Rights, Duties and Freedoms
Under the Human Rights Act 1998, which came into force in October 2000, there are certain rights and freedoms that are protected. The significance of this act is to offer legal rights to everyone in a democratic country. The United Kingdom does not have a written constitution, this is very unusual in a democracy, and our rights and freedoms have traditionally been protected by a presumption that we are free to do anything that is not covered by a specific forbidding law or piece of legislation. Under the Human Rights Act we now have that written confirmation of our rights, duties and freedoms. Anyone withholding those rights, for example wrongful imprisonment or racism is now liable for prosecution and possible imprisonment.
A citizen acquires certain rights at certain ages.
Sue for personal injury From birth
Watch a film with `U? classification 5
Watch a `PG? film with parents or guardian 5
Drink alcohol at home, if an adult provides it. 8
Fully criminally responsible 10
Be given a supervision order as a criminal sanction 10
Legally capable of rape 10
Be sent to a Secure training centre as a criminal sanction 12
Consent to sex, but if an adult obliges they are guilty of a criminal offence 13
Drink alcohol in a licensed premises if it is with a meal 16
Marry with judicial/ parental consent 16
Consent to heterosexual sex 16
Purchase cigarettes 16
Drive a car 17
Marry without consent 18
Have homosexual relations 18
Sent to prison 18
Make a will 18
Eligible to vote 18
Full legal rights in contract 18
Buy alcohol ...
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...bout of sadomasochism to one consenting couple, could be classed as actual bodily harm and assault, even torture and degradation to a judge and jury, therefore infringing human rights, as in the case of Simon Slingsby 1995 who accidentally injured his wife during sexual intercourse, causing her internal injuries, which later became septic and death followed. The murder charge he faced was later dropped to manslaughter where he was found guilty of committing a dangerous or unlawful act.
Britain has been governed by parliament for many centuries, each new parliament bringing with it new legislation in keeping with the demands of developing industry, and public and private citizens. These laws have kept Britain adequately ruled over the years, but there have been many breaches of citizen?s human rights. Since the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force, these rights have been upheld and maintained, with those who breach these rights paying the price through the courts. Acts of discrimination, for example racism and disability, have been largely ended, making society able to live in harmony with its neighbours.
Bibliography
English Legal System Elliot and Quinn 5th Edition.
The Human Rights Act of 1998 was co-founded upon the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950. Developed following the ending of the Second World War, European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was constructed to further the idealistic principles and endeavours of equality among all human beings, as well as a devout declaration of preventing the reoccurrence of the holocaust and massacres which have occurred as a casus belli . ECHR comprises civil privileges and liberties fundamental to all human beings irrespective of race, gender, age, sexual orientation exclusive of discrimination. The UK government have promptly endorsed the ECHR, recognising the need of ...
Sexual assault is the act of sexual intercourse without consent of the other person according to New South Wales Consolidation Act of 1900 (Austlii 2011) and is also described by the Australian Standard Offence Classification as ‘non-consensual’ acts or intents of sexual nature (ASOC 2008, p. 31) has become one of the most predominate crimes creating social harm in Australia. Social harm is defined as the negative influence through consequences impacting from the individual to the living conditions of the surrounding public (Cain & Howe 2008, p. 26). Sexual assault poses a social threat to all aspects of community, spreading insecurity in the 9000 victims across Australia and 1900 victims in NSW alone as indicated in the Australian Bureau of Statistics Crime Victimisation Report (ABS 2011, p. 40). This is supported by the victimization rate of all sexually assaulted victims between ages 10 to 14 being 4 times greater than all the other age groups (ABS 2010). Another major issue within the boundaries of sexual assault is that it holds one of the lowest prosecution rates with only 1 in 10 incidents able to prosecute the offender as guilty (Fitzgerald 2006, Pg. 1). The abundance of statistics and reports conducted all imply that sexual assault is still a predominate issue of crime within Australia.
In the summer of 1787, delegates from the 13 states convened in Philadelphia and drafted a remarkable blueprint for self-government, the Constitution of the United States. The first draft set up a system of checks and balances that included a strong executive branch, a representative legislature and a federal judiciary. The Constitution was remarkable, but deeply flawed. For one thing, it did not include a specific declaration, or bill, of individual rights. It specified what the government could do but did not say what it could not do. For another, it did not apply to everyone. The "consent of the governed" meant propertied white men only. The Bill of Rights did not come from a desire to protect the liberties won in the American Revolution, but rather from a fear of the powers of the new federal government.
