The 70th birthdayof the most translated text in the world is an apt time to reflect on its mostprofound proclamation that has since been repeated on countless forums anddocuments: the universality of humanrights. There is little that has attracted more attention to internationalhuman rights discourse than the enduring debates between universalism andcultural relativism. Althoughthe current debates are less polarised than have been, with a more synthesisedand a sophisticated middle ground emerging between the two traditionallyperceived polarised positions, the debate between universalism and culturalrelativism is far from being harmonised. Providing a modern and practicalcontribution to this discussion, this paper draws upon empirical researchundertaken on the discourse of human rights at the human rights monitoringmechanism, the Universal Periodic Review. At the heart of this innovativemonitoring mechanism are the interactive dialogue sessions, which provide aunique forum for discussing the modern day interpretation of internationalhuman rights norms and the methods of implementation. Unlikeany other written work on the debates between universalism and culturalrelativism, this paper will provide a modern analysis with practical examples fromthe current discussions on human rights norms at the UN that affiliate with thevarious positions on the spectrum between universality and cultural relativism.The paper will analyse and discuss why this middle ground between universalismand cultural relativism is not only theoretically sound, but also demonstrate thatthere are strong practical reasons to advocate this mediatory position in thecontext of compliance and implementation of human rights law in the domesticcontext.