Bill of rights

A bill of rights is a formal list of essential protections for a nation's citizens. These documents serve a specific purpose in a legal system. They protect individual rights from being broken by public officials or private citizens. Some bills of rights are described as entrenched. This means they are very difficult to change or remove. A country's legislature cannot change an entrenched bill through a regular vote. Instead, they must use special procedures like a supermajority or a referendum. Often, these rights are woven directly into a country's constitution.

The history of legal charters shows that people have sought protections for centuries. This movement began as early as the Middle Ages. In 1100, England established the Charter of Liberties to address inheritance and marriage. In 1215, the Magna Carta was created as an agreement between the King and his barons. Other nations followed with their own specific charters. Hungary issued the Golden Bull in 1222 for its nobles. Poland created the Statute of Kalisz in 1264 to protect Jewish residents. These documents represent early attempts to define the relationship between people and those in power.

During the early modern period, new legal ideas began to reshape how rights were understood. Sir Edward Coke was an English common law judge who helped revive these ideas. He argued that rights were based on citizenship. This led to several important English statutes. The Petition of Right was passed in 1628. The Habeas Corpus Act followed in 1679. Finally, the English Bill of Rights was established in 1689.

These laws set a precedent for how rights could be written into statute.

These English legal traditions eventually crossed the ocean to influence the Americas. The English Bill of Rights helped shape the 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights. This document then influenced the United States Declaration of Independence later that same year. After the United States adopted its Constitution in 1789, the U.S. Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.

At the same time, the French Revolution inspired a different kind of document. In 1789, France's National Constituent Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

This document was inspired by the Age of Enlightenment and argued that rights were universal.

In the 20th century, these historical documents became the foundation for global human rights. Many different groups used these older ideas to draft modern international agreements. This led to the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also led to the European Convention on Human Rights. Other important documents include the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. These modern treaties aim to apply the principles of older charters to the entire world.

Not all modern democracies handle these rights in the same way. For example, the constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified. This means it is not written in a single document, but the Bill of Rights 1689 is still part of UK law. The Human Rights Act 1998 also brings European Convention rights into UK law. Australia is a unique case among common law countries. It does not have a constitutional or federal legislative bill of rights. While some Australian states and territories have human rights Acts, the federal government does not. There have been many attempts to pass a bill of rights in Australia, such as those by Lionel Murphy and Gareth Evans, but they did not become law.

Today, the concept of a bill of rights has expanded into many specialized areas. We see specific versions like the Consumer Bill of Rights or the Environmental Bill of Rights. There are even documents like the Library Bill of Rights or the Veterans' Bill of Rights. These specialized lists show how the core idea of protection can be applied to many different parts of life. Whether they are national constitutions or specific consumer protections, these documents continue the long history of defining what people are entitled to expect from their society.