What are human rights? The Human Rights Act
The nutshell
Human rights are the basic freedoms and protections that belong to every person. In the UK, the Human Rights Act 1998 puts a set of these rights into UK law, and public bodies must respect them.
Every fact on this page comes from the UK's official human rights body, Parliament's research library and the law itself. Each source tag — like EHRC — opens where a fact comes from.
The basics
What human rights are
Human rights are the basic freedoms and protections that belong to every person, from birth. These rights are based on shared values like dignity, fairness and respect, and cannot normally be taken away.EHRC Some can still be limited, for example if a person breaks the law or to protect national security.EHRC
What the Human Rights Act does
In the UK, the Human Rights Act 1998 makes a set of these rights part of the law. It takes the rights from the European Convention on Human Rights and puts them into UK law.HoC The Act came into force in October 2000.EHRC
Going to a British court
Before the Act, a person with a complaint about these rights had to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, a city in France. The Human Rights Act lets that case be heard in a British court instead.EHRC
Who has to follow it
The Act says public bodies must respect and protect these rights. That includes courts, the police, councils, hospitals and state schools.EHRCA person who believes a public body has broken these rights can raise the matter in court.HoC
- The Human Rights Act 1998 brings the rights of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, so a person can raise a breached right in a British court, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission
- Public bodies, such as courts, the police, councils, hospitals and state schools, must respect and protect the rights in the Act, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission
- The rights cover both serious matters, like life and liberty, and everyday life, like belief and family, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission
- The rights are not unlimited, and some can be restricted, for example if a person breaks the law or in the interests of national security, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission
- Using these rights in a British court began in October 2000, when the Human Rights Act took effect, and before that a case went to the court in Strasbourg, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission
- The Human Rights Act does not create the rights on its own, but gives effect to the European Convention on Human Rights, so the two work together, according to the House of Commons Library
The deep end6 min
Where the rights come from
The rights in the Human Rights Act are not new inventions of the Act itself. The Act gives further effect in UK law to the rights and freedoms in the European Convention on Human Rights.Law That Convention comes from the Council of Europe, an international body separate from the European Union, so these rights do not depend on European Union membership.HoC
Bringing rights home
The Human Rights Act aimed to "bring rights home", according to the House of Commons Library.HoC Before the Act, a person who claimed a public body had breached a Convention right had to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Since October 2000, that case can be heard by a British court.EHRC Public bodies, such as courts, the police, councils and hospitals, must act in line with these rights.HoC
How the rights are set out
The Human Rights Act sets out the rights in a series of parts called Articles. The rights cover serious matters, such as the right to life and freedom from slavery, and everyday matters, such as belief, speech and family life.EHRCThese rights cannot normally be taken away, though some can be restricted within limits set by law, for example to protect national security or public safety.EHRC
A debated law
How the Human Rights Act works is a live political question. The House of Commons Library records ongoing debate about reforming the Act and about the UK's membership of the European Convention on Human Rights.HoC Different parties and groups take different views. This page sets out how the Act works, not whether it should change.