PIL 2 MCQ Human Rights

Question 1

Meaning of the abbreviation ICESCR

Answer 1

International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Question 2

The jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court includes genocide, crimes against humanity
and war crimes (including murder). What is the strongest form of punishment that may be imposed
on an individual by this Court?

Question 3

Which country withdrew from the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR in 1997, and for what stated reason?

Answer 3

Jamaica, in relation to death penalty issues

Question 4

Which of the following countries in 1995 enacted a Medical Termination of the Pregnancy Act?

Answer 4

Guyana (Barbados did it in 1983)

Question 5

Every person has the right to have his life respected. This right shall be protected by law and, in general, from the moment of conception.” This extract is taken from which international human rights provision?

Answer 5

Article 4 (1), American Convention on Human Rights

Question 6

Anna applies for refugee status in St. Lucia and receives it. What term denotes Anna’s right not to be returned to her home country?

Answer 6

Non-refoulement

Question 7

Which of the following Privy Council cases was decided first in time?
a) Reyes v. R (from Belize);
b) Ry. Hughes (from St. Lucia);
c) R v. Fox (from St. Kitts-Nevis);

d) Neville Lewis v. Supt. Of Prisons (from Jamaica);

e) Pratt and Morgan v. The Attorney General (from Jamaica).

Answer 7

e) Pratt and Morgan v. The Attorney General (from Jamaica).

Question 8

By what other name is United Nations General Assembly 217(A) known?

Answer 8

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights

Question 9

Which of the following comprises representatives of 47 UN member states?
(a) The United Nations Human Rights Committee;
(b) The United Nations Human Rights Council;
(c) The Inter-American Court of Human Rights;
(d) The United Nations Human Rights Commission;
(e) The European Commission on Human Rights.

Answer 9

(b) The United Nations Human Rights Council;

Question 10

Which provision of the United Nations Charter seeks to ensure that there is no interference in the domestic matters of States?

Answer 10

(b) Article 2 (7)

Question 11

Two States are party to the 1951 Refugees Convention but not the associated Protocol.

Answer 11

Madagascar and St. Kitts-Nevis

Question 12

Which provision in an international instrument reads: “ Each State Party to the present (instrument) undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation…. to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present (instrument)”?

Answer 12

Article 2, ICESCR

Question 13

In the 2022 Privy Council case of Jay Chandler v. The State, the appellants urged the court to overturn its earlier decision on the mandatory death penalty made in 2004. The Privy Council declined to do so. Identify the case from 2004.

Answer 13

Charles Matthew v. The State

Question 14

The human desire for rights is reflected in the song “Equal Rights” which carries the lines: “Everyone is crying out for peace, None is crying out for justice, … But there will be no peace, Till men get equal rights and justice”. Name the singer.
a)Peter Tosh;
b) Bob Marley;
c) Tarrus Riley;
d) Etana;
e) David Rudder.

Answer 14

a) Peter Tosh

Question 15

Which of the following may be classified as a third generation human right?
a) Right to development;
b) Right to work;
c) Freedom of association;
d) Right to form a trade union;
e) Right to strike.

Answer 15

a) Right to development

Question 16

In 2009 two CARICOM countries proposed that the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court should be extended to include drug trafficking in certain circumstances. Identify the countries.
a) St. Kitts-Nevis and Barbados;
b) Belize and Trinidad and Tobago;
c) St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia;
d) Jamaica and Haiti;
e) Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda.

Answer 16

b) Belize and Trinidad and Tobago;

Question 17

Which of the following considerations best explains or explain the decision to prepare the ICCPR?
a) The United Nations Charter did not define the human rights which it sought to protect;
b) The UDHR is not binding per se;
c) Some States argued that two treaties were needed, one dealing with negative rights, and the other with positive rights;
(d) All of (a), (b), and (c) above;
(e) None of the above.

Answer 17

(d) All of (a), (b), and (c) above;

Question 18

Which provision in an international instrument states: “Capital punishment shall not be imposed upon persons, who, at the time the crime was committed, were under 18 years of age or over 70 years of age; nor shall it be applied to pregnant women.”
(a) Section 6 (1), ICCPR;
(b) Article 6 (1), ICCPR;-
(c) Article 7, UDHR;
(d) Article 6 (5), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
(e) Article 415), American Convention on Human Rights.

Answer 18

(e) Article 415), American Convention on Human Rights.

Question 19

In which city would you find the headquarters of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights?

Answer 19

Washington D.C., United States of America

Question 20

In which case did the Privy Council strike down Jamaica’s mandatory death penalty law?

