Human Rights Act 1998

The Human Rights Act 1998 consists of the basic rights taken from the European Convention on Human Rights. The Act affects matters of life and death, freedom and torture, and also an individual’s rights in everyday life. The key principle of the Act is that wherever possible there should be compatibility with the Convention rights.

Changes to the original Human Rights Act 1998 came into force in 2000. The Act now requires courts and tribunals to make judgements using certain articles of the European Convention on Human Rights as a starting point.