Interpretation of legal duty in the American legal tradition
Authors: Popovych Terezia , Vashkovych Victoriia 
Published: September 2024

Human rights, as enshrined in current international legal instruments, are the result of long-term historical development and the gradual formation of standards that have become the norm in modern democratic society. The formation of such unified standards for regulating social life has led to the modern doctrine of human rights being based on universal principles and values, including freedom, equality, justice, and the inalienability of fundamental human rights. However, despite the commonality of these values and principles on which the modern idea of human rights is founded, its formation and gradual development occurred under the influence of cultural, historical, political, and sociological factors of individual states or entire regions. These factors led to the emergence of distinct legal traditions.
A legal tradition is understood as a deeply rooted and historically conditioned attitude of people towards the role of law in society, the nature of law, as well as the organization and functioning of the legal system as a whole. The legal tradition, in turn, leads to certain differences or authenticity in the interpretation of various legal categories, as their formation occurred through the prism of unique circumstances characteristic of a particular legal tradition. Studying approaches to interpreting certain legal phenomena in specific legal traditions allows for a broader understanding of a given legal concept, revealing its peculiarities in the legal systems of individual states, and conducting a comparative analysis of its interpretation alongside other legal traditions.
Today, when discussing human rights and obligations, we often refer to sources of the European legal tradition, which undoubtedly play an important role in the modern understanding of human rights. However, it would be incorrect to overlook the contributions of other legal traditions, particularly the American one. The emergence of the modern system of human rights and obligations on the American continent is associated with the activities of the Organization of American States, as well as the adoption of such acts as the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man of 1948 and the American Convention on Human Rights of 1969. It should be noted that the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man preceded the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 by six months, which underscores the significance of this act in the process of establishing an international system of human rights and their protection. A characteristic feature of this Declaration, which distinguishes it from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and a number of other European human rights acts, is its extensive list of duties impos
 
ed on individuals.
Thus, to identify the peculiarities of interpreting the category of legal duty, it would be appropriate to study this fundamental normative legal act of the American legal tradition in the field of human rights and duties. Furthermore, studying normative legal acts that regulate both human rights and duties will allow us to outline the mechanism of establishing and normatively formulating key human duties in the American legal tradition.