[Text on screen]: Your rights explained.

Article 2 of the  European Convention on Human Rights: Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law.

Article 2 of the  European Convention on Human Rights protects our right to life.

The right to life is the most basic right of all. It means the state cannot take someone’s life unless it’s necessary. It must positively protect life by enforcing criminal laws.

Three key things that it does for us:

1. Doctors and social workers must protect patients’ right to life (The Rabone case, 2013)
2. Soldiers are protected in combat zones (The Smith case, 2013)
3. The police must act on threats to our lives (The Osman case, 1998)

Why is it needed now?

The police kill people every year…

[Animated graph showing people killed during or following police contact in England and Wales, 2014-2015]:

1 fatal shooting
14 traffic fatalities
17 in custody
41 other deaths

... the right to life makes sure those deaths are properly investigated. Also, almost 100 countries still retain the death penalty.

Our human rights are hard-won.

Know your rights. Celebrate them. Protect them.
Women

Right to life explained in one minute!

5,877 views
Published on 29 Nov 2019

We know that trying to explain the ins and outs of the European Convention on Human Rights can be tricky, so we’ve done the leg work for you and condensed the articles into clear-cut one-minute explainers. Here’s all about the right to life in one minute!

Want to learn more? Check out our article on why the right to life matters.

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