International Covenant on Civil and Political rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and cultural Rights laid down a number of rights to human beings which may be enjoyed by them individually by virtue of their being human. Both the Covenants are referred to as the “traditional rights”. In addition to these rights, there is another important category of rights known as “collective rights”. These rights are exercised jointly rather than severally, but individuals are the beneficiary. Collective rights are also called “Third generation Rights”. They are called new rights because they cannot be enforced by existing international machinery. Such rights include right to development, right to peace, right to common heritage, right to self-determination and right to safe environment.
