A human rights act is a statute that sets out individual rights and freedoms under the law. Many jurisdictions have bills of rights enshrined into law and called the "Human Rights Act". This naming convention is commonly used in Commonwealth nations. The following nations have human rights acts:
Australia
- ACT Human Rights Act 2004
- Victoria Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2004
Canada
- Canadian Human Rights Act, 1977
- Human Rights Act 2003, an Act of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut
Republic of Ireland
- European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003
New Zealand
- Human Rights Act 1993
United Kingdom
- Human Rights Act 1998
United States
- DC Human Rights Act 1997
Famous quotes containing the words rights act, human, rights and/or act:
“... in 1950 a very large slice of the white South stood at the crossroads in its attitude toward its colored citizens and [was] psychologically capable of turning either way.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 8 (1962)
“There is a time of life somewhere between the sullen fugues of adolescence and the retrenchments of middle age when human nature becomes so absolutely absorbing one wants to be in the city constantly, even at the height of summer.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“In our governments the real power lies in the majority of the community, and the invasion of private rights is chiefly to be apprehended, not from the acts of government contrary to the sense of the constituents, but from the acts in which government is the mere instrument of the majority.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)