1. NEW DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENTS
IN THE FIELD OF HUMAN RIGHTS:
THE RIGHT OF THE PERSON TO BE PROTECTED FROMSTRESS
(FOURTH GENERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS)
Ph.D. Mădălina Virginia Antonescu
Abstract
The human rightsfield represents, without a doubt,one of the main legal disciplines,both within the century
that only came to end, and also, for the 21st century. Our paper explores several possible developments of this
discipline, by discussing a new human right that can be considered as a fundamental right, by taking into
consideration the global expansion of over-agglomerated urban habitats, created due to the expansion of the
industrial and consuming societies, at the end of 20th
century and the beginning of 21st
century. This kind of
societies imposed a style of living specific to metropolises and megalopolises, and, specifically, such feature
managed to bring new challenges for more established instances of human rights. The right of a person to be
protected from stress underlines the importance that 21st
century legal scholars must grant to the relations
between the environmental right (here, the urban environment), human security, environmental security and
human rights (especially, the right of a person to receive protection from different forms of pollution existing as
an effect of technological and industrial progress and due to the metropolitan modus vivendi, as well).
Keywords: stress, right of the person to be protected fromstress, urban habitat, human rights.
1. Introduction
Beginning from the need for constant development of the human rights field under the
pressure of challenges posed by globalization, this paper aims to analyze a new human right.
It details what we believe to be an innovation in the field of human rights, a new fundamental
human right of the fourth generation, strongly connected to all the other human rights: the
right of the person to be protected from stress. Even if this right currently doesn’t benefit
from an explicit establishment at international, regional and national level, it is however, in
our opinion, included in the legal sphere of the other human rights. We believe it desirable
that the right of the person to be protected from stress gain an explicit international legal
establishment, starting from the legal definition of the term. The first part of this paper recalls
the general features of the urbanized and industrialized societies of the 21st century, subject to
considerable pollution levels, accounting for a stressful lifestyle, followed by an attempt to
scientifically define stress. The second part of the paper consists of a brief definition of
relations between this new right and the other human rights, the showcasing of legal
provisions where we believe there are implicit establishments of the right of the person to be
protected from stress, as well as the proposal that stress be included among the specific forms
of pollution for post-modern societies of the early 21st century.
2. Negative and Excessive Stress and the Global Society in the Early 21st
Century
 Paper presented at the international conference “Contemporary juridical institutions within the framework of
the Romanian integration into EU”, Romanian-American University, Law Department, the IX th ed., Bucharest,
13-14 Nov. 2015.
The article at hand exclusively represents the personal opinion of the author and does not imply any other kind
of natural or legal person. All rights for this text herein are reserved. Quotations from this text shall only be
done by specifying the author’s name and complete source.

2. The features of post-industrial society and post-modern global civilization in the early 21st
century has determined a progressive development (especially in terms of crowded urban areas, as
well as of metropolises and Mega-cities of the world)1
of a lifestyle based on an ideology of
industrialization at any cost (the emergence of the great polluting industries), consumption, speed,
irrational and unlimited exploitation of nature2
, within a flawed, schizoid relation between man and
the environment3
, with the very ecosphere of which it is an integral part4
. For post-modern man, stress
becomes a way of living which, beyond his normal limits established by specialists in the process of
identifying stress symptoms5
, causes severe damage to the quality of people living in metropolises
and megalopolises (especially those who carry out their activities in exhausting work conditions, of
intense exploitation or in overly-challenging physical and psychological fields).
Given this context, we may discuss the necessity of establishing a new human right, which
may be deemed as fundamental, at national (in the constitutional order of the states), but also at a
regional and international level, taking into account the worldwide expansion of overcrowded urban
habitats, born out of the expansion of industrial and consumption societies towards the late 20 th
century and early 21st
century.
These societies have generated a lifestyle specific to metropolises and megalopolises and
have provided new challenges for the human rights already established. The right of people to be
protected from stress (in this case, the physical/psychological negative stress) underlines the
importance with which 21st
century legal representatives must approach the relation between the
environmental rights (i.e. urban environment), human safety, environmental safety, human rights
(particularly, the right of person to be protected when faced with numerous forms of pollution
emerged as a result of the technological progress and specific lifestyle within metropolises)6
.