Answer 20

Lambert Watson v. The DPP

Question 21

Which Caribbean country withdrew from the American Convention on Human Rights as a result of death penalty issues?

Answer 21

Trinidad and Tobago

Question 22

The Jamaican Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (Constitutional Amendment Act) was passed in what year?

Answer 22

2011

Question 23

According to Article 8 of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court which head of jurisdiction includes expressly grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 against persons and property protected by the Conventions, including protection from wilful killing and torture, among other crimes?
a) Crimes against humanity;
b) War crimes;
(c) Genocide;
d) Aggression;
e) None of the above.

Answer 23

b) War Crimes

Question 24

In March 2023, Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization, criticized this country for not taking active steps to repatriate approximately 90 nationals from Syria.
The 90 nationals went to Syria
under the influence of ISIS or under religious influence. Identify the country criticized by Human Rights Watch.
(a) Myanmar;
(b) Iraq;
c) Afghanistan;
d) Trinidad and Tobago;
e) The USA.

Answer 24

d) Trinidad and Tobago;

Question 25

"Finally, in the realm of human rights, as a matter of policy, CARICOM should encourage its member states to expedite the process of incorporating into their national legislation those human rights treaties which they have ratified." This quotation is drawn from an essay entitled; "Foreign Policy Options for CARICOM' published in The Integrationist in 2006. Name the writer. a) Elsa Goveia; b) Michael Akehurst; c) Kathy Ann Brown; d) Stephen Vasciannie; e) None of the above.

Answer 25

d) Stephen Vasciannie;

Question 26

In what year did the Coral Gardens Incident take place in Jamaica giving rise to the deaths of at least 8 persons and allegations of substantial human rights abuses against Rastafarians? (a) 1998; (b) 1968; (c) 1973; d) 1991; e) 1963.

Answer 26

e) 1963

Question 27

Which provision of the Refugees Convention and Protocol answers the question: "Who is a refugee?" a) Article 2(7); b) Article 1(2)(A); c) Article 33(1); d) Article 1(A)(2); e) Article 6(2).

Answer 27

d) Article 1(A)(2);

Question 28

What general term encompasses the main argument used against universal human rights? a) The ICCPR approach; b) Cultural relativism; c) The UDHR approach; d) Orientalism; e) Western impositions.

Answer 28

b) Cultural relativism;

Question 29

Which two litigants have had their murder convictions addressed by three courts, namely, the Privy Council, the Caribbean Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights? a) Reyes and Hughes; b) Spence and Hughes; c) Watson and Matthew; d) Trimmingham and Roodal; e) Joseph and Boyce.

Answer 29

e) Joseph and Boyce.

Question 30

The jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court includes genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (including murder). Which is the strongest form of punishment that may be imposed on an individual by this Court? a) Life imprisonment combined with flogging and whipping; b) A maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment; c) The death sentence, but only for the worst of the worst cases; d) Life imprisonment; e) The death sentence for cases that involve violation of the right to life.

Answer 30

d) Life Imprisonment

Question 31

In 2001, seven men were shot and killed by the Jamaican police force in a residential building in Saint Catherine. The incident gave rise to accusations of unjustified extrajudicial killings by the state. Identify the community in which the killings took place? a) Kraal; b) Coral Gardens;
 c) Dunbeholden; d) Bracton; e) Above Rocks.

Answer 31

d) Bracton;

Question 32

Identify the country which has brought a case before the International Court of Justice concerning the treatment of Rohingya Muslims many of whom have become refugees on the grounds that they face persecution in their home state. a) Myanmar; b) Bangladesh;
 c) The Gambia; d) Venezuela; (e) Pakistan.

Answer 32

c) The Gambia;

Question 33

Which two of the following are second generation human rights? a) The right to life and freedom of assembly; b) The right to property and the right to a healthy environment; c) Freedom of expression and the right to health; d) The right to education and the right to work; e) The right to culture and the right to vote.

Answer 33

d) The right to education and the right to work;

Question 34

In the decade of the 1990s, which American congressperson, a leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, criticized Caribbean leaders for insensitivity to the plight of Haitian refugees, to be rebuffed by Prime Minister Eugenia Charles of Dominica? a) Barack Obama; b) Adam Clayton Powell Jr; c) Andrew Young; d) Clarence Thomas;
 e) Charles Rangel.

Answer 34

e) Charles Rangel

Question 35

Which third generation human right is recognized in the ICESCR, the ICCPR, the UDHR, UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 and the Chagos Islands Case? a) The right to life; b) Freedom from inhuman punishment; (c) The right to development; (d) The right to education; (e) The right to self-determination.

