bill of rights
A formal document that sets out the fundamental or most important rights of the citizens or residents of a country. The English Bill of Rights of 1689, for example, set out a number of such rights, including freedom of speech for Parliament and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments. A bill of rights is often part of the constitution of the state and gives courts (sometimes only the supreme court) the power to enforce compliance with such rights. In the USA the Supreme Court can even strike down legislation if it does not comply with the US Bill of Rights. In other countries the relationship between the legislature and the court’s duty to promote compliance with a bill of rights is more complex.

Most bills of rights include the core civil and political rights such as liberty, freedom of expression, and fair trial and due process (see, for example, the European Convention on Human Rights). Some, such as the South African Bill of Rights, also contain socio-economic rights, such as a right to food, water, healthcare, proper housing, and a healthy environment.

The Human Rights Act, in force from 2000, currently functions as the United Kingdom’s Bill of Rights. Governments regularly suggest reviews of this Act. In 2011 the government set up a Bill of Rights Commission to consider replacing it with a “British Bill of Rights”; however, this body failed to reach agreement before it disbanded in 2012. The government elected in 2015 stated that it would issue a consultation paper on a new bill of rights, but this did not appear. A review of the Act was begun in December 2020, but this was restricted to the way the Act itself worked and not the substantive rights that it included (those set out in the European Convention on Human Rights).

• postnuptial settlement
• potentially exempt transfer
• power
• power in the nature of a trust
• power of appointment
• power of arrest
• power of attorney
• power of sale
• power of search
• power reserved by executor
• power to manage
• power to sue
• PPP
• practice
• Practice Directions
• practice form
• practice master
• practising certificate
• praecipe
• pray a tales
• prayer
• pre-action protocols
• preamble
• precarious possession
• precatory trust