In her renowned book, The Culture of Politics of Human Rights: Comparing the US and UK, author Kate Nash, a prolific proponent of human rights, substantially delineates both her skepticism of international establishments to address human rights issues and practices and her limits to a post-national world of human rights in practice. The following is the definition extended by Nash: human rights are culturally relative and contingent outcomes of the interactions between various historical narratives, and they are complemented by individuals or by groups in specific circumstances to achieve a predetermined goal, normally the meeting of basic needs. Although states and laws are at the center of either dispute prolongation or conflict resolution, the United States and the United Kingdom, insofar synonymous with Britain, have had contrasting approaches to human rights since the dissolution of their unequal relationship in 1776. Violating the core principles of limited government and of checks and balances, America, through the limitation or eradication of the Fourteenth
The Bill of Rights was created because the states believed that the federal government would have too much power and they wanted to have more individual rights. Around this time the colonies had just been under the British rule, which oppressed the people and give them very limited freedoms. The states or the colonies were kind of afraid that this would happen all over again within this new government forming in the form of the Constitution. Most of the state at this time believed that the Constitution alone was enough but others felt that they needed more assurances. In the end, the federal government complied with these states and gave them the Bill of Rights.
Consent is known as the permission, or approval of a certain action. A current debate in today’s society is about consent during sexual relations. This is a very controversial subject due to the fact that there are so many different scenarios that come into play when you are talking about consent between parties. When discussing consent, there are many different topics that come into play depending on who you are talking to. In my opinion, one of the most important things that come into play when discussing this topic is respecting who you are with.
Since the beginning of American history, citizens who resided the country lacked the basic civil rights and liberties that humans deserved. Different races and ethnicities were treated unfairly. Voting rights were denied to anyone who was not a rich, white male. Women were harassed by their bosses and expected to take care of everything household related. Life was not all that pretty throughout America’s past, but thankfully overtime American citizens’ civil liberties and rights expanded – granting Americans true freedom.
...ows that the person does not consent to the intercourse or is reckless as to whether that person consents to it’ – Sexual Offences Act 1956 c. 69 (Regnal. 4_and_5_Eliz_2)
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms has fundamentally shaped Canadian society since its inception through the Constitution Act of 1982. Promising egalitarian, linguistic, religious as well as other basic rights, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one of the primary doctrines in which Canadian law is founded upon. Many have argued that the advent of the Charter has transformed Canadian society into one that is preoccupied with that of rights. The rise in social movements, specifically in areas of women’s rights, indigenous rights and homosexual rights, are indicative of this. The Charter has created a divide amongst those who believe that this rise in a “rights culture” is ultimately beneficial if not necessary for Canadian society, especially in preserving the voices of the marginalized citizenry who until recently remained invisible in the eyes of parliament, and those who believe that Canada as nation has become preoccupied with preserving the right of gays, lesbians, women and other minority groups that it has sacrificed its majoritarian values. The word preoccupation, especially used in this context, holds a negative connotation suggesting some sort of obsession, and to describe Canada as a nation “preoccupied” with rights is an overstatement. Canada’s recent Charter revolution has often been seen as a means by which minority groups enact their own changes which may or may not be seen as desirable by a majority of people. However, because the Charter is important in preserving the rights of marginalized or minority groups, this can ultimately be beneficial for those whose world views have historically been persecuted. The subsequent paragraphs will further discuss how Canada’s recent Charter revolution has transformed Canada...
“Human rights are not worthy of the name if they do not protect the people we don’t like as those we do”, said Trevor Phillips, a British writer, broadcaster and former politician. Since the day of human civilization and human rights are found. No one can argue against the idea that God created us equal, but this idea have been well understood and known after the appearance of many associations that fight for human rights as The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that showed up in 1948. Human rights are those rights that every person, without exceptions, is born with. They are the most important human basic needs because no one can live a decent appropriate life without having those rights as a human. In fact, these rights
...r an affirmative consent standard, the law presumes that a woman does not grant consent unless she is asked. The responsibility will be on the male to demonstrate such consent if the woman, in her complaint, alleges no such consent was given; therefore, it will be his story of the events of the evening that is under examination by the court, rather than that of the woman. What affirmative consent represents, then, is a shift in the way society, and in particular the courts, look at the process of consenting to sexual intercourse. Affirmative consent recommends that sex should be viewed as an act that should be entered into willingly by both parties and that the opinion of both parties is equally valid in the eyes of the legal system. Affirmative consent marks a model of sexual interaction where both participants take responsibilities for their desires and actions.
The “Bill of rights” had been proposed as a follow up to Parliament’s original Habeas Corpus bill, which safeguarded personal freedom and liberty. Now just about every colony had a bill of rights, so James Madison suggested that if the United States was to survived as a a country it would need to have a set of rules versus thirtheen and every state would have the same rules.
The human rights act 1998 came into force in the United Kingdom in October 2000. A humans right to freedom of expression comes under article 10 and includes freedoms to “hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without inference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.” (EHRC, 2014) although in the circumstance that a citizens freedom of expression is challenged the law also states. “The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society” (EHRC, 2014)
Ted Bundy’s style of killing describes sexual sadism. Sexual sadism is the intense sexually arousal by the thought or act of inflicting suffering on others by dominating, restraining, blindfolding, cutting, strangling, mutilating, or even killing the victim (Comer, 2011). This condition would fall under Axis I because it causes significant impairment.
consent by use of force or threat. According to the constitution of Korea, if someone commits