The Continuity of Life and the Right to Life: A Conceptual Framework

The right to life is a fundamental right inherent in every human being. Yet life is not a static condition existing at a single point in time; it is a process that continues over time. This raises a conceptual question concerning the relationship between the right to life and the conditions necessary for the continuation of human life. This article proposes a Life Continuity Framework for conceptualizing this relationship. Its central premise is that the continuation of human life depends upon certain basic conditions. Food, shelter, and health are among the principal examples. The absence of any one of these conditions does not, in itself, constitute a violation of the right to life. However, severe and sustained deprivation may, in particular circumstances, seriously threaten the continuation of life and therefore become relevant to the effective enjoyment and protection of the right to life. The article does not propose a new human right or claim that basic social and economic conditions constitute components of the right to life as such. Its contribution is narrower: it systematizes an existing relationship in human rights law and scholarship through a conceptual framework grounded in the processual and continuous nature of human life.