What are human rights?

Human rights are the basic rights that all human beings are born with. Regardless of the country in which a person is born, or their sex, race, ethnicity, language, or religion, all people have the right to life, work, education, food, health, and so on.

These fundamental rights are granted to all people from birth. They are inherent – rather than being granted by any particular state or country – and aim to recognise and protect the dignity of all people.

Governments are obliged to honour human rights – typically through human rights laws and frameworks – but so too are individuals. No group or person has the right to violate another person’s human rights, even while exercising their own, which helps to ensure a civil society.

What are the 30 human rights?

When discussing human rights, people often mention the 30 human rights. These are the basic human rights that form the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Spearheaded by the United Nations General Assembly, the UDHR was proclaimed in 1948 and has since paved the way for more than 70 human rights treaties around the world.

These 30 human rights include:

1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. 
2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the UDHR, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 
3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security.
4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.
5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
7. All are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law. 
8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy for acts violating their fundamental rights.
9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile.
10. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.
11. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law.
12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon their honour and reputation. 
13. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
14. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
15. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
16. Men and women of full age have the right to marry and to found a family. 
17. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
20. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
21. Everyone has political rights, such as the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security.
23. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment.
24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitations of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
25. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of themself and of their family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.
26. Everyone has the right to education.
27. Everyone has cultural rights, and can freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts, and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in the UDHR can be fully realised.
29. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of their personality is possible.
30. Nothing in the UDHR may be interpreted as implying any right to engage in any activity, or to perform any act, aimed at the destruction of any of its rights and freedoms.

What are the human rights laws in the UK?

Human rights are protected in the UK by the Human Rights Act 1998. This piece of legislation requires all public authorities – including the police, the NHS, and local governments – to respect individual human rights.

Human rights protected by the Human Rights Act 1998 include:

• The right to life.
• The right to respect for private and family life.
• The right to personal liberty.
• The right not to be tortured or treated in an inhuman way.
• The right to a fair trial.
• The right to freedom of religion and belief.
• The right to freedom of expression.
• The right to non-discrimination (for example, discrimination on the basis of language or political opinion).
• The right to protection of property.
• The right to education.
• The right to peaceful demonstrations.
• The right to form and join trade unions.
• The right to marry and start a family.
• The prohibition of slavery and forced labour.

The human rights protected within the UK’s Human Rights Act 1998 are also outlined in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, or the European Convention on Human Rights as it’s more commonly known. The European Convention on Human Rights protects the human rights of people in all of the Council of Europe’s member nations – which are separate to those of the European Union. It links the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), based in Strasbourg, France, with UK law – and has helped solidify human rights protection in the UK.

What is the difference between human rights and civil rights?

Human rights and civil rights are often mentioned together, but they’re technically two different things. 

While both protect against inequality, injustice, and discrimination, human rights apply to all human beings around the world, whereas civil rights are determined by the laws or consistutions of individual nations.

What is the role of human rights law?

Human rights law ensures that inherent human rights are protected by legal systems. It enshrines the responsibilities a government has to protect and respect human rights into the rule of law.

In the United Kingdom, human rights law also ensures that people in the UK – regardless of their citizenship status – can take court action against any public authority that breaches their human rights.

What do human rights lawyers fight for?

Human rights lawyers advocate for the human rights of marginalised or vulnerable people around the world. They also represent victims of human rights violations in court or other legal proceedings.

It’s worth noting that human rights is not a defined area of law. Human rights lawyers and solicitors are likely to specialise in other areas, including:

• Immigration
• Mental health
• Environment law
• Public law
• Discrimination
• War crimes
• Criminal justice
• Property
• Data protection
• Insurance

Many human rights lawyers work at an international level on behalf of international organisations, such as the United Nations, or global non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as UNICEF or Amnesty International. They might champion high-profile human rights issues, or advocate against regimes that abuse human rights. Others work closer to home. For example, they might work within a private law firm to represent individuals who have been mistreated by the police, or who have been discriminated against because of a protected characteristic, such as their race or gender, within the healthcare system.