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[Text on screen]: Right to Liberty and Security: Article 5 of the Human Rights Act.

We all have a right to personal freedom. Imprisonment and detainment can only be permitted under lawful circumstances.

What does the Human Rights Act officially say?

“Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person.”

But what exactly does it mean?

Basically, we can only be detained in certain circumstances, such as:

-after a court conviction
-unlawfully entering a country
-are of “unsound mind”
-have an infectious disease
-or substance addiction.

If detained, we have a right to know why that is, and in a language we understand. Compensation can be granted if unlawful detention has happened.

But where does it come from?

In June 1215, King John was forced to sign a charter known as the Magna Carta. It lay out 63 rules that the king had to abide by, and created a council to ensure the rules were met.

One of these rules stated:

“No free man shall be seized or imprisoned except by the useful judgement of his equals or the law of the land.”

Even though most of the rules didn’t apply to the generally unworthy population, Magna Carta paved the way for modern rights.

Here are three key examples of what it does for us:

1. We can’t be looked up indefinitely without charge. (A and Ors case, 2003)
2. We can’t be detained forever without a proper chance of getting out (James case, 2012)
3. Mentally incapacitated people have the same rights to liberty as everyone else (Cheshire West, 2014)

Our right to live a free and just life cannot be restricted by unlawful detention or imprisonment.

Learn more about your rights at www.eachother.org.uk
Discrimination, Equality, Institutions, Justice

The right to liberty explained in 2 minutes!

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Published on 22 Feb 2022

This video is about Article 5 of the Human Rights Act (HRA) which is the right to liberty and security. The right to liberty focuses on protecting our freedom from being unreasonably detained or imprisoned without a credible reason.

This video is part of a wider series showcasing the protections the HRA provides us and why they are so important in our daily lives. We’ve also curated a week of written content surrounding the proposed reform of the HRA so that you can stay informed and up to date on the latest developments.

The Human Rights Act is central to ensuring we can all live a safe and secure life. It sets out a range of principles that the government, and public bodies, must follow and uphold for all of us. If they fail to follow them, we have the ability to take our case to a UK court and, if our rights have been violated, we may be fairly compensated. The Human Rights Act has given us the ability to stand up to those in power.

But the Human Rights Act is under threat.

The government has announced plans to reform the HRA into a new British Bill of Rights, which lawyers and campaigners are concerned will shift more power in favour of the government, and weaken the protections we have available to us. We need to ensure that human rights are accessible and available for everyone, but we may risk losing those protections if the government’s reform comes into effect.

Want to learn more? Head on over to our spotlight page to read more about the proposals to the HRA. You can find more videos in this HRA series on our Youtube playlist.

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