We all heard about them, but how does one actually enforce them in, say, England?
Please detail as if I were a child.
There is no such thing as real objective “rights”–what there are are ideas about nice ways that we should treat each other. If enough people agree on an idea, it is formalized into a law. People obey those laws because they either 1.) agree with the ideas or 2.) fear the consequences for breaking them. So human rights are enforced by punishing people who are caught violating the ones that have been protected by laws.
Depends on the particular way in which, and context or setting within which, you think they are being infringed. But in general there are two principle avenues of enforcement:
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There may be a regulatory authority whose brief it is to investigate complaints, mediate or adjudicate disputes, and enforce rights; you can take it to them.
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Or you can take it to the courts or other appropriate tribunal.
In England, we have The Human Rights Act 1998. Human Rights Act 1998 (legislation.gov.uk)
This includes some specific laws like:
Right to life
Prohibition of torture
Prohibition of slavery and forced labour
Then goes on to less well-defined things (ie - where the HR lawyers make their money) like the right to liberty and respect for private and family life etc.
Ultimately, if one believes that ones HR is being denied, one goes to law.
It is a great question. Too many people assume they are protected by the notion of human rights when they are not.
Human rights is the idea that all humans have certain inalienable rights, based on the fact that they are human, not based on anything else like nationality, gender, race etc. The exact nature of these notional rights varies from place to place but are basically centered around the rights of freedom from slavery, freedom from persecution these sorts of things.
At this stage in the discussion they are just ideas so they carry no weight until their spirit is enforced by laws (of a nation state or a political body).
A good example to look at is Japan. Japan often talks about their respect for humans rights but Japanese courts have specifically said that foreign humans in Japan have the same human rights as Japanese people except for those human rights that by their very nature can only apply to Japanese people.
So foreigners in Japan do not have the same human rights as Japanese people - and it shows.
In addition to the British statute, Britain is also a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. Under that Convention, if a person in the UK believes that their rights have been infringed by a state actor, they can file a complaint under the Convention, to be adjudicated by the European Court on Human Rights.
Geesh, thank you for the answers but children around you must be horribly precocious. Should I have said detail as if I were a 36 months new born?
“take it to the courts or other appropriate tribunal” – how? I just go to the local court and say to the receptionist, my human rights were violated, and they take it from there?
“one goes to law”: can’t find ‘law’ on my online map, is that a shop downtown?
“file a complaint under the Convention, to be adjudicated by the European Court on Human Rights.”: Great! Where?
I suppose some key points of information that would be helpful include what country you’re in and what rights you believe are being infringed and how.
You asked how to get them. You don’t “get” human rights; you’re born with them. What you want to know is, “How do I, a resident of England, get my human rights recognized and and violations of them corrected?”
If you want specific answers, you need to be more specific: which of your human rights are being violated? How? And by whom? (If your parents aren’t letting you express yourself freely, that’s not a denial of human rights.)
If you need a list of human rights you’re entitled to in England, there’s a list of them here.
Which of your “human rights” would you be referring to if you did this? Can you be a little more specific?
What rights do they consider as only applying to Japanese people?
I would assume virtually all countries limit to citizens the right to vote or stand for public office, and the right to enter the country and work in the country (without a visa/permit). Does Japan go far beyond that?
There are “human rights” as we conceive of as idealistic notions - freedom of religion, freedom to speak our minds, free from detention, right to choose where and how we want to work or live, right to own property, right not to be judged or limited by race, creed, colour, gender, etc.
Then there rights as established by the constitution or laws of the country we live in. Along with these laws are usually processes and tribunals to enforce these laws. This is where human rights problems usually occur - there may be processes for filing complaints and having authorities decide about violations and remedies. In some cases these are laws that if broken, are crimes and cause the ones responsible to be charged. In some cases, they are civil or quasi-civil. Many countries/states/provinces will have a “Human Rights Commission” to enforce laws against discrimination.
So if for example, a person feels they have been detained in violation of the law, or have been subject to law enforcement action mainly because of their skin colour or gender - they (or their lawyer) can argue this situation in court. Or, they can sue -a civil case - for the damages they endured because of violations of their rights. If, say, someone feels they have been denied a job or refused an opportunity to rent a dwelling based on race or gender, there is usually a human rights tribunal that will hear cases and enforce judgements against people who take these forbidden actions.
