Human rights in the United Kingdom

Human rights in the United Kingdom concern the fundamental rights in law of every person in the United Kingdom. An integral part of the UK constitution, human rights derive from common law, from statutes such as Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Human Rights Act 1998, from membership of the Council of Europe, and from international law.

Codification of human rights is recent, but the UK law had one of the world's longest human rights traditions. Today the main source of jurisprudence is the Human Rights Act 1998, which incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic litigation.[1][2]

  1. ^ "The UK and the European Court of Human Rights" (PDF). Equality and Human Rights Commission. Spring 2012. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  2. ^ The United Kingdom consists of four countries and three distinct legal systems: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: "A Guide to the UK Legal System". Hauser Global Law School Program, New York University School of Law. November 2005. Retrieved 16 March 2016. and "The Legal System of the United Kingdom". The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.. These jurisdictions have particular human rights considerations of their own, arising from differences in English law, Scots law and Northern Ireland law.