According to specialists, however, one must note the fact that stress has become as normal for
the human organism as has temperature, thus it is inappropriate to discuss “the desire to eliminate
stress” (this would only be possible if the individual ceases to exist), as is the case of discussing about
the fact that the individual should not have a temperature7
. Stress has thus become part of normal life,
also featuring a classification of positive and negative stress8
; in our opinion, that which must be
identified and refuted (including via a specific legal regulation) is the excessive negative stress.
More specifically, the 21st
century attorneys should focus on identifying a new legal
definition, mutually accepted in terms of excessive negative stress9
, and to propose it at an
international level, within the competent national bodies in the field of human rights. Furthermore, in
order to provide a broad definition to excessive stress, one must also consider the fact that stress can
be physical, psychological, biological or cultural adaptation related. Depending on the number of
1 Jacques Bonnet, Marile metropole mondiale (World Megalopolises), trad. Bogdan Geangalău, Institutul
European Publishing House, 2000, pp. 200-204.
2 Daniel Goleman, Inteligența ecologică, translated by Anca Parepa, Curtea Veche Publishing House,
Bucharest, 2009, pp. 201-204.
3 David Korten, Lumea post-corporatistă. Viața după capitalism, translated by Nicolae Năstase, Antet
Publishing House, s.l., 1999, pp. 105-106.
4 The ecosphere being thus defined as “the ensemble of the planet’s ecosystems, among which complex inter-
conditionality relations are established” and where the chief role is played by the human ecosystem. See Marian
Niță, Ecologia, văzută prin ochii credinței în Dumnezeu (Ecology, Seen through the Eyes of the Belief in God),
Mitropolia Olteniei Publishing House, Center for Applied Theology Studies, Craiova Diocesan Printing House,
a.o., p. 50.
5 See Hans Selye, The Nature of Stress, International Institute of Stress, University of Montreal, Quebec,
Canada, http://www.icnr.com/articles/the-nature-of-stress.html, accessed on April 5, 2015.
6 Also see Ion Diaconu, Drepturile omului (Human Rights), IRDO, Bucharest, 1993, pp. 118-119.
7 Hans Selye, The Nature of Stress, International Institute of Stress, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
http://www.icnr.com/articles/the-nature-of-stress.html, accessed on April 5, 2015
8 http://www.ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stres, accessed on April 5, 2015
9 Starting from the scientific definition provided by Hans Selye, the inventor of the term “stress is a state
manifested by a specific syndrome which consists of all the nonspecifically induced changes within the
biological system,thus,stress has a characteristic nature and content, but not a particular cause. The elements of
its nature are the visible changes caused by stress, which represent the addictive indicators expressing the
aggregate of all the different adjustments occurring in the body at any given moment.” Acc. Hans Selye, quoted
op.

3. individuals affected by stress, we may classify stress as individual or collective (affecting a group of
people, a pre-determined community)10
.
Seen as a fundamental human right (as it implies the highest interest in the life of people in
the post-modern world of the 21st
century, especially of those living in metropolises or megalopolises,
as well as of those carrying out their activities in military operation conflict theatres, in areas severely
affected by calamities or disasters (natural or caused by man)11
, and implying an interest for the status
of refugees, people in detention, people facing hard or exhausting labour conditions (thus creating a
physical and/or psychological overstressing of the body), this new right proposed by us is directly
related to the most important of human rights .
Therefore, we may affirm that excessive negative stress12
occurs (construed in this paper
exclusively at an individual level, and affecting one person) when the fundamental human rights are
endangered, a person’s right to life, a right of the person to be treated with dignity, a person’s
freedom, a person’s intangibility (stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights /1945)13
are directly or indirectly affected by a serious or systematic manner, within a state or due to a state
policy. Moreover, there is another important connection with the person’s right to health (one may
actually consider that the new right proposed here,namely the right of the person to be protected from
stress is a right derived from a person’s general right to health). Given such context, the definition
provided by the World Health Organization on the state of health of a human being is
comprehensive14
,admitting that health is directly related to the body’sstate of harmony, or dynamic
balance (which, in our opinion, implies a permanent capacity of the human body to react to stressful
stimuli, and if such are rated within normal parameters, they are unable to negatively, seriously or
irreparably affect the state of health of said person). Thus, the WHO defines heath as “a state of
complete physical and mental wellbeing, of social welfare not simply as an absence of illnesses or
infirmity”15
. This perspective helps us identify the direct relation between the human being’s right to
health and happiness (another 4th
generation innovative right, with an extremely recent legal
establishment at an international level)16
. As a result, if we were to regard a right of the person to be
protected from stress as a right included in the very content of the right to health, the result obtained
is an implicit legal connection between a right of the person to be protected from stress and a
person’s right to happiness (hence,both the person’s state of wellbeing, as well as their state of health
are construed in as broad a sense as possible in legal terms, comprising of both a spiritual as well as a
material dimension, in this case, the satisfaction of life or the wellbeing of a person, quantifiable
depending on certain indicators).
