36 exam-style questions on Contested meanings of rights and justice — topic TS1.1 of Thematic Study 1: Rights and justice in the IB Global Politics syllabus — with answers and explanations. Samples below; the full set is free with an account.
Under international law, a refugee is a person who has done what?
Answer: Fled abroad from a well-founded fear of persecution
The 1951 Refugee Convention defines refugees by persecution; internally displaced persons remain within their own state.
The two binding covenants (1966) that, with the UDHR, form the International Bill of Human Rights are the ICCPR and which other?
Answer: ICESCR
The ICESCR covers economic, social and cultural rights; the ICCPR covers civil and political rights.
An approach to justice that focuses on repairing harm and reconciling victims, offenders and the community is called what?
Answer: Restorative justice
Restorative justice emphasises healing and dialogue; retributive justice focuses on punishing offenders proportionately.
Which 1948 document first set out a common standard of human rights for all nations?
Answer: Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The UDHR (1948), adopted by the UN General Assembly, is the foundational human-rights document, though not itself legally binding.
A government rejects criticism of its laws by international human rights bodies, arguing that rights must reflect local traditions, religion and values. This position is best described as:
Answer: cultural relativism
Cultural relativism holds that moral standards, including rights, derive from particular cultures and cannot be imposed from outside — the main challenge to universalist accounts of human rights.
A truth and reconciliation commission that prioritises victims' testimony, acknowledgement of harm and the repair of relationships over punishing perpetrators reflects which conception of justice?
Answer: restorative justice
Restorative justice centres on healing victims and reintegrating offenders into the community, whereas retributive justice focuses on proportionate punishment.
That was 6 of 36 Contested meanings of rights and justice questions.
Practise all 36 freeDistinguishAO2 · 3–8 marks
Make the difference clear for BOTH terms — a definition of one of them is only half an answer.
StateAO1 · 1–3 marks
One word or one short sentence. No explanation, no working: the mark is for the fact itself.
DefineAO1 · 1–3 marks
Give the precise meaning — one sentence, the key terms in it, no example needed unless asked.
36 Contested meanings of rights and justice questions — free with an account. Spaced repetition, streaks and full exam simulations included.
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