Other rights protected under the Human Rights Act

In the UK, human rights are protected by the Human Rights Act 1998. The Act gives effect to the human rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Read this page to find out more about what other rights are protected under the Human Rights Act.

Your right to freedom of expression - article 10

Article 10 protects your right to hold opinions and express your views and ideas.

It covers - for example:

• speaking aloud

• producing works of art or music

• publishing articles, books or leaflets

• television or radio broadcasting

• right to express political views

• advertising.

Article 10 is a qualified right which means it can be interfered with in certain situations - for example, to protect the rights of others or for reasons of national security.

• More about qualified rights

Your right to non-discrimination - article 14

Article 14 protects your right not to be discriminated against in connection with your human rights under the Human Rights Act. This means your human rights mustn’t be protected differently because of who you are. Article 14 covers discrimination because of the following things:

• language

• political opinion

• national or social origin

• property and birth

• association with a national minority

• other status - this includes things like sexual orientation, age, transgender people, carer status.

If you've been discriminated against you're also protected under the Equality Act 2010. More about discrimination under the Equality Act 2010

Protection of property - protocol 1, article 1

This right means public authorities have a duty not to interfere with your property unless it’s in accordance with the law and in the public interest.

Property includes things like:

• residential property and land

• your business

• intellectual property like a patent

• shares

• things you own like books, a car and furniture.

Your right to education - protocol 1, article 2

The right to education gives you the right to access the educational system and to receive an effective education. It also means the state should respect the right of parents to ensure teaching is in accordance with their religious or philosophical beliefs.

More rights protected under the Human Rights Act

Other rights in the Human Rights Act include:

• the right not to be held guilty of a criminal offence for an act which didn’t constitute a criminal offence at the time it was committed, article 7 - no punishment without law

• the right to peaceful demonstrations and the right to join and form trade unions, article 11 - freedom of assembly

• the right to marry and found a family - article 12

• prohibition of slavery and forced labour - article 4.

Next steps

• What rights are protected under the Human Rights Act?

• When can a public authority interfere with your human rights?

• Who's breaching your human rights?

• Taking action about human rights

• Human Rights Act 1998

Other useful information

The European Convention on Human Rights

You can access the European Convention on Human Rights on the European Court of Human Rights website at

• www.coe.echr.int

Forced labour

There is more information about forced labour on the Ministry of Justice website at www.justice.gov.uk.

Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS)

The EASS helpline can provide advice and information on human rights and discrimination issues.

• More about the EASS helpline

Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)

You can find useful information about discrimination on the EHRC website at

• www.equalityhumanrights.com

Scottish Human Rights Commission

You can find more information on human rights on the website of the Scottish Human Rights Commission at

• www.scottishhumanrights.com