3. The Right of the Person to Be Protected from Stress – An Innovation in the Field of
Human Rights
10 http://www.ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stres, accessed on April 5, 2015.
11 Hence the direct connection between the right we propose and the person’s right to a healthy and clean
environment (2nd generation solidarity right). Also see David Held, Anthony MCGrew, David Goldblatt,
Jonathan Perraton, Transformări globale. Politică, economie și cultură (Global Transformations. Politics,
Economy and Culture), trad. Ramona-Elena Lupașcu, Adriana Ștraub, Mihaela Bordea, Alina-Maria Turcu,
Polirom Publishing House, Iași, 2004, pp. 432-433.
12 http://www.ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stres, accessed on April 5, 2015.
13 Also see Dumitru Mazilu, Drepturile omului. Concept, exigențe și realități contemporane, Lumina Lex
Publishing House, Bucharest, 2000, pp. 85-86.
14 Also being completed with an extended judicial regulation of the right to health, on a regional and European
scale – for instance, within the European Social Charter revised in 1996 (document ratified in Romania on May
5, 1999), a document elaborated with the support of the European Council organization, in terms of social
cohesion and protection of the human rights. Art. 11 stipulates that any person has the right to benefit fromall
measures allowing them to enjoy the best possible state of health one can achieve.” From Irina Moroianu
Zlătescu, Octavian Popescu, Mediul și sănătatea (Environment and Health), IRDO, Bucharest, 2008, pp. 108-
109.
15 Octavian Popescu, Dreptul la sănătate și sănătatea acestui drept, IRDO, Bucharest, 2007, p. 27.
16 Irina Moroianu Zlătescu, Human Rights. A dynamic and evolving process, Pro Universitaria Publishing
House, Bucharest, 2015, p. 455-457.

4. As stated by the doctrine, recalling the ancient philosopher’s interpretations on happiness, an
intrinsic relation occurs between the individual’s state of happiness and the absence of excessive
negative stress; thus, the state of happiness is defined as a purpose of life, obtained through
tranquillity and “by the absolute calmness of the soul,” through a “state of wellbeing, quite, complete
satisfaction,” the philosopher thus encouraging a passive contemplation of phenomena17
. According to
Carus Titus Lucretius, the sine qua non circumstance of achieving happiness is “the complete lack any
suffering, disquiet or fear”18
(hence the importance, stated even in ancient times, of a harmonious way
of living, maintaining a general state of calm, and good spirits, which was however interpreted as one
associated with the soul, being predominantly generated by the human soul towards the outside world,
and not as the predominantly material absence of a hostile and stressful environment-).
Furthermore, we believe that the right of the person to be protected from stress cannot be set
apart from any of the human rights categories, as there are direct connections between:
-The right of the person to be protected from stress and the human rights from the 1st
generation19
(civil and political rights)
-The right of the person to be protected from stress and the human rights from the 2nd
generation
(economic and social rights, cultural rights)
-The right of the person to be protected from stress and the human rights from the 3rd
generation
(solidarity rights)20
-The right of the person to be protected from stress and the human rights from the 4th
generation
(business and human rights, housing, the rights of persons with disabilities, the right to happiness).
Thus, in terms of the relation with the first generation human rights, as stated before, one
cannot conceive a harmonious, calm and tranquil life within normal stress parameters without
assuring the exercise of the right to live, the right to freedom, human dignity, and the right to a
person’s intangibility. Moreover, depriving an individual from the possibility of exercising his
political rights (the right to choose and the right to be elected in office, or public dignity, the right to
take part in the political life, the right to be affiliated with an association or a union, the freedom of
opinion and speech, the freedom of conscience) or the severe, systematic damaging of such a right, in
the exercise or essence thereof, by a state or by other individuals/groups of individuals, may lead to a
profound state of frustration for the person at hand, and the direct consequence of such state is the
occurrence of a situation of excessive negative stress which disturbs the dynamic balance of his body
and ultimately leads to the cancellation or limitation of other fundamental human rights for such
person.
Regarding the relation between the right of the person to be protected from stress and the 2nd
generation human rights (economic and social rights, cultural rights), one may note the fact that
intrinsic legal connections occur between this latest generation right and the rights already established
within the international doctrine and legal order, such as: the right of labour, the right of labour free
choice (and the prohibition of forced labour), the right to fair and opportune labour conditions; the
right to equal remuneration for equal labour; the right to rest and time off; labour security and health;
the right to paid leave; the right of professional promotion; the right to social insurance; the right to
health (the right of the person to enjoy the best physical and mental state one may achieve)21
. In terms
of the set of cultural rights, the right of the person to be protected from stress is related to the human
right of freely developing their personality, the right to education, the right to take part in the cultural
life, the right to benefit from technical progress and the applications thereof; the right of the person to
benefit from the protection of their patrimonial and non-patrimonial rights arising from their
creations22
.
17 Dumitru Mazilu, quoted op., p. 33.
18 Idem.
19 Raluca Miga-Beșteliu, Drept internațional. Introducere în dreptul internațional public (International Law.
Introduction to Public International Law), All-B Publishing House, Bucharest, 1998, pp. 197-198.
20 Irina Moroianu Zlătescu, quoted op., p. 42.
21 Idem, pp. 197-198.
22 Dumitru Mazilu, quoted op., pp. 109-118.

5. Also, another strong legal connection occurs between the right of the person to be protected
from stress and the third generation human rights: as we take here into account the solidarity rights
such as the right to peace and security (recognized for people on an international level but which
exercises direct connotations over the life and quality of life for each individual), established by the
Declaration on the preparation of societies for life in peace (enacted by the UNO.AG in 1978, by
resolution 33/73). Furthermore, one must take into account the connection between the right of the
person to be protected from stress and the right to development (another solidarity right, deemed by
the doctrine as “as a premise and condition for exercising the other rights and freedoms,” classified as
a collective right, established by the Declaration on the right to development, enacted by the UNO.AG
by resolution 41/128 as of 1986 and recognized as an inherent human right)23
. Thirdly, also for the
solidarity rights category, where the right of the person to be protected from stress implies intrinsic
connections, we must also list the right to a healthy and clean environment (“the environment” is
construed as both the natural and the social environment). Thus, under the strong impact of pollutants
(such as an increase in the rate of criminality, alcoholism, traffic and use of drugs, chemical and
industrial pollution discharge into nature)24
, the degradation of the environment (natural and social)
also determines an increase in the level of stress for the person, affecting their quality of life and their
state of health and happiness. The relation between sustainable development, the need to preserve
environmental quality and human rights were illustrated in the Declaration of the United Nations
Conference on the Environment (June 15-16, 1972), which underlines that “man has a fundamental
right to freedom, equality and satisfactory living conditions, in an environment whose quality allows
to live with dignity and wellbeing, as well as the obligation to protect and improve the environment
for present and future generations”25
.
The close connections between the right of the person to be protected from stress also reach
the 4th
generation rights category (the human right to a shelter, the right to happiness, the right of the
person to be protected from the effects of corporate actions and decisions or the concept of “corporate
social responsibility” – in the business and human rights category26
”-).
As one may observe, taking into account the context of post-modern societies in the early 21st
century, the human right to be protected from stress bears several meanings, connecting with all
human rights, regardless of the generation thereof. Thus,a natural unity is created between all human
rights, due to the complexity of the human being but also to the challenges of the global world which
require a multi-dimensional approach to human rights.
