[Edit]Right to respect for private and family life

An individual's right to respect for his or her private or family life is protected insofar as the activity being pursued has not been outlawed or restricted by the state. In that respect, the fact that an individual has consented to the performance of an act which would otherwise be unlawful does not change the status of the act; thus, in a case involving acts of sado-masochism committed in private between two consenting adults, the House of Lords held that the victim's consent to the acts did not afford their author a defence to charges under the Offences against the Person Act 1861.^[13]

Similarly, an individual is free to make choices as to his private life, for example in pursuing homosexual relationships, but the law may not in certain circumstances intervene to ensure that his status and rights are not affected as a result of these choices. In R v. Ministry of Defence, ex p. Smith the Court of Appeal upheld the Ministry of Defence's policy not to admit homosexuals to the armed forces;^[14] the claimants later brought a case before the European Court of Human Rights which found violations of Articles 8 and 13. The Court of Appeal held in another case that it was reasonable for the parents of a child up for adoption to refuse consent to adoption on the ground that the proposed adopter is a lesbian.^[15]

The right to respect for family life is qualified by the broad principle that the welfare of the child is paramount and parental rights must take second place. As expressed by Lord Scarman, "parental rights are derived from parental duty and exist only so long as they are needed for the protection of the person and property of the child", and by Lord Fraser, "parental rights to control a child do not exist for the benefit of the parent".^[16] The effect of this is to allow state intervention in family life where justified in the interests of the child in question, and the Children Act 1989 gives effect to this by providing a basis on which decisions relating to a child's welfare are made. Section 1 of the Act provides that a court must, when taking a decision with regard to a child, take into account the child's wishes and feelings.

There is no general right to marry.^[17]

[Edit]Right to bodily integrity

The bodily integrity of an individual is protected by the criminal law (see the Offences against the Person Act 1861) and, in some circumstances, the civil law (see the tort of battery).

[Edit]Right to personal liberty

Main article: Freedom of movement

An individual's right to liberty is protected against interference by the state by two principles. Firstly, an individual is free to do anything which is not prohibited by law. Secondly, the state can only interfere with a person's liberty where permitted by law. In addition, the tort of false imprisonment and the crime of kidnapping guarantee some protection against the deprivation of liberty, as does the right of habeas corpus. Where an individual is lawfully arrested on the basis of an arrest warrant, the length of his detention is prescribed by statute; the detainee's rights and the powers of the police during the period of detention are also regulated (see the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984).