1.1 The International Bill Of Human Rights
At its first meeting in 1946, the General Assembly transmitted a draft Declara- tion of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms to the Commission on Human Rights, through the Economic and Social Council, relative to the preparation of an international bill of human rights. In 1947, the Commission authorized its officers to formulate a draft bill of human rights which was later taken over

by a formal Drafting Committee consisting of 8 members of the Commission. The Drafting Committee decided to prepare two documents: one in the form of a declaration which would set forth general principles or standards of human rights; and the other in the form of a convention which would define specific rights and their limitations. Accordingly, the Committee transmitted to the Commission draft articles of an international declaration and an international convention on human rights. The Commission decided to apply the term “International Bill of Human Rights” to the entire series of documents in late 1947. In 1948, the draft declaration was revised and submitted through the Economic and Social Council to the General Assembly. On 10 December 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted – a day cele- brated each year as “Human Rights Day”.
The Commission on Human Rights then continued working on a draft cove- nant on human rights. By 1950, the General Assembly passed a resolution declaring that the “enjoyment of civil and political freedoms and of eco- nomic, social and cultural rights are interconnected and interdependent”. After lengthy debate, the General Assembly requested that the Commission draft two covenants on human rights; one to set forth civil and political rights and the other embodying economic, social and cultural rights. Before finaliz- ing the draft covenants, the General Assembly decided to give the drafts the widest possible publicity in order that Governments might study them thor- oughly and public opinion might express itself freely. In 1966, two Interna- tional Covenants on Human Rights were completed (instead of the one originally envisaged): the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Politi- cal Rights (ICCPR), which effectively translated the principles of the Univer- sal Declaration into treaty law. In conjunction with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the two Covenants are referred to as the “International Bill of  Human Rights”.