PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Rights & Human Rights

Discuss the doctrine of ‘rights as trumps’.

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes

Route 1 Dworkin’s trumps image rights shield the individual against majority calculation

Route 2 Taking Rights Seriously “rights as political trumps” fundamental rights override collective interest

Body flow

meaning of a trump priority of the right over the good rejection of greatest-happiness utilitarianism rights protect dignity / autonomy moral (not merely constitutional) rights against government Rawls parallel society must not always balance in its own favour Dworkin’s narrow exceptions

Counter-view

Greene: the frame cannot handle conflicts between genuine rights Costa Neto: trumping and balancing are complementary no right is absolute

Conclusion routes

Route 1 rights as trumps secure the individual, but the metaphor strains when rights collide

Route 2 strong rights, yet not absolute trumping tempered by balancing

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2019, Rights & Human Rights