Human rights in the United Kingdom are set out in common law, with its strongest roots being in the English Bill of Rights 1689, as well as the European legislation. At the same time, the UK has also had a history of both de jure and de facto discrimination, and, in recent history, occasional violations of basic human rights, particularly in times of national security crises. In recent years, however, British human rights legislation has been criticised by conservatives for excessive attention to the human rights of offenders at the expense of those of victims; many high-profile cases, such as those of Learco Chindamo and the 2006 Afghan hijackers case, have attracted controversy, sparking rightwing calls for the review of the Human Rights Act 1998 and other legislation.
Read more about Human Rights In The United Kingdom: The UK Before The European Court of Human Rights, Human Trafficking, National Human Rights Institutions in The UK, Human Rights Non-governmental Organisations
Famous quotes containing the words human, rights, united and/or kingdom:
“If we wish to know the force of human genius, we should read Shakespeare. If we wish to see the insignificance of human learning, we may study his commentators.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“... most Southerners of my parents’ era were raised to feel that it wasn’t respectable to be rich. We felt that all patriotic Southerners had lost everything in defense of the South, and sufficient time hadn’t elapsed for respectable rebuilding of financial security in a war- impoverished region.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 1 (1962)
“... the yearly expenses of the existing religious system ... exceed in these United States twenty millions of dollars. Twenty millions! For teaching what? Things unseen and causes unknown!... Twenty millions would more than suffice to make us wise; and alas! do they not more than suffice to make us foolish?”
—Frances Wright (1795–1852)
“Rev. J.D. Liddell: The Kingdom of God is not a democracy. The Lord never seeks re- election. There’s no discussion. No deliberation. No referenda as to which road to take. There’s one right, one wrong. One absolute ruler.
Sandy: A dictator, you mean.
Rev. J.D. Liddell: Aye, but a benign, loving dictator.”
—Colin Welland (b. 1934)