the members of these legal professions to familiarize themselves adequately with both national and international human rights law. Whilst their access to domestic legal sources should pose no major problem, the situation is more complex at the international level, where there are several legal sources and a case-law rich in many respects. With some modification, the next section will follow the hierarchy of legal sources as they appear in article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. Although one might disagree with the classification of sources in this provision, it serves as a useful starting point. According to article 38(1) of the Statute, the sources are: 8 Eur. Court HR, Golder case, Judgment of 21 February 1975, Series A, No. 18, para. 34 at p. 17. The Court stated that one “reason why the signatory Governments decided to ‘take the first steps for the collective enforcement of certain of the Rights stated in the Universal Declaration’ was their profound belief in the rule of law”; it therefore seemed “both natural and in conformity with the principle of good faith ... to bear in mind this widely proclaimed consideration when interpreting the terms of” article 6(1) of the European Convention “according to their context and in the light of the object and purpose of the Convention”. Referring moreover to the references to the rule of law contained in the Statute of the Council of Europe, the Court concluded that “in civil matters one can scarcely conceive of the rule of law without there being a possibility of having access to the courts”. The Council of Europe had 43 Member States as of 22 April 2002. 6 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers