A question about conscription...

Question

If a war was going on, would the governments of democracies such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America be able to instigate conscription, or would that nowadays be a violation of human rights?

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure that neither the U.K. nor the U.S. had conscription when WW1 started but they both introduced it, so I guess they could do it again.

Answer 2

Compulsory military service would certainly be a possibility in times of great conflict, and in such times human rights would quite probably be put to one side, to a degree. Human rights were more or less in place around the time of WW1 and conscription was instigated then. I imagine that a pacifist could make their beliefs legislatively known in such a situation and give their services to the military as a non-combatant, as many such jobs are available.

Answer 3

Good question, although you said it yourself the human rights card would be played by lawyers.

Answer 4

If the war is serious enough emergency provisions will be brought in and human rights will be thrown out the window.

Answer 5

They can instigate whatever they like - I would refuse to go though.