Given such context,it is specifically mandatory for states to provide adequate protection for
human rights, considering the level of civilization and the post-modern way of living (characterized
by the stress parameters constantly exceeding the normal limit – the civilization model of “the age of
speed” – which generates a generally negative impact on the quality of life and the standard of living
of post-modern man in the global society of the 21st
century).
4. Legal Establishment of the Right of the Person to be Protected from Stress (4th
Generation)
Although it is classified as a right with a complex legal content, closely connected with all
human rights categories (without setting up a hierarchy between the same), this right, necessary for
the provision of an adequate legal protection to modern man, given the level of challenges generated
by a society under the impact of globalization, is currently lacking an explicit legal establishment.
Considering such context, marked by the absence of explicit international legal regulations,
we believe this right to be highlighting its legal importance indirectly, by the establishment of
fundamental human rights and freedoms whose breach, limitation or deterioration, either in essence or
23 Raluca Miga-Beșteliu, quoted op., pp. 198-199.
24 Irina Moroianu Zlătescu, Octavian Popescu, Mediul și sănătatea (Environment and Health), quoted op., pp.
13-15.
25 Raluca Miga-Beșteliu, quoted op., p. 200.
26 Irina Moroianu Zlătescu, Human rights, quoted op., pp. 452-455.

6. in the exercise thereof would lead to the creation of an excessive negative state of stress on both the
people but also on the collective.
One recommends, given the aforementioned case, proposals addressed by the Romanian
state within various international and regional bodies competent in the field of human rights
protection (UNO, European Council, EU, etc.), regarding a legal definition for this right, as well as
an explicit regional and international establishment of the right of the person to be protected from
stress (taking into account here the excessive negative stress, regardless of referring to physical or
psychological, individual or collective stress). In particular, one should achieve a legal connection
between the right of the person to be protected from stress and the right to life, dignity and human
freedom, freedom of speech and opinion, the right to a decent standard of living, the right to drinking
water for domestic use, the right of the person to be protected from hunger, the right to a healthy,
balanced and sufficient nourishment, the human right to health (defined in art. 12 of the International
Pact On Economic, Social and Cultural Rights/1966 as “the right any person has to enjoy the best
physical and mental state one can achieve”).
Furthermore, the right of the person to be protected from stress provides a direct legal
connection with the international and regional provisions on the prohibition or torture and inhuman
and degrading treatment (Art. 7 / The International Pact on civil and political rights of 1966).
According to this article, no person shall be subject to torture or any inhuman punishment or cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment; also occurring, with regards to highlighting the legal content of the
right of the person to be protected from stress, is the prohibition (contained in the same article) of a
person to be subject without their consent to medical or scientific experiments. Moreover, The Pact at
hand prohibits forced labour under the provisions of art. 8 and prohibits slavery and servitude,
achieving a direct connection with the human right to dignity, freedom and security as a person
(another fundamental human right, established by Art. 9, which grants and indirect establishment of
the human right to be protected from stress). Thus, one must also quote here the extremely cohesive
provisions of Art. 9 of the aforementioned Pact, which internationally ascertains that “any individual
has the right to freedom and security as a person. No person can be arbitrarily arrested or detained and
no person can be deprived of his freedom, except for legal reasons and in accordance with the
procedure provided by the law.” With regards to the persons deprived of freedom (according to Art.
10 of the Pact), the right to be protected from stress is again underlined indirectly, through the
connection between the right to dignity and human treatment (meaning here “ethic, moral” of the
person. 27
The right of the person to be protected from stress also arises from (among the numerous
provisions in the two Pacts which establish the majority of fundamental human rights and freedoms)
Art. 17 / Pact (the prohibition of arbitrary and unlawful interference in the personal life, family, home,
correspondence of the individual; the prohibition to cause legal prejudice to his honour and
reputation), Art. 18 / Pact (“no person can ever be subject to a restraint causing prejudice to their
freedom to adopt a religion or belief of their choosing”), Art. 19, par. 1 (“no person should have to
suffer because of their opinions”).
Articles 6 and 7 of the International Pact on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights / 1966)
must be quoted, as such articles highlight the content of the right of the person to be protected from
stress from a right of labour and labour conditions perspective (by the legal establishment of the right
of the person to labour and to enjoy just and equitable labour conditions, the right to rest, to free time,
to regular paid leave, to a rational limitation of work duration, to labour security and hygiene, to a
decent existence for workers and their families, to a fair wage and equal remuneration for equal value
work, without gender discrimination; the right of professional promotion).
