The Convention Rights - Article 9 Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion

Not all of the rights set out in the Convention and its Protocols are incorporated into British law by the Human Rights Act 1998. The HRA only incorporates the rights in Articles 2 to 12 and in Article 14 of the Convention, plus those in the First and Sixth Protocols. The incorporated rights are set out in the First Schedule to the HRA and are referred to as ‘Convention rights’.

The HRA does not incorporate Article 13 of the Convention. Article 13 provides that people whose rights under the Convention have been breached should have the right to effective redress. The Government did not include Article 13 in the HRA, as it took the view that the HRA itself would meet the requirements of the article by giving people the right to take proceedings in the British courts if they considered that their Convention rights had been breached.

There are three different categories of Convention rights. They are

Absolute rights

Qualified rights

Limited rights

Absolute rights cannot be infringed under any circumstances. Article 3 – Prohibition of torture is a good example of an absolute right. Under no circumstances can torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment be lawful under this article – it provides absolute protection.

Qualified rights are rights that the state can lawfully interfere with in certain circumstances. Generally in such articles, the right is set out at the start and then qualified by certain criteria, such as whether the interference is in accordance with the law; is in pursuit of a legitimate aim; and whether it is necessary in a democratic society. Examples of such rights include the right to respect for your private life, under Article 8,or the right to freedom of expression under Article 10.

Article 5 – Right to liberty and security is a limited right. This means that the circumstances in which this right can be limited are set out in the text of the article itself. . This means that it will be unlawful for the state to deprive you of your liberty unless this is in a way that is expressly permitted by Article 5.

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

2. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Article 9 guarantees that you can think what you want and can hold any religious or non-religious belief that you wish. It therefore protects religious belief and the beliefs of atheists, agnostics and those that are indifferent to religion, alike. You cannot be forced to follow or practice a particular religion and cannot be prevented from changing your religion. You are also protected from indoctrination by the State. This part of Article 9 is an absolute right and can never be interfered with.

For your beliefs to be protected they must be part of a sufficiently coherent philosophical scheme. Beliefs such as veganism and pacifism have been held to fall within the protection afforded by Article 9.

Article 9 also protects the right to manifest your religion or beliefs in worship, teaching, practice or observance whether alone or with others and whether in public or private. This aspect of Article 9 however, is a qualified right which means that an interference with the right can be justified in certain circumstances. The circumstances in which an interference can be justified are similar to those which justify an interference with rights under Article 8 and include the aim of protecting the rights and freedoms of others and public order.