Rights, responsibilities and everyday law

Equality before the law

One of the basic principles of British life is that everybody, whatever their position or background, is subject to the same law. No one, including government ministers, police officers or public officials, is above the law, and everyone has equal access to the courts to defend their rights or challenge unfair treatment. This is often described as the rule of law, one of the fundamental values that new residents and citizens are expected to understand and respect.

The main legal protection against unfair treatment is the Equality Act 2010, which brought together earlier anti-discrimination laws into a single Act covering England, Scotland and Wales, with some provisions also applying to Northern Ireland. The Act protects people from discrimination based on characteristics such as age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, and it covers areas including work, education and the provision of services. Individuals can enforce these rights through the courts, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission also has powers to support enforcement of equality law.

Freedom from unfair discrimination is one of the rights that the UK is understood to offer everyone living there. This sits alongside the wider expectation, described in the shared values of British life, that people should treat everyone equally regardless of sex, race, religion, age, disability, class or sexual orientation, and should be aware of and respect the rights of others.

Freedom of belief

Freedom of belief and religion is one of the core rights available to everyone living in the UK. People are free to hold their own religious or non-religious beliefs and to practise their faith, provided they do so within the law and do not use their beliefs to justify harming others or breaking the law.

This freedom is closely linked to mutual respect and tolerance, one of the fundamental values underpinning British society. Britain is a religiously and culturally diverse country, and the expectation is that people of different faiths and beliefs, including those with no religious belief, live alongside one another with tolerance and mutual respect. Among the shared responsibilities expected of everyone is to respect the rights of others and to treat people fairly regardless of their religion.

Freedom of expression

Freedom of speech is another of the rights offered to everyone in the UK. People are free to hold and express their own opinions, including through peaceful protest, and to criticise government policy openly. This freedom extends to the press: the UK has a free press, meaning that what is written in newspapers is free from government control. Some newspaper owners and editors hold strong political opinions and run campaigns to try to influence government policy and public opinion.

Broadcasting is treated differently from the print press because of its wider reach and influence. By law, radio and television coverage of the political parties must be balanced, so equal time has to be given to rival viewpoints. Parliament itself supports open scrutiny of government: proceedings in Parliament are broadcast on television and published in official reports called Hansard, and written reports can be found in large libraries and on the UK Parliament website.

Freedom of expression is not unlimited. Like other freedoms, it operates within the law and alongside the responsibility to respect other people's rights, so it does not extend to speech that incites violence or hatred. This balance between individual liberty and responsibility towards others runs through all the freedoms recognised in British life.

The right to a fair trial

A fair trial is a basic protection in UK law. Anyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty, which means the prosecution must prove the case against them rather than the accused having to prove innocence. This principle is protected under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which the Human Rights Act 1998 brings into UK law.

A fair trial means the case is heard in public by a court that is independent and impartial, and within a reasonable time. The accused has the right to know the charge against them in a language they understand, the right to legal representation, and the right to challenge the evidence against them. In more serious criminal cases, guilt or innocence is often decided by a jury: a group of ordinary citizens chosen at random from the electoral register. Anyone on the electoral register aged 18 to 70 can be called for jury service.

These protections apply across the UK's different legal systems, which include separate arrangements for England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, though the underlying principle of a fair and open hearing before an independent court applies throughout.

Protection from discrimination

UK law protects people from being treated unfairly because of who they are. Discrimination means treating someone less favourably than others because of a personal characteristic that has nothing to do with their ability or suitability, such as their sex, race, disability, religion, or age.

One of the shared values expected of everyone living in the UK is to treat everyone equally, regardless of sex, race, religion, age, disability, class or sexual orientation. This applies in employment, education, housing, and when using services such as shops, transport, and healthcare. Bodies such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission exist to promote understanding of these rights and to help people who believe they have faced discrimination.

Equality law

The main law protecting people from discrimination in England, Scotland and Wales is the Equality Act 2010. It brought together a large number of earlier separate discrimination laws into a single Act, making the law easier to understand and apply consistently.

The Act sets out nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. It is unlawful to discriminate against someone because of any of these characteristics in areas including the workplace, education, housing, and the provision of goods and services.

The Act also places a duty on employers and service providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, so that they can access services and work on a fair footing with others. Public bodies such as councils, hospitals and schools have an additional public sector equality duty, requiring them to consider the impact of their decisions and policies on people with different protected characteristics.

Violence and the law

Violence against another person is a serious criminal offence in the UK, whatever the relationship between the people involved. The law protects everyone, including partners and family members, and the police treat reports of violence seriously regardless of who is responsible.