Other vital rights to not only implicitly ensure human existence, but also to exercise the right
of the person to be protected from stress occur in Art. 11 / the aforementioned Pact: the right of any
person to a sufficient standard of living for themselves and for their families, the right to food,
clothing and a proper home, as well as the right to continuously improve theirstandard of living: the
fundamental right of any person to be protected from hunger.
27 Article 10 states that “all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for
their inherent dignity of the human person.”

7. Furthermore, the legal content of the right of the person to be protected from stress can also
be underline from the perspective of provisions of other international and regional legal instruments,
of which we list:
-The Convention on the status of refugees / enacted in 1051, specifically Chap. 2 (Legal
condition), where Art. 12-24 establish a series of rights meant to ensure a level of legal protection
against abuse and discriminate for this category of people.
- The ILO Convention (no. 111) on discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
- The Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide
- The convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
- The Convention on slavery
- The ILO Convention on the abolition of force labour
- The Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women
- The Convention on the rights of the child
- The ILO Convention (no. 182) on prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the
worst forms of child labour
- Conventions on the protection of persons with disabilities
The provisions of these documents (added to other numerous conventions in the field of
human rights regarding applicable legal regimes and other special categories of people) constitute as
many implicit references to the right of the person to be protected fromstress, illustrating his need for
the explicit establishment thereof through a convention or a declaration specially dedicated to this
matter.
5. Stress as a Form of Specific Pollution in the Lifestyle of Contemporary Metropolitan
Societies
Both in terms of the environment, as well as the field of human rights, the categories of
pollutants and forms of pollution recognized and taken into consideration are countless, however, at
an international level, stress is not yet perceived as a specific form of pollution. For instance, with
regards to the forms of pollution already deemed as “classic”, both for the environment, as well as
over the lives of people and the quality of live (establishing a close connection between the human
right to health, the concepts of human development, human security and environmental security), the
doctrine provides as follows: atmospheric pollution (the biological pollution of air in the atmosphere,
the physical pollution of air in the atmosphere, the chemical pollution of air in the atmosphere);
electromagnetic pollution (generated by household appliances, such as microwave ovens, TVs,
cellular phones, computers, air condition devices); ionizing radiation pollution (irradiation disease,
irrational exposure to sun rays); soil pollution; food pollution; water pollution; phonic pollution28
.
Aside from these types of pollution, the recent doctrine also establishes unconventional forms
of pollution, such as the moral or demographic one.29
The forms of pollution do not include, however,
the excessive negative stress,to which the human body is subject, as a form of pollution in itself (in
the case at hand, because the term may also refer to the development of an excessive negative stress
for animals and other living beings, due to the alteration of the quality of their ecosystems, an abrupt
change in the environment,30
massive deforesting or changes of watercourses, military experiments
28 Detailed information in Irina Moroianu Zlătescu, Octavian Popescu, Mediul și sănătatea (Environment and
Health), IRDO, Bucharest, 2008.
29 Idem, pp 87-97.
30 For instance, the future development of animal rights should include the right of animals to be protected from
excessive negative stress. For example, in the case of aquarium fish purchased by nightclubs, who, once settled
in this environment, being subject to excessive phonic pollution which generates an excessive negative stress,
the fish die, and come morning they are replaced with different fish. Furthermore, in the case of wild animal
training, we may mention a double excessive negative stress (once, through the learning process of the circus
acts, and second, the one generated by their continuous exercise) and also a form of torture applied to the wild
animals, created to develop freely, in their natural habitat, and not be paraded through fairs or forced to perform
certain shows to the curiosity or amusement of spectators. The development of animal rights in the 21st century
must also account for these aspects, in order to illustrate a corresponding level (in its ethical dimension) of
human civilization, specific to this century

8. and exercises conducted on sees and oceans – for example, bomb detonations or operations which
imply the use of frequencies which may ham protected aquatic mammal or fish species).
