Other rights protected under the Human Rights Act

This advice applies to Scotland. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Wales

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.