Chapter 5: The UK Government, the Law and Your Role

Fundamental Principles: Rights and Equality

अंतिम जाँच: 15 July 2026

• 1Britain has a long history of respecting individual rights and ensuring people are treated fairly — from Magna Carta (1215) to the Habeas Corpus Act (1679) and the Bill of Rights (1689).
• 2After WWII, the UK helped draft and was one of the first countries to sign the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), in 1950.
• 3Key ECHR principles include: the right to life; prohibition of torture; prohibition of slavery and forced labour; the right to liberty and security; the right to a fair trial; no punishment without law; respect for private and family life; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom of expression (speech).
• 4The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.
• 5Public bodies (government, police, hospitals, etc.) must follow the Human Rights Act.
• 6Equal opportunities: UK laws make discrimination unlawful — you must not be treated less fairly because of your age, disability, sex, pregnancy/maternity, race, religion or belief, sexuality, or marital status; this applies at work and in wider life.
• 7There are differences in equality law between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• 8Domestic violence: any person who is violent towards their partner can be prosecuted — regardless of gender or marriage; brutality and violence in the home is a serious crime.
• 9Help for victims of domestic violence: the police, the 24-hour National Domestic Violence Freephone Helpline, refuges and shelters; the police can remove a violent partner and courts can order protection.
• 10Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as cutting or female circumcision, is illegal in the UK — and it is also a criminal offence to take a girl out of the UK to have it done abroad.
• 11Forced marriage: a marriage requires the consent of BOTH the man and the woman; arranged marriages, where both parties agree, are acceptable in the UK — forcing someone to marry is not.
• 12Forced Marriage Protection Orders (under the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007) can be issued by courts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland introduced similar orders in 2011); breaching an order can lead to prosecution/prison.