By Ardahan Ali
05/02/2010
Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every individual as a result of being human; human rights are basic standards, without them we cannot live in peace and dignity, in other words, human rights help individuals to participate fully in society.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." (Article 1 of the UDHR, 1946)
It may be argued that, the state holds the main responsibility for protecting human rights, but it is also important to consider that we as individuals have responsibility too toward respecting human rights because as we have rights, everyone else in society has rights too, therefore if we breach others’ human rights, we will be subject to laws that may limit our rights.
It is important for individuals to be aware of their rights, to help them understand and practice their rights in different areas of law, as the human rights protect an individual, ranging from the rights to life to the rights to free elections, and set out the ways in which you can enforce your rights.
In order to introduce my argument, I am going to identify the degree to which an individual has rights, for example in the UK law.
The source of legally enforceable human rights in the UK is the Human Rights Act 1998, which brought the European Convention on Human Rights into the UK law, this Act come into force in 2000.
The human Rights Act 1998 classified human rights into 3 categories: absolute rights, limited rights and qualified rights.
Absolute right: A right set out in the European Convention on Human Rights, which cannot be subjected to restrictions.
Limited right: A right, which occasionally needs to be restricted in accordance with law
Qualified right: A basic right, which can be restricted by the state or public authority, where using that right can breaches the rights of another person or group
Example of absolute right; article 2: right to life, article 3: prohibition of torture, article 4: prohibition of slavery and forced labour, article 7: no punishment without law, they are absolute rights and they must never be limited because some rights cannot be subject to limitations, when you admit a limit, the principle of the right will be less.
It is important to consider, that not all rights are absolute rights as some rights should be restricted in accordance with law known as limited right, for example: article 5: right to liberty and security, article 6: right to a fair trial, article 12: right to marry, they are limited rights.
Moreover the principle of all human rights’ conventions is based on a fair balance between individual rights and the interests of the society, which is why rights have to be balanced against each other.
Keir Starmer argues that "First, the legal basis for any restriction on Convention rights must be identified and established. Second, the law or rule in question must be accessible. Third, the law or rule in question must be formulated with sufficient clarity." (Starmer, 1999, P.166)
Meaning that all restrictions must be officially recognized and those who are likely to be affected by the restrictions should have access and be aware of the applicable law.
There is another right known as qualified right, which can be restricted by the state or public authority, article 8: right to respect for private and family life, article 9: freedom of thought, conscience and religion, article 10: freedom of expression, article 11: freedom of assembly and association and articles 8,9,10,11 of the European Convention on Human Rights are all qualified rights and they may be limited to some extent or completely in order to protect the rights of others, for example: It is possible that the freedom of speech as an absolute right would breach individual privacy, consider freedom of speech without restrictions, for example: a nasty person can make a big shock to others just by saying one word like bomb in a busy place like London underground.
If human rights are to subsist in each individual, the freedom of each has to be respected by others. For this reason the freedom of each must be restrained to the extent necessary to enable the exercise of the freedom by others. (Cooray, 1985)
Therefore some rights at some extent have to be restricted.
From the above mentioned, we could come to the conclusion that your rights cannot interfere with anyone ‘s rights. If you do something that interferes with my right to life, liberty or my pursuit of happiness then you have no right to it, it is important to consider that an individual shall enjoy their rights and freedoms, as long as their rights and freedom do not cause the abuse of others rights. Rights of individuals should not be limited, if they do not interfere with others’ rights, morality, public security and public interest.
Reference list
Coory, M. (1985) Human Rights In Australia [Internet] Australia: Philip Atkinson Available from: http://www.ourcivilisation.com/cooray/rights/chap16.htm .
Starmer, K. (1999) European Human Rights Law: The Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights. London: Legal Action Group
The General Assembly of the United Nations, (1948) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [Internet] Geneva: UN Available from: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ .
KurdishMedia.com - By Ardahan Ali
