60 Years of Human Rights

Thirty leaves symbolising the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, alongside the country name "Portugal", the inscription "60 Anos Da Declaração Universal Dos Direitos Humanos", the Portuguese coat of arms, the year 2008, the designer's name J. Duarte and the INCM mintmark.

Belgium (BE-08 G1), Finland (FI-08 G1), and Italy (IT-08 G1) issued a €2 commemorative coin for the same occasion.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on 10 December 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris — a direct response to the atrocities of the Second World War. Its 30 articles established, for the first time, universal fundamental rights for all people: the right to life, liberty and security, as well as the prohibition of torture, slavery and arbitrary arrest. In 1948, Portugal was still among the authoritarian states under António de Oliveira Salazar and was not actively involved in the drafting of the document. Democratic change came only with the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974 — from then on, Portugal progressively enshrined human rights in its 1976 constitution and ratified the relevant international agreements.

Today, Portugal is regarded within the European Union as a stable state governed by the rule of law with a comparatively good human rights record, although reports from international organisations occasionally point to deficiencies in the penal system and in migrants' rights. The 1948 Declaration remains the central reference document for civil-society and legal debates worldwide — its principles feed into regional agreements such as the European Convention on Human Rights, which Portugal has also signed. To mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Portugal issued this commemorative coin in 2008.