The exact details of where and who to complain to to remedy a situation depend a lot on local laws. For example, most Canadian provinces have human rights commissions; but the fine print says, you can either sue in civil court or have the commission investigate and judge, but not both. If you feel you’ve been arrested and charged due to racism or religious discrimination, then this is your defense argument when the case comes to criminal court - and of course, you can sue in civil court.
(Launching a lawsuit is different in different jurisdictions, and best done by a lawyer familiar with your country).
And many authoritarian states have laws and constitutions with very noble sounding protections which the authorities routinely ignore - so insisting on your rights there may not work.
Ok, that gave me some pointers. It seems commissions in England are Uk wise and only have one for equality/discrimination.
I could not find anything for the right to respect for private and family life/police harrassment/violent entry.
If anyone is interested in reading there are some suggestions here
Still it seems that the most concrete it gets is to write a letter of complaint.
It sounds like the OP is asking “how do I file a lawsuit?”. And the simple answer, the one appropriate for anyone who’s asking that question, is “call a lawywer”.
Here is a list of Human Rights in the United Kingdom:
Human rights in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia
Please note that the list of codified rights in the United Kingdom is quite extensive.
I am neither a lawyer, barrister, solicitor, nor am I familiar with the laws of Great Britain.
Here is an excerpt of the website you provided,
" If you think a public authority has breached your human rights, you may be able to take action under the Human Rights Act 1998 .
[…]
You can take court action against a public authority if they’ve breached your human rights. You can also rely on your human rights in cases brought against you."
Here are relevant excerpts from the Human Rights Act of 1998, section 7,
"Proceedings.
(1) A person who claims that a public authority has acted (or proposes to act) in a way which is made unlawful by section 6(1) may—
(a) bring proceedings against the authority under this Act in the appropriate court or tribunal, or
(b) […]
but only if he is (or would be) a victim of the unlawful act.
(2) In subsection (1)(a) ‘appropriate court or tribunal’ means such court or tribunal as may be determined in accordance with rules; and proceedings against an authority include a counterclaim or similar proceeding.
[…]
(5) Proceedings under subsection (1)(a) must be brought before the end of—
(a) the period of one year beginning with the date on which the act complained of took place; or
(b) such longer period as the court or tribunal considers equitable having regard to all the circumstances,
but that is subject to any rule imposing a stricter time limit in relation to the procedure in question.
[…]
(9) In this section ‘rules’ means—
(a) in relation to proceedings before a court or tribunal outside Scotland, rules made by [the Lord Chancellor or] the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section or rules of court,
(b) […]
(c) […]and includes provision made by order under section 1 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990."
What this means is, if within the past year (or longer if a court thinks it is equitable) a public authority unlawfully acts or proposes to act to abridge your human rights under section 6(1) of the Human Rights Act of 1998, you may bring proceedings against the authority in such a court or tribunal as may be determined in accordance with rules established by the Lord Chancellor or Secretary of State.
Note that the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State are two offices held by the same person, currently The Right Honorable Robert Buckland, QC, MP, who heads the Ministry of Justice.
The rules are laid down by the Ministry of Justice, and here follows the relevant excerpt from the Civil Procedure Rules, Part 7, section 7.11,
(1) A claim under section 7(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998 in respect of a judicial act may be brought only in the High Court.
(2) Any other claim under section 7(1)(a) of that Act may be brought in any court.
Parts 7 and 16 detail the rules regarding how to make a claim and what must be on the form.
If you are a child, or even a sane adult, you will obtain the services of a barrister or solicitor.
If you want to do things as a ‘litigant in person’, the way you ‘get’ justice when your human rights are violated by a public body is by submitting a claim. If the violation of your rights is a judicial act, you must obtain the services of a barrister. Otherwise you may submit a claim to any court.
The claim form must meet requirements given by the Civil Procedure Rules, part 16. You must submit the claim according to requirements given by the Civil Procedure Rules, part 7, section 7.5.
~Max
They don’t specify exactly which human rights only apply to Japanese people.
I don’t consider any of the things you listed as human rights. Voting? not a human right. etc.etc. Why are you talking about these rights?
Thank you Max, that was to the point.
Because they’re included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Article 13.2: Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 21.1: Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Article 21.3: The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
I’m sure all or most foreigners in Japan have the right to vote in their own countries, once they come of age, and satisfy any other conditions.