National Care Service: Human Rights and the Charter

9. Annex 2: Some key features of human rights

It is important to understand some key principles about human rights.

9.1 Absolute rights and qualified or limited rights

The Scottish Human Rights Commission ^[23], describing rights within the European Convention of Human Rights, explain that there are different types of rights. In particular, there are absolute rights and qualified rights, and some rights are limited.

Some rights discussed in this document are absolute, in particular the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This means there are no circumstances when a public authority can subject someone to inhuman or degrading treatment.

Some human rights can be limited or qualified. This means they can be restricted or limited in some circumstances. These circumstances are set out in law.

A example of a qualified right in this document is right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence.

The following questions are relevant when considering whether a restriction of a qualified right is justified:

• is there a legal basis for the restriction of the right?
• is there a legitimate aim or justification for the restriction, such as the protection of other people’s human rights?
• is the action proportionate - is it the minimum necessary restriction of the right?

9.2 Universal and interdependent

The Scottish Human Rights Commission ^[24] explains that human rights are universal and interdependent.

Universal means that they apply to everyone equally. Human rights apply regardless of nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status, and they cannot be taken away except in specific, pre-determined situations and according to law.

Human rights also relate to and depend on each other. For example to fully realise our right to the highest attainable standard of health, we may also need to realise our rights to an adequate standard of living, food and housing.

9.3 Duties to respect, protect, and fulfil your rights

The Scottish Human Rights Commission ^[24] explains that human rights create rights and duties. States have duties under international law to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.

Duty to respect your rights: the duty to respect human rights means that states must not act to interfere with the enjoyment of human rights.

Duty to protect your rights: the duty to protect human rights requires states to ensure that others do not infringe or block access to human rights.

Duty to fulfil your rights: the duty to fulfil people’s human rights means that states must take positive action to facilitate the better enjoyment of human rights.