Human Rights Act 1998

In the UK, our human rights are protected by law. This law is called the Human Rights Act 1998.

See our pages on the Human Rights Act for more information.

Each human right is referred to as a separate article in the Human Rights Act 1998, for example, Article 2: Right to life. These articles come from the European Convention on Human Rights.

These are organisations whose role is of a public nature. This includes:

• police
• NHS  hospitals and employees
• local authorities and their employees
• some nursing and personal care accommodation providers
• prison staff
• courts and tribunals, including Mental Health Tribunals
• government departments and their employees
• statutory bodies and their employees (for example the Information Commissioner’s Office).

This means an act or activity taken by a public authority which is not a service. A public authority carries out a public function when it performs its particular legal duties and powers. Examples of public functions are licensing, planning and enforcement of parking.

Public authorities can get private companies or voluntary organisations to carry out their public functions. So for example, a private company that run prisons and takes prisoners into custody would be considered a private company carrying out a public function.

A court can make a declaration of incompatibility if it finds that a particular law has not obeyed the Human Rights Act 1998. The government then looks at the law and decides whether it should be changed.