Unit 1 business letters
TEXT A. LETTERS OF COMPLAINT
Dear Mr.Schach,
I am writing to you about the trip to Himalayas and Sri Lanka you organized for a group of scientists.
In accordance with your plan, one of your representatives should have met us in transit at Heathrow and escorted us to the departure terminal of our flight to Katmandu.
To our surprise, nobody at all showed up and, as we had only 55 minutes for the transfer, this caused us a lot of stress and trouble.
Furthermore, the Hanging Garden hotel in Katmandu was overbooked! Having paid in advance for a 1-st class hotel, we had to look for alternative accommodation for 7 members of the group. It took us several hours, and we only found very inferior hotels, and the group ended up being spread between four hotels. This inconvenience upset the organization of the conference, as you can imagine.
Moreover, your duties included providing us with all equipment for the expedition in Himalayas. Again, I have to complain about a mistake you made: the number of tents was not sufficient and this caused a one-day delay to the entire expedition.
For this reason, when we arrived back in Katmandu, there was no flight to Sri Lanka till next day. As a result we ended up staying only two days in Sri Lanka instead of four days we agreed with you.
We feel we deserve some sort of compensation for the stress we suffered and all expenses. We suggest for all the money we paid you and the expenses incurred during the travel to be returned to us.
I enclose the copy of travel plan you prepared for us and receipts for all expenses we incurred.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
(Signature)
Ann Smith, Member of Organizing Committee.
TEXT B LETTERS OF COMPLAINT
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to you to complain about the service offered by your company.
I made a mistake and signed an agreement to deliver me the magazine “ Sweet Lady”.
As it was indicated in the contract I had right to terminate this agreement during one week after signing without any penalty and consequences. I used this right and terminated this contract the day after in the written form as it was indicated in the contract.
Nevertheless I received one issue of this edition for May 8-15 and a bill.
I returned this magazine as well as the bill enclosed.
I was very surprised to get a letter with the new bill and explanation that your company is not responsible for this situation.
I would like to point out that I’m not responsible too. I used the regular way you offered in the contract. I can conclude that different divisions of your company don’t communicate well and offer services in very different manner.
Therefore, I’m kindly asking you, please, do not send me any issues, bills, magazines and other offers. I don’t suppose to be a customer of the company who doesn’t fulfill its obligations.
Yours faithfully,
(Signature)
Jane Brown
Unit 2 human rights
TEXT A HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS.
Human rights refer to the ‘basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled. ’Examples of rights and freedoms which are often thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education.
The history of human rights covers thousands of years and draws upon religious, cultural, philosophical and legal developments throughout recorded history. Several ancient documents and later religions and philosophies included a variety of concepts that may be considered to be human rights. The English Magna Carta or ‘Great Charter’ of 1215 is particularly significant in the history of English law, and is hence significant in international law and constitutional law today. It was one of England’s first documents containing commitments by a sovereign to his people to respect certain legal rights.
‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in spirit of brotherhood.’
Much of modern human rights law and the basis of most modern interpretations of human rights can be traced back to relatively recent history. The British Bill of Rights of 1689 made illegal a range of oppressive governmental actions in the United Kingdom and the American Bill of Rights of 1791 set up a number of fundamental rights and freedoms.
Many groups and movements have managed to achieve profound social changes over the course of the 20th century in the name of human rights. In Western Europe and North America, labour unions brought about laws granting workers the right to strike, establishing minimum work conditions and forbidding or regulating child labour. The women’s rights movement succeeded in gaining for many women the right to vote.
TEXT B INTTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW.
Human rights law is a system of law, both domestic and international, designed to promote human rights. Human rights law includes a number of treaties which are intended to punish some violations of human rights such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. There are also a number of international courts which have been constituted to judge violations of human rights including the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court.
An important concept within human rights law is that of universal jurisdiction. This concept, which is not widely accepted, is that any nation is authorized to prosecute and punish violations of human rights wherever and whenever they may have occurred.
The Geneva Conventions came into being between 1864 and 1949 as a result of efforts by Henry Dunant, the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The conventions safeguard the human rights of individuals involved in armed conflicts, and build on the 1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions, the international community’s first attempt to formalize the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of secular international law. The conventions were revised as a result of World War II and readopted by the international community in 1949.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a non-binding declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, partly in response to the atrocities of World War II. Although the UDHR is a non-binding resolution, it is now considered to be a central component of international customary law which may be invoked under appropriate circumstances by national and other judiciaries. The UDHR urges member nations to promote a number of human, civil, economic and social rights, asserting these rights are part of the ‘foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.’ The declaration was the first international legal effort to limit the behavior of states and press upon them duties to their citizens following the model of the rights-duty duality.
TEXT C INTERNATIONAL BODIES. THE UNITED NATIONS.
The United Nations (UN) is the only multilateral government agency with universally accepted international jurisdiction for universal human rights legislation. All UN organs have advisory roles to the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council, and there are numerous committees within the UN with responsibilities for safeguarding different human treaties. The most senior body of the UN with regard to human rights is the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The United Nations has an international mandate to:
‘….achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.
(Article 1-3 of the United Nations Charter).
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL.
The United Nations Human Rights Council, created at the 2005 World Summit to replace the United Nations Commission on Human rights, has a mandate to investigate violations of human rights. The Human Rights Council is a subsidiary body of the General Assembly and reports directly to it. It ranks below the Security Council, which is the final authority for the interpretation of the United Nations Charter. Forty-seven of the one hundred ninety-one member states sit on the council, elected by simple majority in a secret ballot of the UN General Assembly. Members serve a maximum of six years and may have their membership suspended for gross human rights abuses. The Council is based in Geneva, and meets three times a year; with addition meetings to respond to urgent situations.