Answer 35

(e) The right to self-determination.

Question 36

Identify two human rights which are sometimes denoted as negative rights. a) The right to work; freedom of movement; b) Freedom of expression; the right to employment; c) The right to education; the right to property; d) Freedom from slavery; the right to life;
 e) 
The right to health care; freedom of association.

Answer 36

d) Freedom from slavery; the right to life;


Question 37

Which human rights issue was most directly involved in the Jamaican case of R u Frank Robinson? a) Freedom of association; b) The right to education; c) The right to an attorney in capital cases; d) The right to health; e) Freedom of movement.

Answer 37

c) The right to an attorney in capital cases;

Question 38

Identify the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights decision which addressed Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights. (a) Dobbs v. Jackson Medical Centre; (b) Roe v. Wade; (c) The Baby Boy Case; (d) Artavia Murillo v. Costa Rica; (e) R v. Bourne.

Answer 38

C) The Baby Boy Case;

Question 39

The State of Xanadu is a party to the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. Captain John Brown, a member of the Xanadu Defense Force is accused of war crimes and is to be tried for these crimes in Xanadu. He wishes to know, however, whether he may also be tried for the same crimes before the International Criminal Court. Which principle provided for in the Rome Statute is most relevant to this issue? a) Relativity of courts; b) Equality of courts; c) Sovereign immunity; d) Military immunity; e) Complementarity.

Answer 39

e) Complementarity.

Question 40

Which of the following countries is not a party to the ICCPR? a) St. Vincent and the Grenadines; b) Haiti; c) Cuba; d) Barbados; e) Guyana

Answer 40

c) Cuba;

Question 41

The original version of the Barbadian constitutional provisions on the fundamental rights and freedoms of persons - adopted in 1966 -- is derived primarily from which pre-existing instrument or instruments on human rights. (a) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights; b) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; c) The Canadian Bill of Rights; d) The European Convention on Human Rights; e) The British Human Rights Act.

Answer 41

c) The Canadian Bill of Rights;

Question 42

In what year did the Spanish Government pass the Laws of Burgos concerning the treatment of indigenous people in the Spanish Empire following the arrival of Columbus? (a) 1494; (b) 1506; (c)1512; (d) 1542; (e) 1560.

Answer 42

c) 1512

Question 43

In a 2001 Lecture on the Use of Force by States revisiting his book on the same subject, which jurist relied on the position taken by the Group of 77 to oppose the lawfulness of humanitarian intervention by States? (a) Hersch Lauterpacht; b) Derek Bowett; c) Ian Brownlie; d) Michael Akehurst; e) Michael Wood.

Answer 43

c) Ian Brownlie

Question 44

The Government of Guyana has sought your advice on whether the country should ratify the UN Convention and Protocol on Refugees. The Government wishes to know, in particular, if the Convention is in any way different from the Protocol, and if so, how? What is the best response? (a) They are the same, but the Protocol has allowed new States to join the Convention; (b) They are the same, save that former Communist countries have rejected the Convention as a relic of the Cold War; (c) They carry different definitions of the persons entitled to refugee status, (d)They carry different rules concernine the obligations owed by states to refugees (e) The Protocol clarifies the meaning of the right of non-refoulement.

Answer 44

(a) They are the same, but the Protocol has allowed new States to join the Convention;

Question 45

According to Article 7 of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court which head of jurisdiction includes, inter alia, murder, enslavement, extermination, deportation, forceful transfer of population and torture? (a) Genocide; b) War Crimes; c) Crimes against Humanity; d) Aggression; (e) Double Jeopardy Crimes.

Answer 45

c) Crimes against Humanity;

Question 46

In the Privy Council case of Natalie Campbell-Rodriguez v. The Attorney General of Jamaica, the appellants maintained that the establishment of a toll road to and from Portmore, Jamaica, amounted to the breach of which fundamental right or freedom established in the Jamaican constitution? (a) Freedom of movement; (b) Freedom of assembly; (c) The right to vote; d) The right to liberty; (e) The right to property

Answer 46

(e) The right to property

Question 47

Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights indicates, among other things, that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to lifeeons you n have a and that "in general life begins at conception". In which case before the IACHR did the meaning to be ascribed to this provision in relation to the exception abortion laws of the USA come up for consideration? a) The Baby Boy Case (b) Roe v. Wade; (c) Planned Parenthood v. Casey; (d) Dobbs v. Jackson Medical Centre; (e) Ru. Newton and Stungo;

Answer 47

a) The Baby Boy Case