Civil rights UK
Civil rights in the UK refer to the rights of individuals to be treated equally and fairly, regardless of their race, gender, religion, or other characteristics. These rights are protected by laws and regulations aimed at preventing discrimination and promoting equality. The UK has a history of civil rights movements and legislation aimed at addressing inequalities and promoting social justice.
6 Key excerpts on "Civil rights UK"
eBook - ePub- Mark Frezzo(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Polity(Publisher)
...3 Civil and Political Rights After briefly reviewing the issue of how and why to classify human rights, this chapter explores the most widely accepted category of human rights (especially in the US and elsewhere in the Western world), namely the civil and political rights, proclaimed under the banner of liberty, that (a) protect human beings from abuses perpetrated not only by one another, but also by the state itself, (b) allow human beings to participate freely and fully in civil society and political life, and (c) permit human beings to explore and nurture their identities, interests, ideas, beliefs, and values without undue interference from political authorities. In a nutshell, civil and political rights involve not only checks on government power (enshrined in law and ensured by the court system), but also protections provided by the government that allow individuals to flourish in society. For this reason, civil and political rights are often treated as the most “important” rights, an understandable assumption that this book seeks, nonetheless, to challenge. Preliminary Questions about Civil and Political Rights As we have seen in previous chapters, human rights are, by definition, relational. In other words, while it is useful for explanatory purposes to classify human rights in one way or another, it is equally important to recognize that different types of rights make sense only in relation to one another. Held by the UN in Vienna in 1993, the World Conference on Human Rights affirmed the connection between civil and political rights and other types of rights (http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/vienna.aspx)...
eBook - ePub- Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Polity(Publisher)
...Freedom of speech is limited only by prohibitions on hate speech and propaganda for war (ICCPR, Article 20). Participation in political life also includes the right to vote and to take part in the government by holding political office or being part of the government bureaucracy (ICCPR, Article 25). All these rights enable citizens to be part of the political community, active contributors to, rather than mere recipients of, decisions that affect them. Civil and political rights are not merely individual entitlements: they are collective goods that permit societies to function well. 3 They are the basis for civil society. They permit citizens to engage in civil discourse with each other and to engage with the state and other authorities without fear of repression or physical punishment. They permit citizens to join with one another in common causes, and to promote their causes to the wider society and the government without having to resort to threats of violence before the state will pay attention to their concerns. When states protect civil and political rights, there is usually a high level of trust both among citizens and between public authorities and the citizens they ostensibly serve. Citizens are viewed as competent members of society, whom the state should consult before making decisions or if policies need correction. In academic debates on human rights, some commentators argue that “civil and political rights have been privileged,” as opposed to economic, social and cultural, or collective human rights. 4 The opposite is true, however. Critical scholars of human rights devote much time and space to the defense of economic, social and cultural, and collective human rights, while an extraordinarily taken-for-granted attitude exists toward civil and political rights, as if they are either unnecessary or so obviously protected as to be unworthy of discussion...
eBook - ePubMediating Human Rights
Media, Culture and Human Rights Law
- Lieve Gies(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Human rights and British-style civil liberties only narrowly intersect, showing common ground only in relation to issues including detention without trial, the prohibition of torture and freedom of speech. Human rights gains involving minority constituencies, for example, women, gay people, prisoners and travellers, by contrast, are likely to be dismissed by critics who are pro-civil liberties but anti-human rights as novelty rights which threaten to undermine true freedom and individual responsibility. This was the case, for example, in 2010 when a gay couple brought a legal action for sexual discrimination against the Christian owners of a bed and breakfast who had refused to provide accommodation to the couple on religious grounds. The MP Chris Grayling, then a member of the Conservative Shadow Cabinet, publicly defended the owners, arguing that it was their right to decide who should be allowed to stay in their home (BBC News 2010b). The case could be seen as a textbook example of how equality rights and the classic-liberal notion of freedom as the right to be left alone may be framed as being in direct competition with each other. Such tensions have become more pronounced with the ascendency of identity politics promoting an agenda of cultural recognition for specific groups. For example, human rights are also a source of deep division between conservatives and liberals in the US...
eBook - ePubThe Right to Democracy in International Law
Between Procedure, Substance and the Philosophy of John Rawls
- Khalifa A Alfadhel(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...2 The right to democracy in international conventions – the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 2.1 Introduction Democracy was established for the first time as a concept in international law, however vaguely, in the UDHR. The failure of the Declaration to acquire an effective monitoring and interpretation mechanism was without doubt an obstacle in properly promoting the value of democracy. This led the international community to look for another effective instrument to promote democracy and political rights. The international community was committed to establishing a comprehensive international treaty concerned with the protection of fundamental human rights. Through the ECOSOC, the UN General Assembly requested the Human Rights Commission to draft such document. 1 However, it was impossible to make a single document for various political reasons; therefore, it was decided to split it into two: the first concerned with civil and political rights and the second with economic, social and cultural rights. 2 The General Assembly adopted the ICCPR as a comprehensive binding international treaty with regard to political and civil rights in December 1966. 3 The Covenant covered a wide range of rights, such as the right to self-determination (Article 1), the right to life (Article 6), freedom from slavery and the slave trade (Article 8), the right to a fair trial (Article 14), the right to peaceful assembly (Article 21) and – the focus of this book – political rights (Article 25)...
eBook - ePubEthics for International Business
Decision-Making in a Global Political Economy
- John Kline(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Often formulated in universal language, most documents actually applied these rights only to defined groups of citizens. Therefore, the practical application of rights principles depended on a government’s slowly evolving definition of citizenship while the political focus of rights claims depended on a nation state’s jurisdiction. Although some international agreements articulated human rights ideas, the concept’s application was essentially confined to domestic polities until after World War II. 1 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948, stands as the most broadly accepted international statement of normative values that constitute a “common standard of achievement for all people and all nations.” 2 Nearly two decades later, the UN General Assembly attempted to give these principles more precise legal formulation, approving two separate covenants in 1966 that addressed civil and political rights in one document and economic, social and cultural rights in another document. By 1976, enough countries had ratified the covenants to bring them into force, but only countries ratifying the agreements were bound by their provisions and enforcement depended on a weak UN Human Rights Commission whose mandate covered only the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 3 These UN actions nevertheless set the parameters for contemporary debate over using human rights principles to evaluate actions and guide the conduct of international actors, including business enterprises, in a global political economy. Without an appeal to some overriding normative principles, such as human rights, governance of corporate behavior would be reliant on the legal standards set by sovereign national political authorities. However, the Declaration provides a higher (and potentially conflicting) “standard of achievement” that can be used to evaluate and guide corporate actions...
eBook - ePub- P. R. Ghandhi(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) PREAMBLE The States Parties to the Present Covenant, Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Recognising that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person, Recognising that, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his civil and political rights, as well as his economic, social and cultural rights, Considering the obligation of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms, Realising that the individual, having duties to other individuals and to the community to which he belongs, is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance of the rights recognised in the present Covenant, Agree upon the following articles: PART I Article 1 All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law...
