ABSTRACT
The idea that individuals have rights that no government can violate has a long history, and is a key element in most written constitutions. In the United Kingdom, with its uncodified Constitution, the traditional approach to human rights has been rather different. Here, individuals are free to do whatever they please, provided that they do not contravene the law. Freedoms and rights exist but may be limited by what Parliament may enact. For example, in order to understand the scope (and limits) of the right to freedom of speech it is necessary to know that defamation (making wrongful and damaging falsehoods about another person) is actionable; that expression which threatens a breach of the peace or speech, which stirs up racial hatred, is a criminal offence. The ‘right’ is what remains once all the restrictions are considered.