Given such conditions, of an increased pollution level, scaling of pollution forms over the
human body, especially due to the way of living (predominantly urban, in a state of disconnection
between man and nature), given the scaling of the types of stress inducing agents and the
intensification of their actions on humans, it is required that states take action, enact policies and
correct measures on a national, regional and international scale in order to fight, reduce and manage
excessive negative stress.
The ethical and moral dimension of global society in the 21st
century, to the level of the
nation states of the 21st
century (faced with different challenges compared to the nation states of the
19th
and 20th
century respectively) requires a development of the level of protection for human rights
and an establishment of new human rights, in order to protect the human being and the nature it
inherently belongs to (the disturbances of nature balance has direct consequences on the people, their
homes, their way of living and quality of human civilization as a whole.)31
As stated in the doctrine,
no society can develop and declare its “evolution” without the moral dimension to the ethicsand high
moral principles32
, which imply a continuous development of such society in the search for harmony,
peace, happiness and beauty (universally human and perennial values, in the absence of which no
authentic civilization can evolve).
6. Conclusions
Excessive negative stress is a form of stress that in our opinion must rapidly be awarded
international, national and regional legal regulation, both in terms of identifying a unanimously
accepted legal definition and in identifying its effects, and also in terms of the observance of human
rights by the states (ensuring the rights to life, health, physical and psychological integrity, a decent
standard of living, happiness, the right to labour and the right to rest, etc.)
The serious and/or systematic prejudice to a fundamental human right, regardless of the
generation of human rights of reference, leads not only to prejudice to the right to happiness (as a
complex right, implying a spiritual and material dimension) of the human being, but also to the
concrete prejudice to the general state of harmony, comfort, wellbeing and inner peace, tranquillity
and inner calm, satisfaction with life, which provides the delicate balance of human life. Constant
prejudice to this balance, by various civilization characteristics (increased industrialization rhythm,
massive changes in the local ecosystems in terms of urbanization, expansion of agricultural and
mining complexes), by the urban life itself (from the global metropolises and megalopolises of the
21st
century), by increasing the level of technology concurrent with the occurrence of new forms of
pollution associated with such technology (many of them used in everyday life), by a way of living
classified as an alienation between man and nature (the migration to large cities; the urban way of
living characterized by the meagreness of green areas; by spending most of life – day/night cycle – in
small, concrete, suspended quarters – block of flats, sky scraper concept – which eliminates man’s
direct contact to earth; by shopping or mall trip type means of entertainment – malls which have in
themselves become mini-cities of consumption, added to the forms of pollution developed by big
cities) lead to a necessity to fight and if not, at least to manage the excessive negative stress borne by
the human body.
The doctrine recognizes the close connection between the evolution of civilization and the
intensification of the forms of pollution33
(among which the excessive negative stress, which we deem
as complex and distinct form of pollution, arising from various combinations of other forms of
pollution,which ultimately results in a state of disharmony, unhappiness,tension and pressure on the
human body, with concrete consequencesin the physical, mental and even moral plane – if we were
to take into consideration moral pollution as a newly established form of pollution, specific to the type
of civilization evolved in the information and technology rife society of the 21st
century.)
31 Octavian Popescu, Dreptul la sănătate și sănătatea acestui drept (The Right to Health and the
Wholesomeness of this Right), IRDO, Bucharest, 2007, p. 39.
32 Irina Moroianu Zlătescu, quoted op., p. 14.
33 Irina Moroianu Zlătescu, Octavian Popescu, quoted op., pp. 9-17.

9. This state of deep disharmony of post-modern man, generated by the lack orineffectiveness of
the means of countering or management of excessive negative stress, we believe it to be deterious for
the whole of mankind and the level of human civilization in the future. The needs to identify the deep
causes or excessive negative stress and to change the way of urban leaving in the sense of
reconnecting man with nature are, in our opinion, part of the specific legal and political obligations of
states in the 21st
century. Therefore,the proposal to issue a new Charter or rightsfor the metropolitan
man (rights which should also include the right of the metropolitan man to be protected from
excessive negative stress, faced as a way of living in the large cities), enacted by the states at an
international level (through a declaration under the aegis of UNO.AG) should be just one of several
international methods of acknowledgement and management (legal, in this case) of excessive negative
stress, as a specific form of pollution (complex and real), a challenged for the post-modern man of the
21st
century.
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