Strengthening the Philosophical Basis for the Recognition of Man as Subject of International Law

The inclusion of ‘man qua man’, as subject of international law, though controversial, has attracted positive and supportive responses in the world, apparently due to the fact that man has suffered untold hardship in the hands of state and agents of state machineries. The identification, provisions and enforcement of rights of man has only recently been recognized as worthy of pursuit by states in the first instance, comity of nations and the regime of international law in the main. The author urges that the subsisting philosophical doctrine of human rights, international justice and combat of state impunity are all aimed at giving meaning to the legal personality of man in international law. The book maintains that the international community has grown to demand justice as a ‘right’, and not a ‘charity’, premised on the reality that rights of man have become universal and sacrosanct.