Rape is a particularly grave offence. The Life in the UK syllabus is explicit that a husband can be prosecuted for raping his wife: any man who forces a woman to have sex, including a woman's husband, can be charged with rape. This makes clear that marriage gives no partner the right to force sex on the other, and that consent matters within marriage just as it does outside it.

Anyone experiencing violence, from a partner, family member or stranger, should contact the police, who have a duty to investigate and can arrange emergency protection and, where needed, a safe place to stay.

Domestic abuse and getting help

Domestic abuse refers to violence or abuse that takes place within a relationship or household, most often between partners or ex-partners. The advice is consistent and direct: it is important for anyone facing domestic violence to get help as soon as possible, and a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau can explain the available options.

Practical support is available across the UK. In some areas there are safe places to go and stay in, called refuges or shelters. Victims and anyone concerned about them can also phone the 24-hour National Domestic Violence Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 at any time, or the police can help find a safe place to stay.

Domestic abuse is not only physical. It can include emotional, psychological or financial control, and it can affect men as well as women. Anyone worried about their own safety, or that of someone they know, should treat the police and the helpline as the first points of contact, since both can act quickly to arrange protection.

Forced marriage

A valid marriage in the UK requires the free and full agreement of both people. As the syllabus puts it, a marriage should be entered into with the full and free consent of both people involved. A forced marriage, where one or both parties do not or cannot consent and pressure or abuse is used to make them go through with it, is illegal and is treated as a form of domestic abuse and a serious abuse of human rights.

Forcing someone to marry, or taking someone abroad to force them into marriage, has been a specific criminal offence in England, Wales and Scotland since 16 June 2014, under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014; a separate law makes it an offence in Northern Ireland. It is also an offence to do anything intended to cause a child under 18 to marry, even without any pressure or violence being proven. Conviction can lead to a prison sentence of up to seven years.

Alongside the criminal offence, courts can issue a Forced Marriage Protection Order (FMPO) to protect someone from being forced into marriage, or to protect someone already in one. These orders began in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2008 under the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007, with equivalent orders introduced in Scotland in November 2011. A potential victim, or someone acting on their behalf, can apply to the court for an order, and breaching one is itself a criminal offence that can lead to imprisonment.

Since 2017, victims of forced marriage have had lifelong anonymity in law, intended to encourage more people to come forward. The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Forced Marriage Unit provides confidential advice and support to victims and professionals, both in the UK and for British nationals facing forced marriage overseas.

Forced marriage must be distinguished from an arranged marriage. In an arranged marriage, families may take a leading role in introducing a couple, but both people freely choose whether to accept the match. Consent, freely given, is what separates a lawful arranged marriage from an illegal forced one.

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation, often called FGM or sometimes referred to as cutting or female circumcision, is illegal in the United Kingdom. It involves the deliberate cutting or removal of a girl's or woman's genitals for non-medical reasons, and it has no health benefits. It is also a criminal offence to arrange or help arrange FGM abroad, including taking a girl out of the UK to have the procedure carried out, if she is a British national or permanent UK resident. This is a serious form of child abuse, and the maximum penalty for carrying out FGM or helping to arrange it is 14 years in prison.

FGM has been against the law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, and in Scotland under the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005. Courts can also issue FGM Protection Orders to prevent a girl being taken abroad for the procedure or to protect someone who has already undergone it.

Harassment

Harassment is unwanted behaviour that causes someone distress, alarm or fear, and it is against the law in the UK. It can take many forms, including repeated unwanted contact, threats, abusive language, stalking or bullying, and it can happen in the street, at work, online or within a relationship.

The law protects people from harassment on the grounds of personal characteristics such as sex, race, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation. Someone who experiences harassment can report it to the police, and in some cases can also take civil action through the courts to seek an injunction ordering the harassment to stop. Employers also have a duty to protect staff from harassment in the workplace.

Drugs

The misuse of illegal drugs is a criminal offence in the UK and is treated as a serious problem, both for the health of individuals and for the wider effects on families and communities. Drugs are classified as Class A, B or C, with Class A drugs, such as heroin, cocaine and ecstasy, considered the most harmful and carrying the most severe penalties.

It is illegal to possess, produce, supply or deal in controlled drugs. Penalties depend on the class of drug and the nature of the offence, ranging from a caution or fine to a lengthy prison sentence for serious supply or production offences. The police and courts treat drug-related crime seriously because of the harm drugs cause to health and their links to other criminal activity.