What are human rights?

Summary

Human rights are based on important principles like dignity, fairness, respect and equality. They protect you in your everyday life regardless of who you are, where you live and how you chose to live your life. * the right to respect for private and family life * the right to freedom of religion and belief. The European Convention on Human Rights protects the human rights of people in countries that belong to the Council of Europe. This includes the UK. The Council of Europe is different from the European Union. In the UK, human rights are protected by the Human Rights Act 1998. The Act gives effect to the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. These rights are called Convention rights. If your Convention or human rights have been breached, you can take action under the Human Rights Act in the UK courts. Sometimes you can also take your case to the European Court of Human Rights. The European Court of Human Rights is the court of the Council of Europe. It’s based in Strasbourg, in France. The court ensures the countries of the Council of Europe, like the UK, respect the European Convention on Human Rights. If your human rights have been breached and you’ve not.

Key information

• the right to respect for private and family life
• the right to freedom of religion and belief.
• More about the Human Rights Act 1998
• leave for judicial review has been refused - this means you've been refused the right to apply for judicial review
• you've been refused the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court
• a final appeal has taken place.
• More about declarations of incompatibility
• More about the EASS helpline
• www.equalityhumanrights.com
• www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk
• Human rights are based on important principles like dignity, fairness, respect and equality. They protect you in your everyday life regardless of who you are, where you live and how you chose to live your life.
• The European Convention on Human Rights protects the human rights of people in countries that belong to the Council of Europe. This includes the UK. The Council of Europe is different from the European Union.

Practical guidance

• Source: What are human rights?

Related topics

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• Who's breaching your human rights?
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• Sort out your legal problem before or instead of going to court